The best way I have found to organize music I want to hear (I use an S7) is to make a playlist in your music app of choice. Searching on the HU is to painful for an individual track. In that case I tend to thumb through my S7 till I find what I want. As you mention, it is organized great on the Samsung, not so much on the HU.
Bluetooth for Audio files - how to organize?
I have a 2016 OB Premium, non-nav. I had an Iphone that played my audio (via Bluetooth or USB) perfectly.
However, I switched to a Samsung - and while connectivity is fine, the organization of audio files in the Head Unit display is less than ideal. I can select Artists - but rather than showing each album under the respective artist (the way my Iphone showed it), it is just a straight listing of every track. So for an artist with multiple albums - I have to scroll down dozens of tracks and hopefully recognize the 1st track on a given album - it's just a jumbled mess.
Any ideas on how to address this? I use MediaMonkey to load files onto my S8 - and when viewing music ON the S8 it's nicely organized by Artist->Album->Track. The Starlink system just loses the Album.
Thanks in advance!
However, I switched to a Samsung - and while connectivity is fine, the organization of audio files in the Head Unit display is less than ideal. I can select Artists - but rather than showing each album under the respective artist (the way my Iphone showed it), it is just a straight listing of every track. So for an artist with multiple albums - I have to scroll down dozens of tracks and hopefully recognize the 1st track on a given album - it's just a jumbled mess.
Any ideas on how to address this? I use MediaMonkey to load files onto my S8 - and when viewing music ON the S8 it's nicely organized by Artist->Album->Track. The Starlink system just loses the Album.
Thanks in advance!
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I just picked up my 2018 Limited, and I was very dismayed to find the same issue you are reporting. Trying to browse by Artist using a Samsung Android-based phone (Note 5) results in one giant list of all tracks by that artist. I've seen this issue with music that was manually copied to the device, as well as media that was downloaded via Google Play Music.
It is interesting to note that this was not a problem on your iphone. Has anyone else seen this same problem with other brand Android devices?
This may be a "first-world problem", but it certainly makes it difficult to browse a music library from the head unit.
It is interesting to note that this was not a problem on your iphone. Has anyone else seen this same problem with other brand Android devices?
This may be a "first-world problem", but it certainly makes it difficult to browse a music library from the head unit.
Don't use Starlink. Use your phone music app?
Even better, if you have music files, just get large USB drive and load them on, and plug it into one of Outback USB ports. I found head unit to work well in that case - sorting Album/Artist is predictable when Starlink is not used. I even managed to get all album art to show up correctly.
Even better, if you have music files, just get large USB drive and load them on, and plug it into one of Outback USB ports. I found head unit to work well in that case - sorting Album/Artist is predictable when Starlink is not used. I even managed to get all album art to show up correctly.
Don't use Starlink. Use your phone music app?
Even better, if you have music files, just get large USB drive and load them on, and plug it into one of Outback USB ports. I found head unit to work well in that case - sorting Album/Artist is predictable when Starlink is not used. I even managed to get all album art to show up correctly.
Note that there is a limit of 512 music files per folder on the USB drive. Subaru head unit won't see more files than that. So I created multiple folders on a 32GB thumb drive, and copied 500 MP3 music files at a time, into each folder. I rounded down from 512 just in case I miscounted each time I copied the files.
I have several thousand songs loaded into several folders, and the Subaru plays them all. I leave the thumb drive installed permanently. You can also load an image that will display on the Nav unit screen.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Thanks for the workaround suggestions!
1. Using the music player app on the smartphone would work, but this does require pulling the phone from a pocket or bag, and causes a higher distraction level. The wife is very opposed to this.
2. Using a USB drive would have worked in the past, but I've moved on from buying CDs/MP3s to a Google Play Music subscription. I have quite a bit of music in my library that I don't really own or have access to copy the MP3 files. In other posts I've read that the USB is indexed at each power-on, potentially taking several minutes. Is this still correct?
I'd like to think I could report this bug and expect a fix in the near future, but I have seen the speed of automotive infotainment system firmware updates and know better. If iOS devices work correctly for browsing the music library via the HU, maybe a better workaround would be a dedicated ipod Touch. I can use the Google Play Music app to download my library, and just leave it connected via USB at all times. That option may work but is frustrating, as it requires a considerable additional investment to get a brand new car to work as designed.
If I want to report this issue, what is the right conduit? Talking to the dealer seems pointless... is there a number to call?
1. Using the music player app on the smartphone would work, but this does require pulling the phone from a pocket or bag, and causes a higher distraction level. The wife is very opposed to this.
2. Using a USB drive would have worked in the past, but I've moved on from buying CDs/MP3s to a Google Play Music subscription. I have quite a bit of music in my library that I don't really own or have access to copy the MP3 files. In other posts I've read that the USB is indexed at each power-on, potentially taking several minutes. Is this still correct?
I'd like to think I could report this bug and expect a fix in the near future, but I have seen the speed of automotive infotainment system firmware updates and know better. If iOS devices work correctly for browsing the music library via the HU, maybe a better workaround would be a dedicated ipod Touch. I can use the Google Play Music app to download my library, and just leave it connected via USB at all times. That option may work but is frustrating, as it requires a considerable additional investment to get a brand new car to work as designed.
If I want to report this issue, what is the right conduit? Talking to the dealer seems pointless... is there a number to call?
I know this is old but it does seems like it applies to my 2020 Touring. I have 1221 music files and 112 Folders. This also translates into approx. 70 albums. Don’t do the math.
Anyway here’s the problem: I want to play the tunes via a Bluetooth connection. If I do a test case of approx. 4gig (maybe close to half of the 1221 files) the head unit allows me to BROWSE through the albums/artist/genre. When I put more files/folders on the smart phone I no longer have the option to BROWSE the albums/genre, just the current album.
Now if I do the same with a jump drive I’m allowed to browse albums/artist/genre. I currently have all my albums under one high-level folder (mymusic in this case) with a folder for each ripped CD. (Hope I did not confuse you).
I do NOT want to keep the jump drive plugged in. Oh yeah I can, but I prefer not to. So, is there a way to see all my albums using Bluetooth?
Oh if memory serves me correctly I did do a testcase of 2 high level folders with have of the files/folders under each and it, and it did NOT allow browsing via Bluetooth.
Anybody have a workaround this?
Anyway here’s the problem: I want to play the tunes via a Bluetooth connection. If I do a test case of approx. 4gig (maybe close to half of the 1221 files) the head unit allows me to BROWSE through the albums/artist/genre. When I put more files/folders on the smart phone I no longer have the option to BROWSE the albums/genre, just the current album.
Now if I do the same with a jump drive I’m allowed to browse albums/artist/genre. I currently have all my albums under one high-level folder (mymusic in this case) with a folder for each ripped CD. (Hope I did not confuse you).
I do NOT want to keep the jump drive plugged in. Oh yeah I can, but I prefer not to. So, is there a way to see all my albums using Bluetooth?
Oh if memory serves me correctly I did do a testcase of 2 high level folders with have of the files/folders under each and it, and it did NOT allow browsing via Bluetooth.
Anybody have a workaround this?
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
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