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Entune Audio: pause/mute trick

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by Puruisi, Aug 31, 2016.

  1. Puruisi

    Puruisi Junior Member

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    So maybe it's not a true easter egg, but today I discovered a feature of the audio system today that I previously did not notice in the manual or on these forums. (I have the Entune Premium system in the Four as a data point.) This is probably a known feature on other Toyota vehicles and not just the Prius.

    You can hold the steering wheel's MODE button down, and it will have different behaviors depending on the audio source currently selected. For CD and Bluetooth audio it will pause. For XM it will mute. (I'm not sure what happens for Pandora/IHeartRadio/Slacker but I assume they also pause). But here's the cool part that surprised me: for FM/AM it will actually pause the radio! And then you can use the on-screen buttons that pop-up to rewind or fast-forward.

    Note that you can also call-up this radio pause/rewind feature from the Entune interface directly. While in the audio screen, in the right section where the information about what's playing is displayed, you will see a small arrow on the right-most part of the screen. You can tap this to bring up the menu. (Honestly did not see that before!)
     
  2. MichelleStone

    MichelleStone Senior Member

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    Thanks! I was wondering how to pause my tunes from the steering wheel. There are times when I really don't want to look down at the audio head. So, you hold it down to make this work?
     
  3. azariastromsis

    azariastromsis Junior Member

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    Yep! Hold down mode for two to three seconds. My old car had a mute function that I adored, so it was one of the first things I learned how to do when I got my Prius.
     
  4. MichelleStone

    MichelleStone Senior Member

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    I've been using the mode button to change the source... it cycles back around to where I was when I want to resume. I'm anxious to try this press and hold method!
     
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  5. krmcg

    krmcg Lowered Blizzard Pearl Beauty

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    I just successfully tried this. Another Prius enhancement.
     
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  6. MichelleStone

    MichelleStone Senior Member

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    I want to know how to get to my playlists and sorting options through a bluetooth connection to my Android phone. I'm an Apple person and I bought the Android just before the Prius. My iPod is easy through the USB connection. I haven't tried the USB connection with the Android yet, since I don't have a cable for it.
     
  7. Scuderia Priusi

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    +1! A Most Excellent discovery, what a nice Easter Egg!

    Since this car is firmware-updateable, features like this can come later, or...be removed later, since they are 'un-documented'. I have hopes for more goodies like this to both be revealed in the future, and introduced as we go with updates.
     
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  8. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

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    Is this behavior new? I think the Mode button on the Gen-2 and Gen-3 also would pause the CD or mute the radio.
     
  9. krmcg

    krmcg Lowered Blizzard Pearl Beauty

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    It doesn't mute the radio, it stops/suspends it. You can pick it up from where it stopped by pushing the play button.
     
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  10. MrMischief

    MrMischief Active Member

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    I believe the pause is on HD radio channels only, but I haven't played with AM or regular FM stations to test it. Pressing the..... I think it's eject button.... just to the right of the CD slot, accomplishes the mute as well on XM. Pretty sure this is all in the manual
     
  11. gvp1995

    gvp1995 Active Member

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    This is exactly what I was missing yesterday! Great discovery. This is why I love this forum ;)
    Looking forward to test it tonight. How did you figure it? By experimenting? Or did something similar exist on other cars?
     
  12. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yes. In the Gen 2 and 3, pressing and holding the MODE button would turn off the audio system.

    It's the play/pause button. The Eject button is to the left of the CD slot.
     
  13. KimPrius3

    KimPrius3 Member

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    I got the AT package in my new Prius, then I bought a new phone for my new Prius, and today I bought a new watch for my new phone. Now I need to research in the tech section on here to learn how to get the screen on my phone to show up on the screen in my car. And then have all sync with my watch. . . . :confused::unsure::cool:
     
  14. krmcg

    krmcg Lowered Blizzard Pearl Beauty

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    AM yes.
     
  15. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    There's no AndroidAuto or Apple CarPlay so they only way to do screen mirroring is this:

    Smartphone iOS & Android Mirroring Interface for 2016 Toyota Prius - PriusChat Shop
     
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  16. Puruisi

    Puruisi Junior Member

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    Nope. Not just HD channels. The pause feature works on AM and regular FM too.
     
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  17. grape808

    grape808 Active Member

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    Thanks, I'm going to have to give this a try, both with the radio and usb. I have mainly been using my ipod and a usb flash drive.

    [strike] I haven't quite figured out but it seems as though pressing the volume knob just mutes the volume but doesn't stop the ipod/flash drive playback. With my old car I was used to just clicking the volume button off when I reach my destination or when I'm pulling into the parking lot and don't want to disturb my neighbors. It functioned as a power button for the whole stereo. So if the steering wheel Mode button works to actually pause the usb, I'll start using this instead. I don't like fumbling through the screen while driving.[/strike]

    Never mind, the volume knob does pause the usb. Not sure why I didn't think it did.

    The mode button did indeed pause live FM radio and the screen that comes up seemed to indicate a 20 minute buffer. Pressing the mode button again started up my usb drive instead of unpausing the FM radio. Tried again and there are controls on screen to unpause the FM radio but that's not safe while driving. I will probably use the mode to pause the usb now.
     
    #17 grape808, Sep 6, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2016
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  18. BLITZ XW50

    BLITZ XW50 Member

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    Anyone that has tested this have any idea of when you pause the live radio does it reset when the car shuts off or would you have playback capabilities the next time you drive the car?
     
  19. MrMischief

    MrMischief Active Member

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    It ends when the car is shut off
     
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  20. Pedritho

    Pedritho Junior Member

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    If you are listening to Pandora, and you press and hold the previous track button it will thumbs down and if you hold the next track button it'll thumbs up.
     
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