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iPod Album Art on 2012 Prius Two Display Audio?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by foscho, Mar 17, 2012.

  1. foscho

    foscho Junior Member

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    I was wondering if anybody with the base-model 2012 Prius has gotten their album art from their iPods to be displayed on the touch screen (regular old Display Audio - no Entune or Navigation).

    When I plug-in an iPod Classic via USB, I can control and browse the music library easily from the steering wheel and touch screen, and most of the song data is displayed (title, artist, album, etc.), but there is a little icon with a couple eighth-notes in it that looks like it should/could be displaying some album art. Additionally, if I connect my iPhone through Bluetooth and stream audio, I lose the browsing controls, but can still see track title and artist, and the 'Notes' icon is replaced with the Bluetooth symbol - no album art.

    Is album art display supposed to be a feature of the stock Display Audio system? If so, is there a way for me to reformat the iPod to display the album art? If not, is there any way to get rid of the generic notes icon? I'm unclear what its purpose is, and it annoys me because it constantly reminds me that album art is not being displayed.

    Thanks for any help and responses!
     
  2. termite

    termite New Member

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    This has nothing to do with Entune/Nav as far as I understand.
    My experiments so far show the album arts are indeed displayed for certain songs in my playlists but not for others. I know not all of my songs have album arts encoded into the songs in exactly the same way, size etc. So my guess is that display audio
    system in the Prius 12 expects the album arts in certain size/format in the song and that
    should be the reason why I can only see them for some.
    When I have some more time I plan to dig a bit deeper into this to find out more ..
    If anyone else have better info. please share.
     
    1 person likes this.
  3. NineScorpions

    NineScorpions Economy, Meet Style!!

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    is this exclusive for the 2012? I do not see this available on my 11 :(
     
  4. foscho

    foscho Junior Member

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    AFAIK, one of the changes between the '11 and '12 Prius Two models was that touch screen Diplay Audio and iPod integration came standard (you can plug in your iPod via USB->Apple connector without buying the adapter cable). Does your '11 have a touch screen head unit, or a buttons/knobs type head unit?

    EDIT: Nevermind that last question, I read your sig. It looks like you have the navigation, so all my knowledge is out, cause I wasn't looking at those premium models. I'm too poor! ;) The iPod integration thing may hold true still, but I really have no clue.

    Disclaimer: I was also shopping '11s, but I'm definitely not 100% certain about that last claim. Definitely still a Prius n00b.
     
  5. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    Mine works fine, you must have the jpg images in each playlist for them to show up, also in the setup button on the right side of display you need enable the show pictures/image.
     
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  6. jkshow

    jkshow New Member

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    I can verify that it works for my iPod Touch (Second Generation) via USB. When the album art displays on my iPod correctly, it will load into the Display Audio screen (takes a few seconds.) I have a 2012 Canadian base model with the touch screen Display Audio.

    I'm now working on getting the album art to display via USB flash drive and will post later.
     
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  7. foscho

    foscho Junior Member

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    Album art has since started working for me after modifying my audio display settings to turn on "Display Embedded Images" (doh!). After a cursory scan of my music library, every album tested displays art after a lag of a couple of seconds, as long as I've added some via iTunes.

    I've also tested two different methods of adding art to the music files via iTunes: First, I let iTunes fill in album art for anything that it recognizes, and second, I manually add any missing album art (by selecting all songs from an album, right-clicking for Info, and then pasting in a jpeg from Amazon/Google in the album art area). I have no idea if this affects the metadata of the song, but both methods appear to display album art as far as I can tell!
     
    AandMev and idbug like this.
  8. Hank101

    Hank101 Member

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    Can you tell me how to access the "Display Embedded Images" setting?
     
  9. foscho

    foscho Junior Member

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    My bad. It's actually called "Display Captured Images". I was trying to do it from memory, but it's the same thing that the previous poster mentioned.

    First, located the 'Setup' button to the right of your Display Audio screen,
    and click on it. Then, select 'General' on the touch screen, and on the following screen toggle 'Display Captured Images' from Off to On. I also turned on Animations, but I'm not sure if that affected the album art at all.
     
  10. 1080p60

    1080p60 New Member

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    Related: My iPhone 4 displays album art when connected via USB with or without Bluetooth connected. When both are enabled, album art is displayed but audio ONLY comes through the Bluetooth selection. In addition, the Bluetooth selection does not allow for browsing and album art from the iPhone. IMHO this is a big oops as all USB and Bluetooth functionality should remain when both are connected. Really a hassle to switch to "iPod" to browse, then back to Bluetooth to listen. I have to have them both enabled for the phone functionality and charging. ;)
     
  11. foscho

    foscho Junior Member

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    Yeah, that seems like poor design. Can you not get phone functionality through the USB alone?
     
  12. 1080p60

    1080p60 New Member

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    That is correct: USB = iPod, Bluetooth = Phone
     
  13. jkshow

    jkshow New Member

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    here are some pics of the Canadian Base model that another member asked me to post.

    [​IMG]

    This is the Display Audio screen on the 2012 when playing music from a USB stick. The display indicates the folder name (album) the file name (song) and the artist name taken from the ID3 tag in the MP3 file.

    I cannot get album art to display on USB songs.

    The Prius displays the order of the folders (albums) by the date they are put in the file when first written on your computer. To get around this, I used a free and very small Windows program called mp3DirSorter

    [​IMG]

    This is the display when an iPod/iPhone is playing through the USB cable. Album art displays after a short lag and playlists are available from your iPod. You cannot control your iPod on the iPod itself. Steering wheel controls skip back and forth between songs.

    [​IMG]

    This is the screen when playing an iPod Touch second generation via Bluetooth. There is no album art and the only options are to pause, play and skip songs. However, your iPod is fully usable in this mode.

    I used MediaMonkey to clean up MP3 tags.

    The stereo in the Cdn base Prius sounds great, and has six speakers, contrary to what Toyota.ca currently implies.

    If anyone finds a way to get album art to display on a USB stick or can recommend the best software for managing music on a USB stick for a car, let me know.

    Because the USB jack is hard to see and access on the '12, I use a short dollar store USB extension cable and leave it plugged into the jack.
     
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  14. PhysicsGuy

    PhysicsGuy Junior Member

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    For Android users, FYI, got my 2012 Prius III yesterday and my Droid X paired flawlessly; automatically importing contacts, etc and all album art shows when playing through bluetooth using the stock android music player. No lag either, shows immediately with each new song.
     
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  15. Hank101

    Hank101 Member

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    Still can not view album art from USB, on any song. Can someone share details on art type, size, embeding, ect...

    I am using Windows Media Player, with both WMA and MP3 files, and the album art is visible in the media player on my computer. I sync the music files to my USB stick.

    Thanks
     
  16. pearl2012

    pearl2012 New Member

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    Just got it to work with my iPhone 4S. Awesome addition- so glad I saw this thread! :)
     
  17. kyle5434

    kyle5434 Junior Member

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    Hank,

    I don't think the album art will display when playing from a basic USB drive. I've tried, too (putting a folder.jpg in each folder). The album art appears to be an iPod-only feature - it works great when I connect my iPod Classic.

    I read in several places online that iPods, when kept out of the sun, are pretty robust for car usage even in fairly extreme heat (or cold for that matter). The main issue appears to be that the iPod's battery will tend to degrade more quickly when it's connected to a power source most of the time, meaning it will be fine going forward is long as it's connected to a power source, but less so as a "portable" player as the battery life declines. So I bought a 2nd Classic to keep in the center console of the Prius 24x7. ;) It will allow me to keep my entire MP3 collection (~135 GB ) in the car at all times.

    Someone else mentioned MediaMonkey. As a basic program for moving music (including the cover art) to the iPod, it beats the pants off the bloated and piggish iTunes. I uninstalled iTunes and haven't looked back.

    Kyle
     
  18. Hank101

    Hank101 Member

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    Sound like a good idea. Do you run the ipod throught the usb?, do you also power it via the usb?

    I would like to retain the head unit controls.

    Thank,
     
  19. kyle5434

    kyle5434 Junior Member

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    Yes, USB connection, for both audio and power. (Actually, the iPod Classic doesn't have bluetooth, so that's not an option.) It's nice that the USB cable can both power the device and carry the audio to the head unit.

    I'm honestly not a big Apple fan in general - I've had MP3 players since before the iPod was even a gleam in Steve Jobs' eye, and I've never liked their "walled garden" approach. But I had been wanting a portable player that would hold my entire MP3 collection, and the Classic offered the most bang for the buck, so I relented and got one last year.

    I'm using CDRW discs for in-vehicle podcast listening, since they're easy to cycle in and out of the vehicle and reuse. My podcast content changes more often than my music content, and I can quickly switch back and forth between sources on the head unit.
     
  20. Watzman

    Watzman Junior Member

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    I'm a bit of a newbie with the car, having had my 2012 Prius 2 only 21 days. I am not a newbie, however with iPhones. Anyhow, bear with me.

    Using an iPhone 4s, connected to the Display Audio system with both BlueTooth and the USB, I can use both sources to play audio as well as use the phone. What I found is the setting on the phone. Try this...

    Make sure your phone is plugged in to the USB connector.
    If not already, run the Music program and you should get that blank "Dock Connector" screen. Bottom right is a small blue square with an arrow.
    Tap that and a connection dialog should pop up, having a couple choices:
    Car Multimedia (this is your BlueTooth)
    Dock Connector (this is your USB connection)

    Pick accordingly.

    Neal