iPod integration

[Aman]

It really doesn't make sense that Ford dropped iPod integration from its newest vehicle.

Apple last introduced a new iPod in May 2019 discontinued it in May 2022, so no good business reason for Ford to continue to support it.

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[Moto26]

a relic of failed consumer technology strategy?

How do you get "failed? The iPod absolutely revolutionized the music industry. That's like saying the vinyl record was a failure.

just get an iPhone

I have an iPhone. I don't use it for music. I use it for pictures and videos, and the occasional attempt to make a "phone call" on it.

My iPod has every album I own on it, including over 300 CD's that I've downloaded to it. I'm not screwing around with all of the cloud-based streaming bullshit. Too many glitches, and it's a huge pain in the ass.

When I'm in the Bronco (or my truck or any other vehicle), I never use the onboard integration. I always connect the iPod via Bluetooth and just use the iPod itself to control the music. I only plug it in to charge it. It's worked fine for me in every Bluetooth-equipped vehicle I have driven, including rental cars...

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Some folks are ok with crappy mp3 and crappy streaming bitrates, etc. All my music is in wav format and then put in Apple Lossless. The iPod actually works fine in the bronco. Mine is connected to the USB in the charging tray (Lux package) and have had no issues accessing all 140+ gigs of music on it. And when I drove through the mountains recently, the streamers didn’t work- but my iPod worked flawlessly!

 

[gryphon1231]

How do you get "failed? The iPod absolutely revolutionized the music industry. That's like saying the vinyl record was a failure.



I have an iPhone. I don't use it for music. I use it for pictures and videos, and the occasional attempt to make a "phone call" on it.

My iPod has every album I own on it, including over 300 CD's that I've downloaded to it. I'm not screwing around with all of the cloud-based streaming bullshit. Too many glitches, and it's a huge pain in the ass.

When I'm in the Bronco (or my truck or any other vehicle), I never use the onboard integration. I always connect the iPod via Bluetooth and just use the iPod itself to control the music. I only plug it in to charge it. It's worked fine for me in every Bluetooth-equipped vehicle I have driven, including rental cars...

you don't have to use any streaming (cloud based) stuff unless you want too. Everything that was on my iPod (iTunes Library) physically lives on my iPhone and is still in my library, 953 CD's to be exact. I still buy CD's on half.com and load them on a regular basis, never had a problem.

 

[Moto26]

you don't have to use any streaming (cloud based) stuff unless you want too. Everything that was on my iPod (iTunes Library) physically lives on my iPhone and is still in my library, 953 CD's to be exact. I still buy CD's on half.com and load them on a regular basis, never had a problem.

Maybe I just take (and keep) a lot of pictures, but I rarely have more than about 10 GB of free space on my phone, and that's with no music loaded whatsoever. My music collection amounts to something like 200 GB...

 

[Headsong]

So I tried plugging my ipod into USB and nothing. Didn't see it... What am I doing wrong? (only helpful replies please! Lol)

 

[TankCommander]

So I tried plugging my ipod into USB and nothing. Didn't see it... What am I doing wrong? (only helpful replies please! Lol)

It may depend on which generation ipod you have - just a guess. I have a 2016 nano, not sure which generation it is. It will work if I turn on BT. It won't work if I'm looking to use the usb connection which is what I want. I finally gave up and uploaded some 600 songs to YT Music. Only downside there is the connection drops from time to time.

 

[Headsong]

It may depend on which generation ipod you have - just a guess. I have a 2016 nano, not sure which generation it is. It will work if I turn on BT. It won't work if I'm looking to use the usb connection which is what I want. I finally gave up and uploaded some 600 songs to YT Music. Only downside there is the connection drops from time to time.

Thx, mine's the leetle one that can't be operated by adult thumbs...lol. No BT on it....figured it's a no go. Someone had mentioned that they ran it on the USB and thought, ah, I'll give it a try....ah well, no biggie.

 

[negativezero]

4-month update after trying to use a thumb drive: I was still displeased that Ford restricts media browsing when the vehicle is moving >5mph.

I've foregone the USB drive.

I wiped my previous Pixel phone to clear out the space and loaded all of my mp3s on that. It lives in the Bronco now as a makeshift iPod, but communicating with the radio over Bluetooth. Hardwired to charge, lives in the center console, controls the radio from my hands rather than from the stereo unit.

I like this solution because:
- I still get to control everything whenever I want while driving,
- Still using mp3 files so I'm not beholden to cell data availability and data/streaming.
- I don't have to change anything about my music files, id3 tags, organization, folders, etc.
- My actual phone isn't overburdened with 100+ GB of music, and stays in my pocket.

If you don't have an old phone in a drawer somewhere, you can pick up spare prior-gen phones extremely inexpensively over Amazon. $80-150 can get you pretty dang far.

 

[Fonz54]

I’m curious if anyone plays music through their iPods connected to the audio system of the bronco. I have a 160 gb iPod that’s connected thru Bluetooth to the Uconnect system in my gladiator. It works ok this way. But loses where it was at after a minute or two of not playing it. I tried to connect it via one of the USB ports but it only recognizes at most 32 gigs of music on the iPod. Even my 2014 4Runner would play and recognize all the music on the iPod.
Has anyone done this in the bronco? Does it connect via USB and recognize all files? It was nice to have the iPod plugged in and hidden away in the 4Runner with 160 gigs of music to choose from and always charged.

I will try my iPod later today and see what happens.

 

[stonerdoom]

So I have the last gen iPod touch. Will that be able to be manipluated using the steering wheel controls? And do I hear people saying that the Bronco will recognize the device if it's plugged into a usb port? That would be super. I have 6000 songs that I don't want to have to re-rip to another format or device.

 

[Fonz54]

I will try my iPod later today and see what happens.

Plugged my iPod into all of the USB ports and kept getting"Device plugged into USB is Not Responding". Works fine in the house.

 

[erics667]

Came here looking for a remedy to my USB drive not showing up. I've been using a 128GB USB thumb drive since day one, Nov 4 2021, and suddenly it'll stop recognizing the drive, nothing in the list. The search continues...

 

[erics667]

I have the same problem, its not seeing my flash drive which it used to work. My guess is that it has something to do with the latest IPAM update.

It sucks because it'll work for a bit and then take a crap while driving. Going to maybe hard reset the head unit later, again. Hopefully it's software related and not a hardware issue. Fingers crossed.

 

[Fonz54]

Yesterday I ordered a Bluetooth Transmitter/Receiver from Amazon. It came today. Charged it and connected to the aux jack on my iPod. Was able to get it to Sync with the Bronco but then got a message saying that the device did not have any Synch compatible functions and it disconnected! Rage against the machine! It should not be this difficult!
I must admit the Bluetooth device may be a POS!

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