MyLink compatibility with iPhone problems... Anmyone else?

[scknogas]

Last week, I bought a 2014 Spark EV 2LT with DC Fast charge, and have not been able to use the MyLink Radio features successfully.

Issue #1 - I cannot play ANY of my iTunes media files. According to the web site http://www.chevrolet.com/mylink-bring-your-own-media.html “Chevrolet MyLink supports a large variety of song file formats, including MP3, WMA and AAC.” Yet, it won’t recognize ANY of my AAC files, it only recognized MP3 files.

Issue #2 - I cannot connect my iPhone 4S to the USB port and have the radio identify the device. I can’t have the BringGo Map application (which I purchased for $60) work with the car, I can’t have the TuneIn, Stitcher, or Pandora applications function with the Smart Link integration at all. The ONLY think I can do is pair via Bluetooth and have the Spark act as a bluetooth speaker for audio.

Issue #3 - When I do plug my iPhone 4S into the USB port, the phone constantly tries to charge and then fails, and then repeats. This is indicative of too low of amperage to successfully charge the device.

I brought the car into City Chevrolet (my dealer) and they had an identical Spark EV and another iPhone, and all three problems were the same in both cars, with both iPhones with all cables we tried.

The technician contacted GM Tech support and they suggested using the Bluetooth audio since their car and iPhone did not work either.

So, is anyone else seeing these issues?

Scott

 

[MysteriousJ]

I wouldn't doube that the Spark is outputting 500 mah which is standard for USB ports. This may sound mundane but have you tried restarting your phone? You may be running so many things that the phone draws more power than what it can charge. When you restart it you ensure that it's in a fresh state and nothing is running.

Unfortunately you may have to resort to buying one of these and just using the accessory port
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0056VNVV8/A1X20BD10-20/?Bracketron-Universal-Dual

My Nokia had no problem pluggin into the USB and charging when I test drove the Spark so I can't help you any more with your iPhone troubles. All of my music files were either mp3 or OGG (Flac lossless) and only mp3s and some ogg were detected.

What's the bitrate for your AAC files? If you check your car manual it may have more info on the supported file types for the MyLink system, usually radio systems have specific types that they support.

Edit: I just grabbed this from the manual

The USB port can play both lower
and upper case .mp3, .wma, .ogg,
and .wav files stored on a USB
storage device.
USB Supported File and Folder
Structure
The Infotainment system supports:
.
Up to 2,500 folders.
.
Up to 10 folders in depth.
.
Up to 2,500 music files.
.
Up to 2,500 photo files.
.
Up to 250 movie files.
.
ID3 Tag (versions 1.0/1.1/2.2/
2.3/2.4).
.
FAT16.
.
FAT32.
.
exFAT.

No mention of aac.

Relevant info can be found starting on page 7-30 in the manual.

 

[Nashco]

Another silly detail on par with restarting, but are you running the latest iOS available? Might want to clarify what iOS version you are running. I have an iPhone 5 and haven't had any of the issues you're describing, but haven't tried my wife's 4S (with older iOS version), so perhaps I'll try it when I get a chance to see how it behaves.

Bryce

 

[NomadMac]

Restarting an iPhone does not stop the apps running. At least under iOS 7 it doesn't. Double click the home button, swipe the apps up to quit them.

I notice Bluetooth connectivity issues. My 5s connects and disconnects all the time. The iPhone BT is rock solid with my aftermarket Sony radio in my truck.

 

[NomadMac]

I was able to play an AAC both hard wired through the USB port and through Bluetooth, just now.
iOS 7.0.4 on a 5s.

 

[markcmann]

Back when I got my Spark EV in July, I had an iPhone 5 running iOS 6.x and it worked fine (playing AAC files, BringGo and TuneIn apps). Although I did have the Bluetooth connectivity issues from time to time as it would sometimes pair and sometimes not. I now have an iPhone 5s running the latest iOS version 7.0.4 and I can play all AAC files without an issue but like with the iPhone 5 I still have the intermittent Bluetooth connectivity issues.

Oh but I just remembered, I also had an older iPod Nano that I used just for music and audiobooks but it crapped out all the time so I switched to a newer iPod nano (the really small one with the touch screen, about the size of the Shuffle) and it works perfectly fine. So it could be an issue with the version of the hardware or iOS?

 

[scknogas]

Okay to add to the thread...

When I test drove a Spark EV in July, I installed Bringo and tested it on my iPhone 4S (same phone) with the most recent iOS (think it was 6.1.3) at the time. Both Pandora & Bringo worked in that car, using one of the cables that I tested with...

My iPhone 4S is running iOS 7.0.4, have power cycled, stopped ALL apps (manually swiping), have hard reset (wiped and re-installed), and still no joy in mudville (the iPhone is not seen by the car.)

As for the AAC, the manual doesn't list AAC as a supported format, but the website does. Playing an AAC from your iPhone/iPod via USB or bluetooth means the iDevice is decoding the format and sending an audio stream. If you copy the AAC to a USB drive and plug that in means the headunit/radio is doing the decoding. Looks like the forgot to import a library.

 

[StevesWeb]

I have an iPhone 4S and it works as expected with my Spark EV 2LT. My car does not have the DC fast charger port.