New 2012 XC70 Great, but iPhone Music Not Working

**prisoner** · 03-07-2012, 10:13 PM

After months of research and test drives, we finally pulled the trigger on an xc70. It took 60 days to get here, which wasn't that bad.

We are almost entirely satisfied. This car is fantastic. I'm impressed in all areas (save one that's not the biggest concern). The fit and finish, ride, interior sound control, and features are great. I would make this purchase 10 times out of 10 if I had to repeat it. I'm sold.

However, isn't there always a "however" or a "but," my iphone 4s and my wife's iphone 4 is not working well when plugged into the usb port. The devices register but the music function does not work consistently. On my newer phone, music and folder load and play but only briefly. They are ultimately interrupted and not after long. On my wife's phone she can only access all music randomly. I think hers does play though.

The handsfree menu interface is actually decent and I would be happy as a clam if these things would just work. Too bad.

Any advice will be super appreciated.

I still expect many years of happy motoring! Go Volvo!

**XCovlov70** · 03-08-2012, 12:17 AM

Hi,
I seem to remember this coming up before on here but cannot pin it down.

I personally use a Memory Stick on the USB interface cable with my wife's and my music on and that works perfectly with over 2000 tunes on.

I then just set both phones up to interface through Bluetooth and the car but no music with that.

You may also find that your iPhones do not charge up while on the USB interface.

**matt1122** · 03-08-2012, 10:58 AM

Is Bluetooth enabled on these phones? I remember seeing something elsewhere about how connecting via Bluetooth will cause the iPhone to stop playing back music through USB. This would mean that either the music would pause or begin playing when you switched your source from iPod to Bluetooth. The solution was to wait for the phone to connect via Bluetooth before connecting it to USB. Not sure if this will help, but I wanted to relay it nonetheless.

**michaelp4283** · 03-08-2012, 02:30 PM

The Iphone 4S won't work with our 2011 either. Haven't tried the bluetooth thing but its pretty sad that much lesser cars are 100% problem free with music and ipod integration. My only real gripe.

**barrysharp** · 03-09-2012, 12:42 PM

Try disabling the iPhone's Siri feature and then pair phone and use with car's Bluetooth and USB ports. Then re-enable Siri and see if phone plays music consistently via USB port.

I had a similar issue on our MY2011 C30 R-Design and the above process fixed the issues.

Good luck.

Using a USB memory stick with your music and the USB port and leaving the iPhone paired via Bluetooth is a viable solution as well.

**prisoner** · 03-09-2012, 04:32 PM

Thanks all! I will test out these suggestions this weekend and report back.

**michaelp4283** · 03-25-2012, 11:31 AM

Here to report the new Iphone update took care of the issues and it works now flawlessly.

**Geno** · 03-28-2012, 05:09 PM

I'm newly into a 2011 XC70 and the only thing that is not functioning is the USB port for music. It's a 32GB FAT32 thumb drive. Seems it should be read when plugged in, but that does not happen.

The drive worked fine in a rental last week.

I'd appreciate any guidance.

**XCovlov70** · 03-28-2012, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by Geno

I'm newly into a 2011 XC70 and the only thing that is not functioning is the USB port for music. It's a 32GB FAT32 thumb drive. Seems it should be read when plugged in, but that does not happen.

The drive worked fine in a rental last week.

I'd appreciate any guidance.

Hi Geno

I am assuming that you have selected USB on the 'Mode' button?

Then normally unless there is a problem, the Memory Stick starts 'flashing' as it is started and read by the audio system, after turning on the audio system and selecting USB Mode.

If your Memory Stick goes in the box between the front seats then keep the lid open and watch it as you turn on the ignition to see if any LED starts flashing.

Having said that some Memory Sticks do not have an LED fitted that indicates they are working OK.

If there is no LED on the Memory Stick you have then I would be tempted to try another one that has with a couple of songs loaded onto it first to see if that works.

If that doesn't work then maybe you have a loose connection at one end of the cable.

Hope that helps

**volvobuff** · 03-29-2012, 05:59 AM

The USB socket is a bit hinky: it seems to be a bit shallow and won't read some thumb drives -- the ones with longer tongues. Try a different brand with a slightly shorter tongue and I suspect you will be good to download. I always assumed that thumb drives were made to a universal standard, but that is apparently not the case.