IOS 14 CarPlay Audio Issue (crackling sounds)

Took my Skoda Fabia into the dealership today for another issue and asked them to update the firmware of the head unit and it resolved the issue. Skoda know and there is a TPI out so it’s covered by warranty.

Anyone who tells you to change cables or changing anything on your phone is a moron. It has nothing to do with your phone but with your head unit.

head unit software version is now 8755. It works. Finally.

I FOUND A SOLUTION! I have a Skoda Fabia 2019 and have been experiencing crackling after 2-3 minutes of play since iOS 14 came out. I finally took it into the dealership, and they said there was a CarPlay update released in October 2020. When they applied that update the issue went away!

Well I have had this problem for the longest time also and it was driving me crazy the clipping, distortion, crackling that was constantly happening everytime I hooked up via a lightning connector and Apple car play in my car.

Well it would appear that this may now be resolved by switching the following setting in Settings>Music>Cellular Streaming. As soon as I changed this from High Quality setting over to High Efficiency setting the issue seems to no longer be present. Go figure after years of this frustration and searching for an answer.

**UPDATE: iOS 14.6**

Hey all, was experiencing these issues as well no matter what I did. Check update for 14.6. After installing, in the Music settings I have options for Lossless Audio under Audio Quality section. Has only been a day or two but haven’t had any crackles so far.

Lol to the guy throughout this thread continuously telling people it’s their car not Apple. Looks like it in fact was iOS as the latest update addresses the issue and adds options for Audio Quality to the Music settings. Enjoy CarPlay again guys and gals!

I finally got this resolved at the dealer! Turned out to be a set of bad USB ports on my car. GM even changed out the radio in hopes of fixing it that way. The USB port replacement put an end to the problems for me.

I was having the same issue, it somewhat fixed itself when I got a new cable. The one I was using still works in my car perfectly fine, just didn’t cooperate with apple carplay in the Kia I drive for work. Only issue I have now is when I try to look at what’s currently playing on the touch screen.

I have had similar issue in Seat but what worked for me was changing the Music -> Sound Check option (or whatever it is called - I have Polish version). It is the one below "EQ" in iOS 14.4.

Hoping it will work for others :)

So I have been doing a test this week with mine. I will only use Spotify or another music app on my iPhone 12 Pro. I will not use any of the navigation apps (Waze, Maps, Google Maps) and the music has not crackled, popped, or gotten static. Now as soon as I launch a navi app on my phone, BOOM!! Music starts sounding like you know what with crackling and such. So it is either a software conflict on the IOS or with my trucks radio.

so finally got an update at the Skoda garage that fixed the crackling. I refused to update my phone for weeks in fear that it would break CarPlay again but today I updated my phone to iOS 15.1 and CarPlay seems fine!! So I think you’re safe to update if you haven’t done so already

I was having the same issue on iOS 14. Thought it might be the cable or USB port, but I tested on my friend’s iPhone with iOS 13 and it worked fine. I’ve now updated to iOS 15 and I think it fixed the problem for me. Haven’t noticed any crackling noises since.

Ask your dealer to upgrade the firmware of your head unit. This works for all VAG cars and I would think most other cars.

Change the music setting in ( EQ ) into ( late night settings ) …worked perfect for me

I can confirm that after upgrading the firmware of my Skoda Fabia to 8755 the problem has disappeared

ashanGTR,

Backing up your iPhone and reinstalling the software may help. The following article has the steps on how to backup your iPhone: 

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

By using the steps as listed under the heading "Put your device in recovery mode and set it up again" from the following article you can reinstall the software on your iPhone: 

If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Take Care.

Automakers vary upon whether they can do "over the air" firmware updates; FCA can but Samsung and most others cannot.

When a new version of firmware is released for your entertainment system, your dealer has to flash it.

Sadly, many dealers are not even aware new firmware exists; for Kias many dealers stubbornly said there was no such update until someone posted the actual Kia notice that there was here and people printed it out and handed it to their dealers.