Why I (sometimes) hate technology.

[AndrueC]

Since picking my car up last March I've been happily playing music from an iPod Touch all the time I'm driving. The only glitch has been that when I first start the car the Audio is off. But I only have to switch it on and select my iPod and away I go. I had to install an app to perform album shuffle but life was good.

Then yesterday the iPod stopped serving music half way through a journey. No explanation, it just didn't want to play. So I enabled music streaming over bluetooth for my phone and continued the journey using that. When I got home I pulled the iPod out and turned it on. It refused to do anything and insisted that I had to activate it. So I enabled Wifi and connected it to my home wifi and activated it.

After that it would play music but the Corolla would not show album art. This morning it took a long time for the iPod to boot up (over a minute) before it would play music and when it started playing the tracks were in random order. This evening the iPod seemed to boot up in normal time but again no album art and random track order.

So when I got home I checked the iPod out again and there was no demand for activation this time. Finding nothing wrong I just switched the Corolla off and went inside for dinner. Feeling a bit miffed and thinking of just ditching the iPod and using my phone and bluetooth I decided to investigate a bit further. So I turn on the infotainment unit then select my iPod as the source and..up comes album art and apparently shuffling is now by album again.

Answers on a postcard to the usual address, please.

[flash22]

It's an Apple thing

incorrect booting/shutdown or not being shutdown at all makes them do strange things, no doubt when you had it on wifi it did an update and updated its apps, that usually takes a few restarts for it to settle down

Meh.

[AndrueC]

I've spent some time with the iPod again and as you say 'it's an Apple thing'. I suspect that what might have kicked this all off is a low Battery. I've been on holiday for a week and hadn't used the car for eight days. When I brought the iPod into the house it was showing a warning of only 21% Battery.

But while trying to investigate this I encountered:

* A warning that my Apple account was disabled. Apparently that was because the CC details they had showed my card as expired. So I tried to update that which failed (no explanation).

* The shuffle app had not been updated.

* It's now impossible to see a list of installed apps in iTunes anyway. Because (Apple).

* As usual it took ages to work out how to use iTunes to add some more albums to the device. I hate iTunes with a passion - it seems to delight in hiding information and expecting you to take it on faith that it's doing what you need.

* At one point I ended up on a different Apple account page and was allowed to update my CC details. Because (Apple).

* And what is it with Apple security questions? I'm 53 years old, I do not have a favourite colour nor do I have a favourite teacher. Why would I know what town my parents met in? The name of my first pet - I'm 53 damn' years old!

* During all this the shuffle app appears to have updated itself. Because (Apple)

Windows stuff makes sense. Apple stuff does not.

[rafletcher]

I know the name of my fist pet, and I make the rest up. 😁