Thepiazza

Can somebody please explain to me why my radio only displays album art when my iPhone is connected via its cord? I tried BT but with no success. It also won't appear with a USB. I haven't tried the SD slot yet but I'm assuming it won't show up there either. I'm also curious to know what I should expect as far as any photos that might be connected in my contacts list? Will it be the same as album art and only work when the phone is connected via the cord? Thanks in advance!

Glen e

As far as I know, art does not come thru the air.....

Thepiazza

Okay, that's understandable. Have either you or anyone else been able to get it to come through via a USB or SD card connection?

KenHorse

FWIW, album art displays just fine using an SD card

(hint hint)

AFVETTE

How odd, I use my Motorola RAZR paired to my 2013 Volt via BT with MyLink and album art displays.


You'd think the Vette would have all the corporate bells and whistles.

c5eddiem

Thanks for bit of humor in my otherwise typical day!

Ed

ps. album art shows up on SOME of my USB stick albums....

fdxpilot

Not all Mp3s have album art imbedded in the file. I don't know about ITunes. Windows media player can search for album art to imbedded in the file, as well as some freeware Cd ripping programs. EAC, the program I use for ripping, specifically asks if you want to search the web for album art, and then imbeds the jpg into the mp3 file. We use an SD Card in the slot in the console. It has about 4500 songs on it, and about half the songs have art with them. The covers will show up on the dash screen or infotainment screen if you have audio display selected.

Steve Dallas

Depends on whether the art is embedded in the ID3 tag that is part of the .mp3 format.

I believe, though I'm not 100% certain, that iTunes can put the art in a separate file/folder and not actually include it with the .mp3

fredl11

I get album art via my USB. What really surprised me was I was heading down the road and there was my sons picture showed up on my instrument panel and then the phone rang.

Thepiazza

I looked into this a little more this weekend and my investigating showed some definite answers. All the art work that was being captured on my center display was from songs that were file type MPEG Layer 3 Audio. (Songs which I acquired other than iTunes and added my own art.) The album art that wouldn't show up was file type MPEG 4 Audio Files. (Songs downloaded from iTunes.) Looking at both types of files on my computer all songs seem to properly include their art in the properties tab. Not sure what else I can do if anything to make this right!

Thepiazza

I had a couple conversations with the infotainment team at GM and this is what they came up with on this issue.
It looks like it all comes down to compatibility. AAC which is apples file extension is compatible with our cars system and that is why I never have a problem with using my IPhone connected via USB. Once I export my music using iTunes onto either a SD card or USB drive it gets converted to a MPEG4 audio file or M4A which is not compatible with are cars. At this point you will still be able to play the music but any attached artwork will be lost. The only thing I've found to work is to convert the M4A files to MP3 if you like to see your album covers.
As far as Bluetooth goes no album art is transferred over air. I guess this is why pictures attached to my contacts list don't show up in my dash when the call comes through via my Bluetooth connected phone. I'm curious to know what kind of setup fredl11 in post 9 has since he mentioned that he is getting pics to show up through his phone.

AFVETTE

Then why does my iTunes music loaded to my RAZR display on my 2013 Volt? That's the real question.

Thepiazza

Not sure! I can say that at one point during the week I was connected to a GM rep. that told me they were having lots of issues with the pairing of different devices to our cars and that less then five percent of us have been trouble free.

Steve Garrett

So it sounds like a file situation, not a problem with the car's capability.

Buzzardz_vette

I get pics showing up when I get a call as long as I have pic loaded for the contact. The contact list from my phone is synced with the car and I can see it on the phone screen.

I also get album art when using my usb stick.

Thepiazza

What kind of phone? Besides for pairing you phone what other steps did you take to sync it?

Are the songs which display the art formated in MPEG-4 audio/M4A?

fdxpilot

Do you have Itunes on your RAZR or did you export the music from Itunes to the phone? I believe Itunes has the option to export to Mp3 files, which is what my wife did. we have album art on any Mp3 that has the jpg embedded.

Buzzardz_vette

My phone is a Droid Razr. I don't remember doing anything special other than pairing the phone. The contact list synced automatically if I remember correctly. I found this note on page 73 of the Infotainment Manual:

"7. If the phone prompts to accept
connection or allow phone book
download, select Always Accept
and Allow. The phone book may
not be available if not accepted."

Used iTunes to create the USB stick. Not sure what format they are in, but will check and get back to you.

AFVETTE

No I believe when I dragged my entire iTunes library into my RAZR it went into the Android music app. But I thought this discussion was about Art Work not displaying when connected via Bluetooth regardless of OS or manufacture.

So Album Art streamed via BT from iPhones etc don't display buy Andriod do?

Thepiazza

Well so far this week I tried my iPhone connected via Bluetooth on my brothers cruise and my wife's Malibu and have yet to get any album art or photo contact pics to show up. I'm half tempted to ask a stranger next time I see a volt in a parking lot if they would let me pair my iPhone via Bluetooth to see if any artwork is displayed when using my phone.
AFVETTE I guess you just have the lucky combination!