USB Audio Mode

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2014 Ford F-150. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

The USB port can be used for connecting a media device (such as an iPod®) with the device's available cable, or for directly plugging in a portable mass storage device, such as a thumb drive. When playing media files stored on a mass storage device, the SYNC® system only plays files that do not have DRM protection. The USB port can also be used for uploading vehicle application upgrades. The USB port is powered by the APIM , so no external power source is needed to power a device plugged into the USB port if the device supports this feature.

In addition to audio information, metadata (information such as artist, album title, song title, and genre) may also be sent to the APIM from a device plugged into the USB port. The APIM uses the metadata to create indexes that can be used to sort for particular music, based on customer preference. Not all USB devices can send metadata to the APIM . When a new media device is connected to the SYNC® system, the APIM automatically indexes the information. This may take several minutes (depending on the amount of data on the device), and is considered normal operation. When a device that was previously connected to the SYNC® system is reconnected, the APIM updates the index (rather than creating a new one), which reduces the amount of time needed to index the device.