I have a 2016 Lexus LS460 with two usb ports in the center console. I cant get them to play music or media from my phone through these ports. If I plug my phone in the port, it will charge my phone, it just wont play any of my media that is on it. If I plug a USB Memory stick into it, it will play the mp3 files on the memory stick. Is this the way it is supposed to work? Is there any way to use apple car play on this? or listen to the music on my phone without bluetooth?

Thanks for any help.

 

Why isn't bluetooth adequate for you? Not a rhetorical question. You can get a GROM Vline2 for CarPlay. It's recommended by many here.

 

Is it Android phone? If it is, try to change USB port settings in your phone to "file transfer" in the Developer Options/Default USB configuration. Otherwise you can play audio through bluetooth once you pair your phone to the car as an audio player and select bluetooth as a source in your audio menu. I haven't tried playing music from the phone VIA USB (I have dedicated memory stick plugged in there), but the bluetooth audio works just fine with both, my phone and tablet.

 

I have no problem playing Apple Lossless files I have on my iphone through the usb port. I can easily navigate through my music using the head unit. I have a 2013.
What file type are you trying to play? Perhaps that is the problem.