Can't listen to Spotify through my USB port...what am I doing wrong?

[Aquineas]

Sorry to hear about it not working. It does sound like a glitch vs. a design issue because of the simple fact that it started playing before going silent. Hopefully there will be an update coming down the line to fix the issue.

 

[JCUSN]

I guess the worth of car has been siphoned down the fact of whether it can effectively play smartphone apps or not. Sad day for the auto industry.

Different people have difference expectations out of their cars and have different needs. A LOT of my focus in buying a car is the car's entertainment systems and media capabilities. I spend a lot of time in my car. When I pay $50k for a car, I expect it to work as well or better than the previous model that I owned, and I certainly expect it to work better than my wife's cheap $20k model.

 

[JCUSN]

Sorry to hear about it not working. It does sound like a glitch vs. a design issue because of the simple fact that it started playing before going silent. Hopefully there will be an update coming down the line to fix the issue.

Does Hyundai ever put out software fixes for something like this? Has it been done before?

 

[ksoze]

Another reason to keep car manufacturers out of the software business.

Upcoming options like CarPlay will let companies in the tech business handle the tech and the requisite updates while letting the car manufacturers provide a standard connection in and focusing on engineering the actual car.

 

[zielritter]

I think basic is better sometimes. My 2012 has just plain 'ole Bluetooth audio. Whatever is connected via BT plays audio and what it plays it's controlled by that device directly. The sound quality is great on "high quality" Spotify.

I simply mount my phone above the radio and shuffle through Spotify directly from it. I have attempted to hook it up to the USB port yet. I'm loving my Android after having 3 iPhones in a row.

 

[Nikgen]

Different people have difference expectations out of their cars and have different needs. A LOT of my focus in buying a car is the car's entertainment systems and media capabilities. I spend a lot of time in my car. When I pay $50k for a car, I expect it to work as well or better than the previous model that I owned, and I certainly expect it to work better than my wife's cheap $20k model.

Not sure what your issue is - I just loaded the spotify app from iTunes and it works fine over USB on an iPhone 5s - it does switch to "iPod" mode when you first plug into the USB port - but starts playing when I hit play in the Spotify app on my phone. Definitely not integrated like Pandora or aHA (you can completely control those through the DIS controls) so more of a pain to use - but Spotify absolutely works on my 2015 3.8 AWD Ultimate and does NOT switch back to iPod mode after a few seconds!

 

[Nikgen]

Not sure what your issue is - I just loaded the spotify app from iTunes and it works fine over USB on an iPhone 5s - it does switch to "iPod" mode when you first plug into the USB port - but starts playing Spotify when hit play in spotify on your phone. Definitely not integrated like Pandora or aHA (you can completely control those through the DIS controls) - but Spotify absolutely works on my 2015 3.8 AWD Ultimate!!!

...It works fine over Bluetooth as well (no album cover art is displayed though) - and there is absolutely NO discernible difference in sound quality versus the USB connection. Given the lack of integrated controls, I don't see why I'd use it with USB over Bluetooth??
And if you're concerned with charging your phone - they make TINY USB adapters for the 12V outlets you can use while you stream Spotify over BT. I'll post a pic later!

 

[Nikgen]

...and it works fine over Bluetooth as well - and there is absolutely NO discernible difference in sound quality versus the USB connection. Given the lack of integrated controls, I don't see why I'd use it with USB over Bluetooth??
And if you're concerned with charging your phone - they make TINY USB adapters for the 12V outlets you can use. I'll post a pic later!

Here's the adapter - I have it in case my wife or other passenger need to charge a device:

... And I listened to Spotify for about 30 minutes through USB on my way home from the office today - it worked perfectly (until I lost cell signal) and displayed album cover art on the main screen and song title in the instrument cluster. As mentioned, not possible to control it from the DIS controls like Pandora or aHA, but OK if you just want to let it play.

 

[zielritter]

Here's the adapter - I have it in case my wife or other passenger need to charge a device:

... And I listened to Spotify for about 30 minutes through USB on the way home - worked fine and displayed album cover art on the main screen and song title in the instrument cluster. As mentioned, not possible to control it from the DIS controls like Pandora or aHA, but OK if you just want to let it play.

Does the 2015 have a charger under the center arm rest as well? I notice the USB isn't concealed in the center console like my 2012. I like that feature on mine.

 

[Nikgen]

Does the 2015 have a charger under the center arm rest as well? I notice the USB isn't concealed in the center console like my 2012. I like that feature on mine.

No USB in the armrest - it's in a forward compartment with a nicely damped sliding door (along with aux input and two 12 volt receptacles). My iPhone 5s drops in nicely and is concealed and neat with the door closed. I much prefer that location to under the armrest (as in my wife's Chevy Equinox)- easy to connect/disconnect in that forward location as the connections are facing you and no junk (that inevitably collects under the armrest) to work through to find the connection (unless you leave a cord connected):

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[Alwaysforward]

Not sure what your issue is - I just loaded the spotify app from iTunes and it works fine over USB on an iPhone 5s - it does switch to "iPod" mode when you first plug into the USB port - but starts playing when I hit play in the Spotify app on my phone. Definitely not integrated like Pandora or aHA (you can completely control those through the DIS controls) so more of a pain to use - but Spotify absolutely works on my 2015 3.8 AWD Ultimate and does NOT switch back to iPod mode after a few seconds!

What cable are you using? Is it the one the dealers sell you with the car?

 

[zielritter]

No USB in the armrest - it's in a forward compartment with a nicely damped sliding door (along with aux input and two 12 volt receptacles). My iPhone 5s drops in nicely and is concealed and neat with the door closed. I much prefer that location to under the armrest (as in my wife's Chevy Equinox)- easy to connect/disconnect in that forward location as the connections are facing you and no junk (that inevitably collects under the armrest) to work through to find the connection (unless you leave a cord connected):

Ok, I guess the phone does fit flat into it so you can still conceal it. That wasn't immediately obvious in the first pic. It looked initially like you couldn't lay the phone flat but I guess not.

 

[Nikgen]

What cable are you using? Is it the one the dealers sell you with the car?

No - a cheap little 6" cable I picked up at Best Buy:

 

[JCUSN]

Not sure what your issue is - I just loaded the spotify app from iTunes and it works fine over USB on an iPhone 5s - it does switch to "iPod" mode when you first plug into the USB port - but starts playing when I hit play in the Spotify app on my phone. Definitely not integrated like Pandora or aHA (you can completely control those through the DIS controls) so more of a pain to use - but Spotify absolutely works on my 2015 3.8 AWD Ultimate and does NOT switch back to iPod mode after a few seconds!

I do not have the Ultimate...I have the Tech package. Maybe that is my problem.

Does anyone have the Tech package and NOT have the same issue I'm having?

 

[Nikgen]

I do not have the Ultimate...I have the Tech package. Maybe that is my problem.

Does anyone have the Tech package and NOT have the same issue I'm having?

Good point - it is a different head unit on a different operating system for the Ultimate.

 

[JCUSN]

Good point - it is a different head unit on a different operating system for the Ultimate.

I envy you. I was SO CLOSE to buying the Ultimate, but stuck with the Tech package. Now I wish I'd have just done it and I wouldn't be stuck with this pain in the ass:/

So I called and spoke to Hyundai, and they reply that it was "designed this way." What a load of shit. Why would they design the car to not have the functionality that the OLD generation had? Why would they design the car to not even have the functionality of a $19k Elantra? That's a bullsh_t comment. I've had the issue "escalated" with Hyundai Customer Care.

 

[Nikgen]

I envy you. I was SO CLOSE to buying the Ultimate, but stuck with the Tech package. Now I wish I'd have just done it and I wouldn't be stuck with this pain in the ass:/

So I called and spoke to Hyundai, and they reply that it was "designed this way." What a load of shit. Why would they design the car to not have the functionality that the OLD generation had? Why would they design the car to not even have the functionality of a $19k Elantra? That's a bullsh_t comment. I've had the issue "escalated" with Hyundai Customer Care.

But can't you connect via Bluetooth? Honestly, I noticed NO difference in sound quality between USB and Bluetooth. The Ultimate can only control volume with Spotify, so you have not control over it through the DIS controls - so i don't see any disadvantage to just connecting via Bluetooth? As I posted, there are compact adapters if you need to charge as well.

 

[JCUSN]

But can't you connect via Bluetooth? Honestly, I noticed NO difference in sound quality between USB and Bluetooth. The Ultimate can only control volume with Spotify, so you have not control over it through the DIS controls - so i don't see any disadvantage to just connecting via Bluetooth? As I posted, there are compact adapters if you need to charge as well.

I can stream through BT, however I do notice a difference in the sound quality. I'm quite the audiophile, and I really can tell a big difference...I guess I'm just an audio-snob lol.

And besides that...it USED TO WORK. In my older Genesis that I totally loved, plugging in this same iphone, running the same version of iOS, using the same cable resulted in the car interfacing with Spotify and my car controls being able to control it. It was flawless. Why would Hyundai cripple their new baby like this for no reason? It's a design/coding flaw. Additionally, I know the capability is there, because for the 1-3 seconds Spotify plays on my car through USB, the car displays the Spotify artist/song info on the screen.

 

[ksoze]

Why would Hyundai cripple their new baby like this for no reason? It's a design/coding flaw.

It's a new car platform, that essentially retained the name and engines. I agree it is frustrating, which is likely the same frustration G1 owners must feel when they see all of the other new features. Although it only seems like a simple thing, if the OS was changed or modified for new features, things may get lost in service of new capabilities. There is always hope an upgrade will give you the capability again or CarPlay will offer that same capability.

 

[JCUSN]

It's a new car platform, that essentially retained the name and engines. I agree it is frustrating, which is likely the same frustration G1 owners must feel when they see all of the other new features. Although it only seems like a simple thing, if the OS was changed or modified for new features, things may get lost in service of new capabilities. There is always hope an upgrade will give you the capability again or CarPlay will offer that same capability.

I don't doubt for a second that CarPlay will offer the capability, but our cars will never get CarPlay. I've literally got to wait around for 3 years until my lease expires and then go get the new model. They won't update our 2015's with CarPlay.

And if the removal of this feature actually allowed me to have some other awesome feature, then that would one be one thing, but it doesn't. It's just simply not there. Additionally, I KNOW that this feature could work if they just coded the system properly. YouTube, another standalone app just like Spotify, plays audio perfectly through the speakers of the car audio system. If this app can do it, why can't Spotify? It's because Hyundai messed up the system coding, and now they don't appear to give a damn.