Wireless Carplay issues once moving to IOS 14, 14.0.1 and then 14.1 (No issue when I had IOS 13.7)

Be advised, here in the USA KIA finally admitted to this Apple Carplay problem. Even after KIA sent out this software update, my KIA dealer was insisting there was no such update. Finally after I was tired of bringing my 2021 KIA Sorento Hybrid back to the dealership, i told them I would take legal action. 2 hours later we received a call from them and they said they found the update. (See screen shots of the update attached. But just so you know, even though I had initially had no disconnects, it started doing it again. I am writing to let you all know that there is an update for this problem put out by KIA, this to me admits it is a KIA problem and not an Apple problem, besides, Apple would have given KIA the API months in advance so KIA could have their programs design the KIA software to work flawlessly with APPLE. But they blew it.

No one on this forum can tell you anything about Beta software, so you'll not get an answer about 14.2. And Apple has never supported downgrading iOS, so that's not going to happen either.

Have you contacted Kia to see if your car system has an update for iOS 14? This may be a compatibility issue between the head unit and your car with the newest iOS version on your phone. Kia would have to address this, NOT Apple.

Unfortunate timing that Apple has also released iOS 14.3 contemporaneously with the Kia bugfix. I poured through Apple's 14.3 release notes and CarPlay wasn't mentioned. Kudos to Dfitzg0u812 for verifying that the disconnect issue is still present after the latest iOS update. Please report back after your dealer has reflashed the infotainment unit.

Varied. Sometimes every 2-3 minutes, other times every 30 minutes or so. I now have the Kia update and iPhone updated to 14.4 (latest). I then disconnected all connections, rebooted iPhone and head unit, resynced and all seems to be working. Waiting for glitch to return but so far so good!

In order to clarify the issue and avoid further “plug it in” advice, the late 2020 and current 2021 8” screens used in Hyundai/ Kia base models DO NOT have plug in functionality for CarPlay. The only option available to owners at present with the new 8” head unit is traditional Bluetooth functionality for phone / music. There is NO WORKABLE CarPlay option.

Wireless CarPlay is an advertised feature that owners of new cars have been unable to use for up to six months with NO COMMS from Hyundai/Kia.

I appreciate the complexity of testing iOS and hardware compatibility, but surely the latest iOS with the latest hardware should have required sign off. The immediate negative feedback from new car owners should have then been rapidly escalated to the highest levels within Hyundai/ Kia technical, customer experience and communication teams so that the reputational risk could be managed. Instead I have experienced disjointed communications and wasted two days bringing my car back to a dealership for a global problem that they weren’t aware of/ couldn’t fix.

Driving a 2021 Kia K5. Had same issues with disconnecting. Dealer ran update (twice) and about 80% better. Still disconnects randomly on long trips and music cuts in and out. Don’t think it has anything to do with this issue but saw this article this morning. Ran update but have not tried in car yet. https://news.google.com/articles/CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmF1dG9ldm9sdXRpb24uY29tL25ld3MvYXBwbGUtcmVsZWFzZXMtbmV3LWlwaG9uZS11cGRhdGUtd2l0aC1nb29kLW5ld3MtZm9yLWNhcnBsYXktdXNlcnMtMTYxODQ3Lmh0bWzSAQA?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

With the latest update from Kia already installed....

I update to iOS 14.7 and deleted the car from the phone and the phone from the car. Paired them up again and day 2 not a glitch. Doesn't mean its gone but so far so good.

Which is strange as other posters have mentioned Kia has a software update overseas that fixes the issue:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251967793?answerId=254287023022#254287023022

Did 14.6 and 14.7 updates problems magically disappeared car play has been working perfectly for a week fingers crossed 2021 Kia K5 GTline.

I have opened case with Kia and below

Is the reply from them

“After reviewing your case and doing some research, this seems to be a Apple IOS issue. If you google Apple Wifi problems (Apple designed ACP to work over Wifi) the Apples developer forums are full of issues with customers with this same issue, across many connected devices including Head Units in the car. You will have to wait for Apple to develop an update and release it.”

The iOS update to 14.3 did nothing to assist either.

I heard back from Kia Au again today. There is a software upgrade for my car. They contacted the dealership to give some set of special instructions when I bring it in.

So I’ve had the Kia k5 for about two months almost and i accidentally found out that if you are in an emergency situation on the road and need the map showing, putting your iphone on airplane mode (GPS chip is still active but cellular service is off) and will keep the phone from disconnecting (Download your music if that’s something you need as well) It’s not a solution as much as it is a tip just in case...hope they fix it sometime soon.

After many conversations with Apple, as well as them tracking the data on my phone for a week. ( monitoring the issue each time it occurred) I was told-“the Kia software is incompatible with the current IOS software” “apple is not working on it and no fix is forthcoming”

Wheels are in motion with Kia to buyback my lease (lemon law)

I'm wondering if the W-ACP disconnects have something to do with WiFi interference or the amount of bandwidth the CarPlay apps need versus the amount they get from the system. For example, are these disconnect problems happening on country roads or only in congested urban areas where interfernce is common?

As I understand it, wireless CarPlay starts with a bluetooth handshake where credentials are exchanged and a WiFi connection is negotiated. Then the head unit is responsible for providing the WiFi hotspot that the iPhone will join using the credentials provided by the head unit. WiFi is needed to provide the broadband connection that many CarPlay apps need. Bluetooth just doesn't cut it for this application. Depending on the head unit design, this WiFi hotspot may be provided exclusively for CarPlay use or may be shared with other WiFi devices in your car.

Unlike iOS, you can get fairly sophisticated free or freemium WiFi signal monitoring apps for Android. iOS is more restrictive about what data WiFi monitoring apps have access to regarding the WiFi environment. For example, they can't give you bandwidth utilization information about a WiFi network that your phone hasn't joined.

A monitoring app such as some of the ones I linked above, will help you assess if other strong signal WiFi networks are sharing the channel that your head hotspot uses for the W-ACP iPhone connection. If the foreign signal is strong enough, it could potentially be interfering with your hotspot's connection stability. With the monitoring app, you can also tell if your iPhone and head unit are using wideband 5GHz WiFi channels or are settling for the lower bandwidth 2.4 GHz channels. Note that signal strength is measured in dBM and is usually a negative number. The more negative, the weaker the signal.