We all know what a technological masterpiece the Model S is and how 7 years after the car was released, a competitor has yet to match the technology or capability of the Model S.
With all the cutting edge technology in our cars, there is one unbelievable deficiency with USB audio playback that I really wish Tesla would fix. Every car I have ever owned has been able to resume audio playback from when I last left the car. I basically get back in the car, and every other car I have owned would resume music where I left off.
Granted not everyone is likely using USB audio playback but many of us do. So much so that there is unfortunately a thread on TMC that is about 100 pages, with nearly 2,000 posts long discussing the bugs in the USB audio player:
Comprehensive USB Bug List
I really wish Tesla would give the USB audio player some much needed love and fix some of the media player issues that have festered for years. USB audio is how I primarily listen to music in the car and it is a shame with all the advanced technology in the car, that the car can't resume USB music where it left off I bet this situation is ever worse for people who listen to podcasts via USB audio because I can imagine how difficult it is for them to find the spot they were last at.
I really hope it's not too unreasonable to expect the following basic functionality in the USB audio player to be fixed. I will update this tread with each software update and report if any of these issues are fixed.
Please Resume USB audio when you get back in the car
This is such a big issue that affects the otherwise wonderful experience of getting in the Model S. You approach the car, the car unlocks automatically. The door handles extend. You feel good, get in the car, all is well -- and but oh Sh!t. No music. Again. Worse yet, this brings us to the next big issue...
Please do not needlessly scan the USB audio drive
I have a little over 200GB of music in my drive so that's around 9000 songs. I realize this is not a small music collection -- BUT -- this is 2019 and a $49 cheap Amazon Fire tablet will flawlessly handle the same music library in an SD card with absolutely no issue whatsoever. So can my Android phone, media player, and every other electronic device I use to listen to music with the exception of my state of the art car from the future. I wish the car would not needlessly scan the USB drive just about every time I get in my car when there has been no changed to the music whatsoever. There is no need to index the music all over again because it means while the car is indexing the music, I can't listen to my music for 3-5 minutes leading me to navigate music menus while driving to resume music.
Please support playlists
My USB audio drive has playlists I have created after mush effort but sadly I can't listen to them in the car. This is such a basic feature in any audio player and would be such a wonderful feature for road trips where I am driving in areas with spotty cellphone coverage.
Please allow the audio source to be changed easily
I wish the car would allow the audio source to be changed easily. Here's an idea: I realize how long pressing the "Next Track" button takes you to your next "favorite." How about the "Previous Track" button long pressing be used to switch between the audio sources to resume audio playback where it was left off? How great would that be? You want to switch from streaming audio to USB Audio, you just long press the "Previous Track" button. And the thing is we used to have this functionality before, until sadly it was removed What would be even better is to be able to change the audio source using a voice command... How great would it be if we would say "Play USB Audio" or "Play Streaming Audio."
Implementing these 4 simple things would make such a massive difference in the enjoyment of my car and I bet also for others who listen to podcasts and music via USB audio. I am a software developer and I don't think implementing these 4 basic features will really take much resources. Probably a single competent developer can get this done in a week and would address issues that have affected Tesla customers so much that the thread I posted has over 1,900 posts.
Partly the reason why I'm posting this is because I contacted Tesla about this issue and they said they will try to get to it but the priority given to fixing the USB audio playback will depend on how many support requests they get asking for a resolution. So if you are affected by this, please sign on to your Tesla Account, click on your car, and submit a support ticket asking them to please fix the USB Audio player.
And perhaps tweet to Elon, if you are on Twitter.
It would be so blissful the day I get in my car, and my music resumes without waiting for minutes for the software to scan and index my music for no reason and go through many menus to select and resume music playback while I'm driving.
While I like farts and playing games as much as any other Tesla owner, it just saddens me when they find resources to add fun features to the car, when they've allowed very basic media player bugs and issues to languish with no resolution.
So my plea and wish is for everyone to please contact Tesla Support and ask them to please fix the media player.
PS: Especially those with the upgraded audio system in your car, listen to some high quality lossless/FLAC music via the USB and you will really appreciate the audio system in your car. Having a USB drive with your music also provides you with music when you are driving anywhere with poor phone connectivity.
With all the cutting edge technology in our cars, there is one unbelievable deficiency with USB audio playback that I really wish Tesla would fix. Every car I have ever owned has been able to resume audio playback from when I last left the car. I basically get back in the car, and every other car I have owned would resume music where I left off.
Granted not everyone is likely using USB audio playback but many of us do. So much so that there is unfortunately a thread on TMC that is about 100 pages, with nearly 2,000 posts long discussing the bugs in the USB audio player:
Comprehensive USB Bug List
I really wish Tesla would give the USB audio player some much needed love and fix some of the media player issues that have festered for years. USB audio is how I primarily listen to music in the car and it is a shame with all the advanced technology in the car, that the car can't resume USB music where it left off I bet this situation is ever worse for people who listen to podcasts via USB audio because I can imagine how difficult it is for them to find the spot they were last at.
I really hope it's not too unreasonable to expect the following basic functionality in the USB audio player to be fixed. I will update this tread with each software update and report if any of these issues are fixed.
Please Resume USB audio when you get back in the car
This is such a big issue that affects the otherwise wonderful experience of getting in the Model S. You approach the car, the car unlocks automatically. The door handles extend. You feel good, get in the car, all is well -- and but oh Sh!t. No music. Again. Worse yet, this brings us to the next big issue...
Please do not needlessly scan the USB audio drive
I have a little over 200GB of music in my drive so that's around 9000 songs. I realize this is not a small music collection -- BUT -- this is 2019 and a $49 cheap Amazon Fire tablet will flawlessly handle the same music library in an SD card with absolutely no issue whatsoever. So can my Android phone, media player, and every other electronic device I use to listen to music with the exception of my state of the art car from the future. I wish the car would not needlessly scan the USB drive just about every time I get in my car when there has been no changed to the music whatsoever. There is no need to index the music all over again because it means while the car is indexing the music, I can't listen to my music for 3-5 minutes leading me to navigate music menus while driving to resume music.
Please support playlists
My USB audio drive has playlists I have created after mush effort but sadly I can't listen to them in the car. This is such a basic feature in any audio player and would be such a wonderful feature for road trips where I am driving in areas with spotty cellphone coverage.
Please allow the audio source to be changed easily
I wish the car would allow the audio source to be changed easily. Here's an idea: I realize how long pressing the "Next Track" button takes you to your next "favorite." How about the "Previous Track" button long pressing be used to switch between the audio sources to resume audio playback where it was left off? How great would that be? You want to switch from streaming audio to USB Audio, you just long press the "Previous Track" button. And the thing is we used to have this functionality before, until sadly it was removed What would be even better is to be able to change the audio source using a voice command... How great would it be if we would say "Play USB Audio" or "Play Streaming Audio."
Implementing these 4 simple things would make such a massive difference in the enjoyment of my car and I bet also for others who listen to podcasts and music via USB audio. I am a software developer and I don't think implementing these 4 basic features will really take much resources. Probably a single competent developer can get this done in a week and would address issues that have affected Tesla customers so much that the thread I posted has over 1,900 posts.
Partly the reason why I'm posting this is because I contacted Tesla about this issue and they said they will try to get to it but the priority given to fixing the USB audio playback will depend on how many support requests they get asking for a resolution. So if you are affected by this, please sign on to your Tesla Account, click on your car, and submit a support ticket asking them to please fix the USB Audio player.
And perhaps tweet to Elon, if you are on Twitter.
It would be so blissful the day I get in my car, and my music resumes without waiting for minutes for the software to scan and index my music for no reason and go through many menus to select and resume music playback while I'm driving.
While I like farts and playing games as much as any other Tesla owner, it just saddens me when they find resources to add fun features to the car, when they've allowed very basic media player bugs and issues to languish with no resolution.
So my plea and wish is for everyone to please contact Tesla Support and ask them to please fix the media player.
PS: Especially those with the upgraded audio system in your car, listen to some high quality lossless/FLAC music via the USB and you will really appreciate the audio system in your car. Having a USB drive with your music also provides you with music when you are driving anywhere with poor phone connectivity.