Apple Music crazy hard
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Member
Joined: May 2020
Posts: 180
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From: New York
2025 e450
Apple Music crazy hard
So with this free data that we’ve been getting I tried using Apple Music through mbux rather than CarPlay. In my opinion it’s crazy hard to navigate. Especially looking for Apple Music radio. Anyone else feel this way?
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 65
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From: Dubai
2024 Mercedes E200
Yes, agreed. It is very unintuitive and for some reason, inconsistent as well. Sometimes the Apple Music apps turns into "online music" and the UI changes.
However, the quality of music from the native Apple Music app vs Carplay is so much better.
Despite the bad UI, I still prefer it mainly due to the quality of the audio (I do not understand why Carplay audio quality is so poor).
However, the quality of music from the native Apple Music app vs Carplay is so much better.
Despite the bad UI, I still prefer it mainly due to the quality of the audio (I do not understand why Carplay audio quality is so poor).
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2014
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From: Tennessee
W214 E450
I'm not a fan of the UI/UX either. Very hard to find things. There is some good quality atmos tracks but it's pretty limited to newer stuff mostly. I have a 6 month free trial and I won't be paying for it once it expires. I listen to my own music I have on a USB thumb drive most of the time.
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X214
I'm not a fan of the UI/UX either. Very hard to find things. There is some good quality atmos tracks but it's pretty limited to newer stuff mostly. I have a 6 month free trial and I won't be paying for it once it expires. I listen to my own music I have on a USB thumb drive most of the time.
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From: Tennessee
W214 E450
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S-class, E450 W214, E350 W214
You have to load music files on the thumb drive. Normally that is done by taking CDs that you own and ripping them to MP3 or FLAC files to be stored on your computer. I started with using MP3, but have moved to FLAC for the higher quality and lossless format. Then, you tag the files using IDv3 tags so a music player knows the artist, album, and track. It sounds hard if you have never done it, but it's quite easy once you have done a few. Then copy the files to a USB thumb drive and plug that into an available port. MBUX has a USB source for music. I have over 2000 songs stored this way. Some are in Dilby Atmos which sounds incredible, but requires a bit more effort to rip from Blu-ray DVDs.
Last edited by cruise2024; Apr 30, 2025 at 03:47 PM.
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2014
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From: Tennessee
W214 E450
If you have a Mercedes built-in dash cam on your W214, is there any way to specify which USB stick to record the video from the dash cam when a separate USB has also been plugged into another port as music playback source? I have encountered situations where MBUX seems to get confused and complain that there is not enough storage space for the dash cam (presumably because it treats the USB intended for music playback as the one for dash cam video).
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Member
Joined: May 2024
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S-class, E450 W214, E350 W214
Yes, go to the dash cam app and you should see an icon in the lower portion of the screen that looks like a memory stick. If you have an active recording going it will be grayed out. Hit that and you can select the drive. Unless you name the drives when you format them in a way that allows you to identify them, it may be hard to know which to select.
Last edited by cruise2024; Apr 30, 2025 at 04:25 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2014
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From: Tennessee
W214 E450
One other note. I would do a full format (not quick) on the USB drive before using it. When I first started using the dash cam I had issues when it became full. It's supposed to delete old recordings which it did, but not before warning me every time and occasionally switching to my music drive. I did a full format and have not had the issue since. I will occasionally pull it to copy files to my computer and so far, have not had an issue.
Oh, you can tell the car to take a picture and it will using the dash cam and store it in a separate folder on the same drive. I use it if I want to mark a time for me to copy a video due to an event or when it's something nice or memorable I want a picture of. Just say, hey Mercedes, take a picture. You can say, take a selfie if you have the internal camera as well.
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Joined: May 2024
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Soon to be e class
Yes, agreed. It is very unintuitive and for some reason, inconsistent as well. Sometimes the Apple Music apps turns into "online music" and the UI changes.
However, the quality of music from the native Apple Music app vs Carplay is so much better.
Despite the bad UI, I still prefer it mainly due to the quality of the audio (I do not understand why Carplay audio quality is so poor).
However, the quality of music from the native Apple Music app vs Carplay is so much better.
Despite the bad UI, I still prefer it mainly due to the quality of the audio (I do not understand why Carplay audio quality is so poor).
you mean you are connected to car play and instead of just letting the song play, you manually go into Apple Music where it looks like a UI similar to what you’d see on an iPhone, and then you press play and keep the screen there and it has better audio quality?
??
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2018 S560
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2021
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From: Dubai
2024 Mercedes E200
Personally, I am not a big fan of CarPlay so I don’t mind disabling it. Improvement in sound quality is worth it.
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Tennessee
W214 E450
You should not have to turn off AA/ACP to use the native app in MBUX. Just hit the home button, select media, and then Apple Music. ACP or AA can be running in the background and you can even go back to them and use the navigation from it or other non music apps while playing apple music from MBUX. If you start any music app from ACP/AA then it will become the music source for the car.
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Joined: Jan 2021
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From: The Middle of the Fairway
2025 E450 All Terrain Wagon, Nautical Blue Metallic, Macchiato Beige/Black Interior
I dont believe this is correct. I have Android Auto (AA), but it works the same as Apple CarPlay (ACP) in this regard.
You should not have to turn off AA/ACP to use the native app in MBUX. Just hit the home button, select media, and then Apple Music. ACP or AA can be running in the background and you can even go back to them and use the navigation from it or other non music apps while playing apple music from MBUX. If you start any music app from ACP/AA then it will become the music source for the car.
You should not have to turn off AA/ACP to use the native app in MBUX. Just hit the home button, select media, and then Apple Music. ACP or AA can be running in the background and you can even go back to them and use the navigation from it or other non music apps while playing apple music from MBUX. If you start any music app from ACP/AA then it will become the music source for the car.
