USB Audio Mode

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2013 Ford F-550 Super Duty, 2013 Ford F-450 Super Duty, 2013 Ford F-350 Super Duty, and 2013 Ford F-250 Super Duty. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

When a portable media device, such as an iPod® with its available cable or portable mass storage such as a thumb drive, is connected to the vehicle audio system through the USB port, audio from the device can be played through the vehicle speakers. Functions such as volume, seek, fast forward, pause, etc. can be controlled by the vehicle audio controls.

When playing media files stored on a mass storage device such as a flash drive, the SYNC® system only plays files that do not have DRM protection.

In addition to audio information (track length, track number, etc.), metadata (information such as artist, album title, song title, and genre) may also be sent to the APIM from a device connected to the USB port. The APIM uses the metadata to create indexes that can be used to sort for particular music based on the customer's preferences. 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. This reduces the time needed to index the device.

The USB port is powered by the APIM and can be used to power and/or charge a device if the device supports this feature. If the device does not support this feature, an external power source will be needed in order to power the device.

The USB port can also be used to upload vehicle Application upgrades to the APIM from a mass storage device such as a flash drive.