USB - not charging, only for music?
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Mine works fine on iPhones (i'm using a stock standard USB -> lightning cable I bought on Amazon). I actually prefer to use the USB rather than the specialized MB lightning adaptor cable so that the phone doesn't hijack the radio whenever I plug it in.
I'll often leave a navigation app (like Waze) up and running, plugged into USB for power, and connected via Bluetooth so that when traffic alerts etc come through it will pause whatever is playing (to read the alert) and then resume right after. Works great!
That USB socket also powers a Verizon hotspot puck sometimes, when I have international passengers with no cell phone signal. They all love having WiFi so that they can FaceTweet on long road trips to the mountains.
I'll often leave a navigation app (like Waze) up and running, plugged into USB for power, and connected via Bluetooth so that when traffic alerts etc come through it will pause whatever is playing (to read the alert) and then resume right after. Works great!
That USB socket also powers a Verizon hotspot puck sometimes, when I have international passengers with no cell phone signal. They all love having WiFi so that they can FaceTweet on long road trips to the mountains.
Last edited by Thimee; Feb 18, 2016 at 07:29 PM.
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The USB port has to be powered by definition - it's the amount of current it is able to supply. You're better off getting a charger that plugs in the lighter socket instead of building a regulated +5V supply (for which you'll need to get a +12V and ground from somewhere that can supply an extra 1-2A, and in addition you'll have to worry about proper heat dissipation as the voltage regulator WILL heat up a fair bit) and frankensteining it to the existing USB port on the car.
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The USB port has to be powered by definition - it's the amount of current it is able to supply. You're better off getting a charger that plugs in the lighter socket instead of building a regulated +5V supply (for which you'll need to get a +12V and ground from somewhere that can supply an extra 1-2A, and in addition you'll have to worry about proper heat dissipation as the voltage regulator WILL heat up a fair bit) and frankensteining it to the existing USB port on the car.
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In that case you might want to look into getting somethign along the lines of this:
If you do want to dig, you can get the power form the lighter socket (internally - under the cupholders), poke a small hole in the armrest storage bin for the wires and place the hub there. That way you get both the data connection and power to four USB ports instead of just one. The only thing that's an unknown is how the COMAND system will react if/when it sees more than one USB device through the hub if you ever plug in two phones for example and enable storage access on both (the worst case being that you many be unable to use either one - you're not goign to fry anything).
If you do want to dig, you can get the power form the lighter socket (internally - under the cupholders), poke a small hole in the armrest storage bin for the wires and place the hub there. That way you get both the data connection and power to four USB ports instead of just one. The only thing that's an unknown is how the COMAND system will react if/when it sees more than one USB device through the hub if you ever plug in two phones for example and enable storage access on both (the worst case being that you many be unable to use either one - you're not goign to fry anything).
