# MP3 playback?



## Triangles (Apr 5, 2017)

Does anyone else find the MP3 playback capabilities utterly unacceptable? There's pretty much no way to play MP3s from a thumb drive other than to pick a particular song. then it just plays songs in alphabetical order... A cheap $99 car stereo I bought a decade ago has better MP3 capabilities. Does anyone know if Tesla will fix this with a newer software update?


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Triangles said:


> Does anyone know if Tesla will fix this with a newer software update?


The capabilities haven't changed much since the Model S, so I doubt much will change.


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## rxlawdude (Sep 12, 2017)

garsh said:


> The capabilities haven't changed much since the Model S, so I doubt much will change.


Except that the MS and MX have shuffle play, woefully missing on the 3.


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## Frank99 (Aug 3, 2017)

Do the S and X remember that you were playing off the USB drive when you leave the car, and resume playing off the USB drive when you get back?


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## rxlawdude (Sep 12, 2017)

Frank99 said:


> Do the S and X remember that you were playing off the USB drive when you leave the car, and resume playing off the USB drive when you get back?


I believe so. But if the car goes "to sleep" between uses, I think that's when it forgets. I'll play with this and report back on the S.


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## SimonMatthews (Apr 20, 2018)

Triangles said:


> Does anyone else find the MP3 playback capabilities utterly unacceptable? There's pretty much no way to play MP3s from a thumb drive other than to pick a particular song. then it just plays songs in alphabetical order... A cheap $99 car stereo I bought a decade ago has better MP3 capabilities. Does anyone know if Tesla will fix this with a newer software update?


It's better than my Nissan Leaf, which doesn't list the files on the USB stick in any useful order. You can't even list the folders.


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## Triangles (Apr 5, 2017)

I'm surprised by that. My prehistoric "cheap" Car stereo in my old Escort that I bought when HD radio came out about 15 years ago would do hands free BT as well as play MP3's at random from a USB thumb drive. It was next to impossible to try and find a specific song but it was pretty cutting edge for the time. My Ford Focus Electric displays album art, allows you to brows by artist, folder, etc and easily plays all music on the thumb drive randomly. It's far from perfect but it's a huge step better than my first USB capable stereo. Apparently what I would think of as basic functionality is lacking on more than just the TM3. I guess technology hasn't come that far in the last 15 years. Slacker is ok for now but why would I want to pay a subscription fee to listen to music that I already own? Hopefully Tesla at least has a random play option in Version 9 coming out this fall.


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## rxlawdude (Sep 12, 2017)

Triangles said:


> I'm surprised by that. My prehistoric "cheap" Car stereo in my old Escort that I bought when HD radio came out about 15 years ago would do hands free BT as well as play MP3's at random from a USB thumb drive. It was next to impossible to try and find a specific song but it was pretty cutting edge for the time. My Ford Focus Electric displays album art, allows you to brows by artist, folder, etc and easily plays all music on the thumb drive randomly. It's far from perfect but it's a huge step better than my first USB capable stereo. Apparently what I would think of as basic functionality is lacking on more than just the TM3. I guess technology hasn't come that far in the last 15 years. Slacker is ok for now but why would I want to pay a subscription fee to listen to music that I already own? Hopefully Tesla at least has a random play option in Version 9 coming out this fall.


The Model 3 comes with a Slacker account (I believe it's the lowest paid subscription version). Gratis.


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## Triangles (Apr 5, 2017)

I've read that is only good for 4 years. Besides you can't start a song over or create a playlist as far as I know. At least it's commercial free but there is still no excuse for the lack of basic media player functionality.


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## Rich M (Jul 28, 2017)

Every car I've had does something weird or frustrating when playing MP3 over USB. I'm over it. It's more effective to set up the playlist in your phone the way you want it, and stream over bluetooth. I can't tell any difference in audio quality indoors let alone in a moving car.


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## Triangles (Apr 5, 2017)

If iPhones didn't suck and actually had a SD slot so I could add a micro SD card big enough for my music collection then I might agree with you (not to mention the extra hoops you have to jump thru just to get your music onto an iphone). For reasons not worth explaining I'm stuck using a crapple product. Unfortunately my non-activated android phone that I do use for music is apparently too old for tesla to work properly with it. It pairs fine but when I play the music it just comes out the phone's speaker instead of thru the car. I'm not buying another phone just so I can play music in my car. For as much as we paid for this car, is it too much to expect it to have basic functionality found in cars less than half it's price? I think it is not.


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## Frank99 (Aug 3, 2017)

For the amount you paid for this car, is a $70 phone such a burden?


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## Triangles (Apr 5, 2017)

For the amount I paid for this car I shouldn't have to! Besides doing so would disable the hands free phone function because the Tesla is incapable of handling two phones at the same time. I guess with Tesla you pay to be a beta tester and if you're lucky you'll eventually end up with a final product. I love the model 3 but the UI and user experience leave a lot to be desired...


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## Twiglett (Feb 8, 2017)

It would be nice to have shuffle or playlists on usb. But the combination of usb, phone and slacker is fine for me


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## JustTheTip (Jun 7, 2018)

I imagine a day when an iPod would work in this car. I’ll pronsbly be imagining for a long time. Sigh!


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