# Apple Music (iPhone) interface



## Mistersandman (Sep 23, 2017)

It looks like there is a function to search for music on the phone and download playlists but it appears blank. Has anyone gotten this to work? This would be awesome if possible since I have all my music on Apple Music and so does my entire family.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Mistersandman said:


> It looks like there is a function to search for music on the phone and download playlists but it appears blank. Has anyone gotten this to work? This would be awesome if possible since I have all my music on Apple Music and so does my entire family.


Apple Music can only be played via Bluetooth audio, which is my setup and works quite well in my opinion. An interface for Apple Music would be icing on the cake, but I'm not expecting it.


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## nambomb (Apr 11, 2018)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> Apple Music can only be played via Bluetooth audio, which is my setup and works quite well in my opinion. An interface for Apple Music would be icing on the cake, but I'm not expecting it.


When I stream Apple Music through bluetooth, the audio is extremely low, even when I turn my volume all the way up, it's hard to hear when I drive on the freeway. Is this the same for you or is the sound normal for you when streaming through Bluetooth?


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## Wilson (Jun 2, 2017)

nambomb said:


> When I stream Apple Music through bluetooth, the audio is extremely low, even when I turn my volume all the way up, it's hard to hear when I drive on the freeway. Is this the same for you or is the sound normal for you when streaming through Bluetooth?


Try turning up the volume on your phone?


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## nambomb (Apr 11, 2018)

Wilson said:


> Try turning up the volume on your phone?


Geez, I didn't even think of that! I'll try that later today next time I drive


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

nambomb said:


> Geez, I didn't even think of that! I'll try that later today next time I drive


I can confirm I don't have that issue so most likely that your phone volume is low for sure on Bluetooth.


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## geoffreak (Mar 28, 2017)

Wait, can you seriously not play any playlists of music from Apple music from the phone while plugged in? You're joking, right? Even my current car with really dumb early 2010s iPod functionality can play any audio over the lightning cable. Are you saying this is not possible with the Model 3, or am I misunderstanding?


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

geoffreak said:


> Wait, can you seriously not play any playlists of music from Apple music from the phone while plugged in? You're joking, right? Even my current car with really dumb early 2010s iPod functionality can play any audio over the lightning cable. Are you saying this is not possible with the Model 3, or am I misunderstanding?


That's correct (for now at least), the USB only charges the phone.


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## Mistersandman (Sep 23, 2017)

geoffreak said:


> Wait, can you seriously not play any playlists of music from Apple music from the phone while plugged in? You're joking, right? Even my current car with really dumb early 2010s iPod functionality can play any audio over the lightning cable. Are you saying this is not possible with the Model 3, or am I misunderstanding?


It will play the playlists but you need to ask Siri to do it for now. You cannot navigate your lists from the car. I don't think even the S or X have this capability. Right?


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Mistersandman said:


> It will play the playlists but you need to ask Siri to do it for now. You cannot navigate your lists from the car. I don't think even the S or X have this capability. Right?


That wasn't @geoffreak 's question, I think he was asking if the phone will play via hardwire. Assuming that, as I mentioned above the USB port only charges phones and audio from a phone only works with bluetooth. The only music that can play via the USB via thumb drive for now. Emphasis on the for now, as software updates come frequently!


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## geoffreak (Mar 28, 2017)

That is really disappointing. I use the wired audio quite frequently. I hope they fix it before I get my car as I just subscribed to Apple Music specifically for the road trip I'll be taking in my Model 3. Bluetooth audio quality sucks...


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

geoffreak said:


> That is really disappointing. I use the wired audio quite frequently. I hope they fix it before I get my car as I just subscribed to Apple Music specifically for the road trip I'll be taking in my Model 3. Bluetooth audio quality sucks...


I have used Bluetooth audio in my cars every day for the last 4+ years and honestly I don't think it's bad. With the Model 3 premium sound, dare I say the sound quality is excellent.


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## RSavage (Aug 31, 2017)

geoffreak said:


> That is really disappointing. I use the wired audio quite frequently. I hope they fix it before I get my car as I just subscribed to Apple Music specifically for the road trip I'll be taking in my Model 3. Bluetooth audio quality sucks...


I'd love to have better control over my phone/music.....but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the Bluetooth audio. I was amazed.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

Here's the blurb from the manual:









Like @SoFlaModel3, I've used just Bluetooth for audio in my car for the last number of years without issue.


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## theishu (Mar 21, 2017)

Can the flash drive be recognized from any of the USB ports, even the rear seat ones?


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## Defjukie (Sep 28, 2017)

theishu said:


> Can the flash drive be recognized from any of the USB ports, even the rear seat ones?


front only


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## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

geoffreak said:


> That is really disappointing. I use the wired audio quite frequently. I hope they fix it before I get my car as I just subscribed to Apple Music specifically for the road trip I'll be taking in my Model 3. Bluetooth audio quality sucks...


I'm trying to be a believer as so many here rave about the quality of the music over bluetooth, but I'm with you right now. Ford Sync - decent system - I can tell a difference between bluetooth and cable connected. I'm sure there are many factors that go into this, but it is definitely known that bluetooth has limitations on it's bandwidth. So - all I'm saying is that if bluetooth sounds as good as everyone says it does, then plugged in would have to sound even better. Hoping Tesla ups the game here soon with the audio capabilities of the car.

I like how Tesla can change the game, but they've dealt with a small crowd til now. You start making a car for hundreds of thousands and soon millions and there will be more and more pressure to do it like everyone is used to - plug in the phone to charge and play music.


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## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

Defjukie said:


> front only


So only 2 USB's in the front correct? So if you choose to plug in a USB drive for music you lose one of the 2 ports to charge with?


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## Defjukie (Sep 28, 2017)

GDN said:


> So only 2 USB's in the front correct? So if you choose to plug in a USB drive for music you lose one of the 2 ports to charge with?


Unless you use a USB splitter


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## OneSixtyToOne (Apr 17, 2017)

Defjukie said:


> Unless you use a USB splitter


...which Tesla does not recommend (see manual).
They really missed the boat on this. Ideally you need three ports up front, two for charging phones and one for music. It makes no sense to have two music ports since only one can be used at a time, and quite often you have 2 phones on board. If the phones played via the cable instead of Bluetooth I'd give them a pass, but this makes little sense.

BTW I'm using a 32 GB thumb drive with 15 GB of music. I prefer the UI. I hate playing through my phone without a car UI and Siri is a pain to use


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## Quicksilver (Dec 29, 2016)

geoffreak said:


> That is really disappointing. I use the wired audio quite frequently. I hope they fix it before I get my car as I just subscribed to Apple Music specifically for the road trip I'll be taking in my Model 3. Bluetooth audio quality sucks...


Yes, I was also disappointed that I can't scroll through my playlists with my 6s plugged in or via Bluetooth. On my old i3, I can scroll through playlists and songs within playlists from the steering wheel buttons. I wonder why Tesla is behind in this arena? I mean, this is 2018. The sound quality, otoh, is tremendous!


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## Joaquin (Jan 15, 2018)

Quicksilver said:


> Yes, I was also disappointed that I can't scroll through my playlists with my 6s plugged in or via Bluetooth. On my old i3, I can scroll through playlists and songs within playlists from the steering wheel buttons. I wonder why Tesla is behind in this arena? I mean, this is 2018. The sound quality, otoh, is tremendous!


Agree 100%. My 2012 Prius does that also: full playlist on the car screen matching the one selected in my iPhone.

And the sound is just the best I've ever heard. Full volume of a high bass rock song, and not a single distortion... amazing.


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## Quicksilver (Dec 29, 2016)

Joaquin said:


> Agree 100%. My 2012 Prius does that also: full playlist on the car screen matching the one selected in my iPhone.
> 
> And the sound is just the best I've ever heard. Full volume of a high bass rock song, and not a single distortion... amazing.


Hopefully, one day, we'll see better integration. I think just give it time. I am optimistic.


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## Joaquin (Jan 15, 2018)

Quicksilver said:


> Hopefully, one day, we'll see better integration. I think just give it time. I am optimistic.


Oh yeah, I'm also pretty sure of that also.


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## Mistersandman (Sep 23, 2017)

Quicksilver said:


> Hopefully, one day, we'll see better integration. I think just give it time. I am optimistic.


Well the S and X don't even have this functionality so lets hope it happens before my optimism runs out.

The USB dongle just doesn't work for me because most of the music I listen to nowadays is streamed. Using a USB would mean that you've downloaded the actual music files which very few people do today.


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## Quicksilver (Dec 29, 2016)

Mistersandman said:


> Well the S and X don't even have this functionality so lets hope it happens before my optimism runs out.
> 
> The USB dongle just doesn't work for me because most of the music I listen to nowadays is streamed. Using a USB would mean that you've downloaded the actual music files which very few people do today.


Yup. I stream Apple Music daily and would love to access my ever changing playlists. Optimism only go so far.


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## Defjukie (Sep 28, 2017)

OneSixtyToOne said:


> ...which Tesla does not recommend (see manual).
> They really missed the boat on this. Ideally you need three ports up front, two for charging phones and one for music. It makes no sense to have two music ports since only one can be used at a time, and quite often you have 2 phones on board. If the phones played via the cable instead of Bluetooth I'd give them a pass, but this makes little sense.
> 
> BTW I'm using a 32 GB thumb drive with 15 GB of music. I prefer the UI. I hate playing through my phone without a car UI and Siri is a pain to use


It works, whether Tesla recommends it or not. The most likely just don't want to deal with a flood of questions from folks using generic (read: crappy) splitters and wondering why it doesn't work.


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

Defjukie said:


> I'm strictly talking about the common notion that Tesla's are "iPads on wheels", not how much the car costs.


Tesla's are iPads on wheels? Only someone who liked iPads would say that. Or someone who hated Teslas.


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## jdbunda (Nov 7, 2018)

I have connected my old iPod 120G via one of the USB connectors in the console. I have ~10k songs on it, so it takes a while (each time I drive) to load the database, but otherwise it seems to work.


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## SR22pilot (Aug 16, 2018)

jdbunda said:


> I have connected my old iPod 120G via one of the USB connectors in the console. I have ~10k songs on it, so it takes a while (each time I drive) to load the database, but otherwise it seems to work.


But can you select playlists, random play etc.? Does it remember where it left off when you come back to your car? These are basic iPod support features.


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

I'm seeing lots of critics but very few innovators.

People who have nothing better to do love to criticize others work without creating something superior themselves. Because it's easy to point out faults and it's maybe a nice distraction from the faults in their own lives. Most of these people will never make something great, only criticize that other have failed.


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## SR22pilot (Aug 16, 2018)

PNWmisty said:


> I'm seeing lots of critics but very few innovators.
> 
> People who have nothing better to do love to criticize others work without creating something superior themselves. Because it's easy to point out faults and it's maybe a nice distraction from the faults in their own lives. Most of these people will never make something great, only criticize that other have failed.


 Well, I don't write UI software but I am a user. The functionality I am discussing isn't some never been done before feature that I am blindly claiming i easy. I am discussing basic functionality that has been in cars for many years.

Based on your comment I guess if your motor fails to run you won't criticize if you have never designed a motor before. Similarly I guess if the roof of you new house falls in you will be OK and won't criticize unless you have both designed and built houses before.


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## Wooloomooloo (Oct 29, 2017)

PNWmisty said:


> I'm seeing lots of critics but very few innovators.
> 
> People who have nothing better to do love to criticize others work without creating something superior themselves. Because it's easy to point out faults and it's maybe a nice distraction from the faults in their own lives. Most of these people will never make something great, only criticize that other have failed.


By that measure, very few people would criticize anything and we'd all accept everything as it is. I agree with a lot of your comments on this board, but not this. To state you should not criticize anything unless you can create something superior is an old argument and smacks of the type of defensiveness usually seen on other forums.

As an aside, you have no idea what other people here do with their lives, or what innovations they may have made, what criticisms they themselves may have endured - I work in AI (NLP, Semantics) and have endured unbelievably cynical criticism within my organization when simple demos screwed up or products weren't perfect. Yuo shake it off and move on... If I'd said to my bosses "go on then, build a better one", I'd have been fired years ago.


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## SR22pilot (Aug 16, 2018)

What I heard was that an employee ported the Atari games for fun and Elon saw the port, liked it, and decided to include it. I agree with you in principle. However, crazy stuff like the Atari games generates a lot of press and is cheap advertising. Put some of this down to Musk keeping Tesla in the limelight and maintaining a image of the company being fun and hip.


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## ADK46 (Aug 4, 2018)

PNWmisty said:


> I'm seeing lots of critics but very few innovators.
> 
> People who have nothing better to do love to criticize others work without creating something superior themselves. Because it's easy to point out faults and it's maybe a nice distraction from the faults in their own lives. Most of these people will never make something great, only criticize that other have failed.


A modern-day Ayn Rand might choose someone like Elon Musk as a hero instead of an architect or metallurgist. I was a metallurgist, but I never liked Ayn Rand.


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## Sdvorak (Oct 3, 2018)

The inability to browse the music from your phone on the center screen is kind of disappointing as well. Sure, I can search.... but I can never remember what I’ve got on there on a given day. I prefer the larger center screen from which to view choices, and using a steering wheel button to navigate. I have done it this way on other cars. Given that I have to take off my glasses to see my phone, but NEED my glasses to drive, I find the bigger screen easier, and safer in my opinion than trying to do it all from the small screen of my phone.


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## Mistersandman (Sep 23, 2017)

Sad to say but this lack of phone integration was probably my biggest disappointment with the car. Most everything else I knew going in by reading articles and watching videos. There wasn’t much posted about the phone interface online and I just assumed that this being 2018 and a highly technological car with close ties to Silicon Valley would at least (or eventually) meet the industry standard for phone integration. Guess I was wrong. 
I mean, it could have been worse I suppose. There are so many other things I could be upset about but this tops my list and I am reminded about it every time I get into my car and play music. 
If Tesla could only enable the Spotify feature I’d gladly ditch Apple Music and jump to Spotify. What I’m really after here is good on-demand music with integration into the cars o/s. Seems reasonable.


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## Wooloomooloo (Oct 29, 2017)

SR22pilot said:


> What I heard was that an employee ported the Atari games for fun and Elon saw the port, liked it, and decided to include it. I agree with you in principle. However, crazy stuff like the Atari games generates a lot of press and is cheap advertising. Put some of this down to Musk keeping Tesla in the limelight and maintaining a image of the company being fun and hip.


I'm sure that's true and the free marketing is an excellent point. I think folks were reacting to a comment along the lines of; Tesla has very limited resources and infotainment is not critical and a low priority (as opposed to Asteroids...)

I know it gets tiresome when people bleat about it endlessly, but this is the one thing that makes me feel like I'm in an unfinished product.


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## SR22pilot (Aug 16, 2018)

Wooloomooloo said:


> I know it gets tiresome when people bleat about it endlessly, but this is the one thing that makes me feel like I'm in an unfinished product.


We agree. Everything else is so forward thinking.


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## TheHairyOne (Nov 28, 2018)

Question is, does their circuit card with the atom processor have an authentication chip for Apple integration. Apple requires it. Without that the DRM content on the devise is invisible externally. 

So find out if the hw is there, if it is... future sw update to enable


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## Jared1701 (Jan 10, 2019)

Here's a workaround - Now that they've added the Web browser you can go to this website to play Apple music - https://playapplemusic.com You can use it from any web browser supposedly. I haven't actually tried it since I don't own a Tesla yet, but plan on getting one this year. If anyone tries it please let me know if it works.


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## Wooloomooloo (Oct 29, 2017)

Jared1701 said:


> Here's a workaround - Now that they've added the Web browser you can go to this website to play Apple music - https://playapplemusic.com You can use it from any web browser supposedly. I haven't actually tried it since I don't own a Tesla yet, but plan on getting one this year. If anyone tries it please let me know if it works.


Nice tip thanks. Unfortunately the Tesla web browser quite often just doesn't work, in my experience.


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## TheHairyOne (Nov 28, 2018)

It works after reboots, mine hadn't worked for weeks and after the reboot it started working again. I'll try soundcloud.com tonight, didn't have time yesterday. But I read somewhere that slacker's audio for the Tesla is high-bit rate, at least some of it is. FM-HD sounds like crap by comparison and so did my blue tooth audio from my phone.


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## Defjukie (Sep 28, 2017)

^unless you've got an ancient phone, BT should sound at least on par (realistically, should sound better) with most of the streaming stuff.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

Defjukie said:


> ^unless you've got an ancient phone, BT should sound at least on par (realistically, should sound better) with most of the streaming stuff.


This will also depend on the source of music. The songs have to be high fidelity to begin with.


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## DennisP (Jan 5, 2019)

I'm still getting up to speed on the music options. Normally I stream Apple music. When I play Apple music from my phone via bluetooth the volume is pretty low - seems I have to turn up the volume all the way on the phone and then pretty high in the car. Am I doing something wrong here?


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## Defjukie (Sep 28, 2017)

DennisP said:


> I'm still getting up to speed on the music options. Normally I stream Apple music. When I play Apple music from my phone via bluetooth the volume is pretty low - seems I have to turn up the volume all the way on the phone and then pretty high in the car. Am I doing something wrong here?


No, that's the way it is.


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## DennisP (Jan 5, 2019)

Thanks . Other than USB what seems to be the best way to listen? What do you prefer if I may ask?


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## Defjukie (Sep 28, 2017)

I use Apple Music from my phone, mostly out of convenience. I’d much rather have a native interface. 

I’ve given up on USB, as the interface is miserable and it’s missing very basic functions.


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## DennisP (Jan 5, 2019)

Defjukie said:


> I use Apple Music from my phone, mostly out of convenience. I'd much rather have a native interface.
> 
> I've given up on USB, as the interface is miserable and it's missing very basic functions.


Ok thanks. So more AirPods and audiobooks.....


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