Dumb Question - Why Does My Car Have A USB Port

[Christine]

and why do I need it?

I just got a new car. It's got power outlets, an iPod port with cable and then a "USB port". What use would I have for that?

 

[Scrappygrrl]

You can charge your smart phone via USB, as well as laptops and iPads/tablets. There may be other uses that I am sure others will chime in with!

 

[Christine]

Well considering I have none of these products I guess I don't really need it. I do have a cell phone but I don't believe it has a USB cable. I do have the adapter which I charge through the regular, old-fashioned power outlet. Just wondering what I should do with the USB port.

 

[NBFUN]

We have one in our new car and we use it to charge our IPhone's and IPad. It saved us from having to buy a car charger.

It really does come in handy!

 

[ToyStory Fan]

More than likely it is so that you can load some music onto a USB Flash Drive and play it through your car's stereo system. In some cases you may actually have a hard drive that you can download music onto as well...I think it might be a good idea to read the manual or go back and ask your salesperson for a more thorough delivery walk-through.

 

[Fire14]

My last 2 cell phones had usb chargers, My ipad has usb charger, Ipods have usb chager, even my cheap mp3 player has usb charger.

 

[Golf4food]

You can charge your smart phone via USB, as well as laptops and iPads/tablets. There may be other uses that I am sure others will chime in with!

This. A lot of / most modern portable electronics have USB charging capability. You can charge in the car using your normal charging cables without having to buy a separate car adapter (for the cigarette lighter, for example).

 

[Christine]

This. A lot of / most modern portable electronics have USB charging capability. You can charge in the car using your normal charging cables without having to buy a separate car adapter (for the cigarette lighter, for example).

Hmmm...so my iPod has a USB cable (I did know that) but apparently can't be used on the USB port. I have to use the iPod port with a "special" cable.

 

[RadioNate]

Hmmm...so my iPod has a USB cable (I did know that) but apparently can't be used on the USB port. I have to use the iPod port with a "special" cable.

I use my iPhone with my USB port. Then I can control the iPod part of the phone with the car stereo.

If I use the input cable from the headphone jack, it plays through the stereo but the music is still controlled with the iPod.

 

[vicki_c]

Hmmm...so my iPod has a USB cable (I did know that) but apparently can't be used on the USB port. I have to use the iPod port with a "special" cable.

If you have an AUX port and setting on your radio, you plug in your iPod to that with a cable that plugs into the headphone port on your iPod and you can play it through the car stereo.

The USB port is simply for charging devices that have that capability, which would include your iPhone / iPod. You should be able to use the standard USB cable (wide on one end that goes into your phone, narrow on the other end that plugs into a USB port). This is the same cable that you can also use to plug into the square Apple charging plug you can buy that plugs into the wall. It's just a basic iPhone/iPod USB cable.
(unless your car manufacturer has decided to use some type of non-standard size USB port, but that would seem odd to me - but there are USB and mini-USB)

Edited: Oh I see Nate says you can also play the iPod through the USB port - didn't know that.

 

[DVC-Don]

Also if you have built in GPS, that's how you update the maps.

 

[Cindy B]

I would love a USB port in my car!

I would charge my phone and/or Kindle with it.

 

[Eliza32]

I plug my iPod in and it plays on the car stereo.All of the function work through the steering wheel buttons

 

[DebbieB]

I just got a new Sonata. The IPOD adapter cable didn't come with it, I had to buy it, it was $29. I haven't tried it yet but it will allow me to listen to my IPOD through my radio.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I have a USB port in my car which I use to transfer music files to the hard drive (yes, my car also a hard drive)

 

[DebbieB]

Hmmm...so my iPod has a USB cable (I did know that) but apparently can't be used on the USB port. I have to use the iPod port with a "special" cable.

The one in my car is different than the one you use with a computer. The car end of it has a peg and a bar.

 

[mdsoccermom]

I'd love a USB port in the car. Since I don't have one and hate traditional car chargers, I bought a little gadget at Walmart with 2 USB ports in it that pops into the lighter/outlet. I can charge 2 things at once in the car and don't have to worry about needing car chargers.

 

[Janepod]

More than likely it is so that you can load some music onto a USB Flash Drive and play it through your car's stereo system. In some cases you may actually have a hard drive that you can download music onto as well...I think it might be a good idea to read the manual or go back and ask your salesperson for a more thorough delivery walk-through.

This is what we do. Very handy. The songs and artists show up on the display.

 

[Christine]

Guess I'm just confused as to why I would have an iPod port AND a USB port. Obviously there is some difference.

 

[ToyStory Fan]

Guess I'm just confused as to why I would have an iPod port AND a USB port. Obviously there is some difference.

Not all MP3 players are iPods and if a manufacturer were to include only an ipod connector it would certainly upset folks who use their non-apple smartphones or other non-apple branded mp3 players/devices. Also - ipod shuffles do not utilize the same connection jack as other ipods -they run thru the headphone jack.