STITCHER will be here tomorrow!
New SUBARU STARLINK App
It's here, the SUBARU STARLINK* button has a new app for you! We’re proud to partner with STITCHER - a leader for on demand news, sports, talk and entertainment audio programming. Access over 40,000 shows from sources including CNN, Fox, NPR, BBC, and ESPN. Get the freshest episodes of your favorite podcasts and radio shows streamed directly to your SUBARU STARLINK – no downloading or synching.
Open the SUBARU STARLINK app on your smartphone, connect your smartphone via Bluetooth or tether and press the STARLINK button on your car’s dash screen to access this new feature. With Stitcher, you can create a playlist of your favorite shows, which are always up to date and on-demand. From NPR’s Fresh Air to Adam Carolla, WNYC’s Radiolab to the Wall Street Journal, Rush Limbaugh to Rachel Maddow and more. Also, enjoy personalized recommendations based on your listening.
Discover STITCHER! Listen whenever and wherever you want. Available in your car tomorrow Friday, 5/15/15.
Saw it this morning. I guess you also need the stitcher app on your phone, because it asked me to log in. I also noticed the iHeartRadio section on the Starlink app does not have my log in info. Guess the starlink app is smarter since the update and goes to the other app for the log in info.
I signed up for an account and yes it works on my mac but when i entered the same email and password in my car i got account not known. So far i have to admit the subaru apps are worthless. i don't care really one way or the other but i find the hyper technology thus far on Starlink frustrating and counter intuitive
I have the Stitcher icon on the Infotainment system under Starlink. I have the Stitcher app on my phone. All other Starlink apps work fine, yet Stitcher continues to require an app login from the phone app before it will work. I have tried it with an independent Stitcher account as well as logging in thru Google and Facebook.....the app works fine on the phone yet the Infotainment system continues to require a login and entering "OK" before it will work.....which of course, it never does.
Another seriously failed attempt by the Subaru entertainment gurus.
Stitcher app is iinstalled on my phone. (LG G3 Android) I can log into Stitcher on my phone and use it on the phone fine. When I select the Stitcher app in Starlink, it starts the app and a window appears that directs me to log into Stitcher on my phone, then click OK. So I go back to my phone, login again and click OK it then goes back to the screen with the Starlink apps. Selecting Stitcher again gives me the same error window. I have tried this by logging into a generic Stitcher account and a Facebook login both methods produce is error message.
I've been using Stitcher for listening to podcasts on my phone for a year or so now. It's a great app for your phone. I've found that the new integration with Starlink is a bit underwhelming and useless.
The UI is very basic, bland, and doesn't feel like I'm using the Stitcher app thats on my phone, unlike the iHeartRadio Starlink app which fits it's theme. Some of the UI options do not translate to the phone app UI options. For instance, Favorites is listed as simply Stations. At first I thought it didn't see any of my selected channels because the naming was so generic.
Load time is very slow along with the multiple steps it takes to actually start using the app. 1. You have to have the Starlink app active on your phone. 2. Go to apps on the HU. 3. Go to Starlink. 4. Wait for connection. 5. Select Stitcher. 6. Choose station. 7. Use skip 30 seconds to skip promo/advert. Or you could stick with just using your phone with the Bluetooth audio option. 1. Start Stitcher app on phone. 2. Skip past promo/advert. 3. Select Bluetooth in Audio options.
The reaction time is very slow as well. For instance, some podcasts will have the first 8 minutes dedicated to sponsor promotions and advertising so I would normally use the skip 30 second button to skip ahead past the promos/advert. With the Starlink/Stitcher app the 30 second skip ahead takes ~10-20 seconds to finally make the skip ahead. So instead of getting to the meat of the podcast, which normally took 3 seconds to skip 8 minutes, it now takes over ~4-5 minutes to skip 8 minutes. This makes for more eye time off the road, should you be driving.
Also when switching from the Starlink/Stitcher app to the Stitcher app on your phone your channel and play time are not synced. Meaning you can listen to one channel on the S/S app and your phone app has no recollection of what channel you were listening to or where in that podcast you were. However the S/S app does keep track of where it was last, regardless of what you were listening to on your phone in between.
I think I'll continue to just use the Stitcher app on my phone and use the Bluetooth audio option to listen while driving. I was really looking forward to this update as I use Stitcher a lot when driving but it is a big disappointment, much like most of the other Infotainment offerings. I'm still hoping for an update to Mirrorlink.
This seems like the most obvious solution to many of the infotainment problems.
I wonder if there is a problem with controlling the menu items with mirrorlink. Does mirrorlink still require you to make changes on the handheld phone rather than trough the menu controls on the steering column and radio unit?
It's my understanding that mirrorlink is still a closed system with only approved apps allowed so it still doesn't 100% solve the problem. There have been modified versions of samsungs app that allows you to run any app though.
Starlink is one of the biggest disappointments in the Outback, worked first couple of times when I first got it (but not very good) now all I can do is get error message. Have deleted the app, reinstalled, tried using the cable, POS as far as Im concerned, good thing I don't rely on it. Have got my phone (Android) to play but not using Starlink. While on vacation I tried to get it to work while driving (which should be able to do) makes it very dangerous, tried again stopped and nothing, so I just gave up on it.
Stitcher has stopped working for me. It is asking me to log in through the Starlink app, which I do, then enter my email and Stitcher password, which I do (and which work on both the desktop Stitcher site and the Stitcher app. I get this error message: https://www.smt-access.com loginError.
smt-access.com appears to be a Clarion domain name. Tried reinstalling the Starlink app, no joy.
Considering how well sorted most of the rest of the car is, this whole Starlink app interface is really embarrassing.