Sporadic issues with 3rd party audio apps and Apple CarPlay

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Level 1

32 points

Sporadic issues with 3rd party audio apps and Apple CarPlay

I have an iPhone XS Max software version 12.3.1, 133.88 GB available out of 256GB storage. Periodically I will have difficulty using Audio apps with Apple CarPlay. The audio apps I have the most trouble with are all up to date according to the App Store and they are:

SiriusXM

Amazon Music

iHeartRadio

Pandora

LiveXLive

Spotify

TuneIn Radio

Deezer

YouTube Music

and sometimes the built in Podcasts app.

I do not have issues with Apple Music or navigation apps like Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze.

What happens is sometimes I just get a black screen on the car play, but the time, LTE signal strength, recent apps and home button are the only things showing down the left side of the screen. I can switch apps or tap the home button and go into other audio apps, but they are black screens as well.

I can fix this by rebooting the phone and it will resolve it for an undetermined amount of time. However when trying to drive that is a little more work than one would deem safe. Also apps can still be controlled by the phone's screen, or if Audio is playing the steering wheel controls on the car can usually go forward or back depending on the audio app's capabilities.

I've seen numerous complains about this issue on various app forums like Amazon and Spotify. I've seen some threads here but I could not respond directly because they were a few months old.

Is anyone running the IOS 13 beta with the new redesigned CarPlay interface? If so, does this CarPlay redesign fix the issues that sometimes plague users with third party audio apps? As a paying subscriber to SiriusXM I've complained (and sent numerous screen shots) to them over the past year and they always just say delete and reinstall the app. I've done that numerous times and it does not solve anything. You can delete the app and reinstall it and still have the black screen. Rebooting the phone is the only answer.

I have a Mazda CX5 with the Apple Carplay / Android Auto add in, though this does not seem to be car specific. I've seen posts on here with Nissan's, Honda's, VW and Audi.

Thanks for your input!

iPhone XS Max, iOS 12

Posted on Jul 19, 2019 3:36 PM

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Answer 1

mapnej

Level 1

4 points

Jul 29, 2019 7:47 PM in response to cypherx

I have a Mazda CX-5 as well. I have this problem with Music, Podcast, and Radio apps. I could manage to clear the RAM on my iPhone Xs but I could only execute Spotify but then after playing a few song the whole screen froze and did now allow me to stop or even change the song.

As you mentioned this issue does not seem to be car specific or maybe a new firmware is required to address this issue on all cars. Not sure whether an iOS or Car Audio firmware could fix this bug.

I also contacted Mazda dealership asked whether they have any new firmware release for CarPlay or not but the answer was negative.

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Answer 2

mapnej

Level 1

4 points

Jul 30, 2019 10:22 AM in response to cypherx

That's right...there are features/bugs to be rectified by iOS 13 but I shall wait till it's stable (September 2019?).

Not sure if anyone from Apple would read all these...Solutions put forward by them are ridiculous...The only thing that worked (temporarily) was to clear the RAM (not restarting the phone though). I did that on iPhone SE and now with Xs but it worked only for a day but then back to the square one.

At least I know that I'm not the only one which is good. Let's see if the new iOS solves the issue.

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Answer 3

cypherx Author

Level 1

32 points

Jul 27, 2019 2:21 PM in response to cypherx

Today’s Screen shot example of the SiriusXM app. Could not do anything on the CarPlay screen. I had to control the app on the phone screen which is more dangerous when driving. Force quitting the app and restarting it didn’t help either.

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Answer 4

cypherx Author

Level 1

32 points

Jul 22, 2019 8:34 PM in response to cypherx

There are some screen shot examples.

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Answer 5

mapnej

Level 1

4 points

Jul 29, 2019 7:49 PM in response to cypherx

I exactly have the same blank screen while running Spotify... This only happens for Sound/Music related apps but not navigation such as Waze or Google Map.

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Answer 6

cypherx Author

Level 1

32 points

Jul 30, 2019 6:57 AM in response to mapnej

Yesterday I had another unusual problem with Sirius XM. I could see the now playing screen, complete with song title, back, pause, forward buttons, but there were NO navigational links in the top to go back to recent or favorites. Meaning the station that was playing was the ONLY station that would play... no way to change the channel unless you dangerously fiddle with the phone while driving.

Yes I updated to IOS 12.4 (16G77) on this iPhone Xs Max (MT612LL/A). I have 103.12 GB of free space, so I do not think its a storage issue. Even on the latest IOS 12.4, this issue occurs and the only fix is to completely power off the phone, and then power it back on. I'm not sure why this continues to go on and on with every single IOS 12 release. I do not recall the issue before IOS 12 because I did not have CarPlay in my Mazda. but in 2017 I rented various VW cars and I think that year IOS 11 was out and my iPhone 7 had no issues back then. I almost think when Apple opened up CarPlay to third party navigation apps, they also buggered up some other CarPlay code. It has to be an IOS issue because this happens with every single third party audio app, written by different developers. I hope the redesigned CarPlay in IOS 13 resolves it. I'm half tempted to install the IOS 13 beta but I use the phone for business as well so I need the rest of the device to remain stable.

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Sporadic issues with 3rd party audio apps and Apple CarPlay

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