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2012 Prius w/HDD nav, iPod playlists question

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by Matt M., Mar 6, 2012.

  1. Matt M.

    Matt M. Member

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    Just like I wrote in my last post, I just got a 2012 Prius Four with solar roof package, and I love it. Just one question... using the iPod interface, which is pretty decent though not perfect, it seems like it completely ignores the playlist folders I have set up on my ipod and just alphabetically lists every playlist on my ipod, no matter what folders I have them arranged into. Does anyone know if there's a way to get the Prius nav interface to see my playlist folders on my ipod? If not I might create duplicate copies of some of my favorite playlists and put "99" at the beginning of each name, so they'll be right at the top of the list when I view it on the Prius.
     
    #1 Matt M., Mar 6, 2012
  2. JoelIrwin

    JoelIrwin New Member

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    If it is like my 2011, the answer is NO. If you are using the USB connector in the middle, it doesn't even sort anything. Rather, it will read the folders in the physical order they were written to your ipod which is NOT necessarily sorted. My Prius USB support (ie the USB tab on the screen), does not understand anything but folders and files. To put it in the order I want, I use a free Windows utility (can't speak for a Mac) called Drivesort. It is used to put the files and folders in the order you want. Now I know a playlist is 'virtual' as it points to files in other folders. Forget about that. You will need to create a folder which is your playlist and then use drivesort to put the tracks in the order you want. Or you can merely have drivesort sort all the tracks in a particular way. Also keep in mind that if your 12 is like my 11, you are limited to 256 tracks per folder. As I recollect, when you connect players to your computer's USB, the player will have a device letter and that is what you will use for drivesort.

    Now your other option if you iPod supports bluetooth audio (I am not an ipod expert), you can merely create a playlist on your iPod and then just play it through the car speakers. On my iPhone 4 with the latest iOs, the track information will also display on the prius screen. I don't know if that is true for all bluetooth connected devices.
     
    #2 JoelIrwin, Mar 6, 2012
  3. Matt M.

    Matt M. Member

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    thanks for the reply. I believe there were significant changes to the ipod interface (and nav in general) between '11 and '12. Mine does have a "playlists" tab, and in fact it does show all of my playlists in the list, sorted alphabetically, which isn't too bad. It's just that I have a lot of them, and on my ipod they're organized in playlist folders like "classical", "rock", "kids' music", etc. but the Prius nav just lists all of the playlists in all of the folders in a flat list. Like I said, it's not TOO bad, just not optimal. So last night I created a new playlist folder on the ipod, "Prius", and duplicated some of my favorite playlists in that folder and renamed each one with "99" at the beginning so they'll all be right at the top of the list on the Prius nav.

    And yes, Bluetooth streaming isn't a bad option either, and just quickly go to the playlist I want on the ipod itself.
     
    #3 Matt M., Mar 6, 2012
  4. NineScorpions

    NineScorpions Economy, Meet Style!!

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    you must have a lot of playlists?
     
    #4 NineScorpions, Mar 6, 2012
  5. Matt M.

    Matt M. Member

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    A clarification about the '12 interface - when you plug in the iPod to the USB jack, you can hit "iPod", which is another tab in the same place as "AM", "FM", "Sat", etc. Then it will start playing whatever song is selected on your ipod and show the track information, but there's also a "Browse" button you can hit. When you press that, another window pops up with tabs like "Playlists", "Songs", "Artists", "Podcasts", etc. It's actually a pretty nice interface.

    Yeah, I create a playlist for each full album I have. I find it much easier to browser through my albums that way and find something to play. The problem with the "Albums" browsing (on the Prius screen, or the iPod itself) is that it lists lots of albums that I only have one song from, whereas I want to be able to scroll through a list of the full albums I have. And when I rip an album from CD, it only takes a second to select the songs and create a new playlist.

    Anyway, that system works great for me on the iPod itself, but not as well on the Prius screen because of the fact that it doesn't seen the playlist folders I have things sorted into.

    Not a big deal, I just thought I'd ask if anyone knew a way for the Prius to show the folders.
     
    #5 Matt M., Mar 7, 2012
  6. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    On my 2012 no nav unit, iPod works pretty well, my folder/playlists in a,b,c order, as does songs, in the order I set them up in iTunes. This also work the same on my iPhone under USB and Bluetooth. On the top right of the screen there is the Browse button and then I can full screen, move down or up about 7 playlist at a time. Or look into each playlist at each song
     
    #6 tach18k, Mar 7, 2012
  7. Matt M.

    Matt M. Member

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    tach18k, so it actually displays your playlist -folders- on the LCD screen in the car, not just the playlists?
     
    #7 Matt M., Mar 7, 2012
  8. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    When I hit Browse, it lists the playlist in alpha order, it will sometimes go back to the same folder your listening in, it will also list each song based on the itunes information which can be edited in iTunes such as track number and name. If you just create folders and put them on the iPod disk without iTunes, that may be your problem. I had a Alpine HU in my truck and it would only see the first 100 songs in each folder, so I had to modify those to 89 songs in each folder.
     
    #8 tach18k, Mar 8, 2012
  9. Matt M.

    Matt M. Member

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    Hmmm. No, I did create my playlist folders in iTunes. But when I browse on the Prius head unit, it lists all playlists that are at the top level and in all of my folders, in one long alphabetized list.
     
    #9 Matt M., Mar 8, 2012
  10. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    Also in the bottom keft corner is a icon for song, that lists the song in each playlist, you can also go after all the other sort list of Itunes, like album, artist and such. The HU will read what was done in Itunes interface. You have have to refigure how you put it together, Mine in iTunes does sort them in abc order, but, your ipod may be set differently, there are 2-3 spots that radomize the playlist that need tweaking. this trough me off casue iTunes showed it correct, but the player did not. Seach Google for setting iPon in abc order, also numbers are first, then letters. Also sort your playlist by track numbers, need to add that in also as it is not a default item in iTunes.
     
    #10 tach18k, Mar 13, 2012
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