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Apple Carplay: Volume adjustment (Also....there's no Carplay topic?)

2017 VW Alltrack with a new iPhone 12.


When you connect the phone via USB cable the volume control does not immediately work. The interface on the dash usually gives a VOLUME level bar when you adjust the volume. However, when you plug your phone in the interface displays a VOICE status bar. I think this is suggesting that the car is expecting an adjustment to the car microphone perhaps for voice command control.


To fix this issue you need to enter an Apple app. via the car interface like Apple music, start a song and then adjust the volume.


This is frustrating because I don't listen to Apple music typically (or ever really)


Thoughts? Firmware updates?

iPhone 12

Posted on Jun 17, 2021 10:05 AM

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Posted on Jun 17, 2021 12:48 PM

This seems incorrect for 2 reasons: the point of CarPlay is to replace the UI on the phone so you can concentrate on driving. All the UI should turn over to CarPlay once attached and worked that way for awhile. The volume control on the car is the master control.


Second, if you use Spotify master volume control doesn’t work unless you force the system to recognize you have plugged your phone in. If you select Apple Music then the master volume control will work as expected.


I have since learned (since this morning) that VW dealership has a firmware version that solves this issue but they charge you to upgrade.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 17, 2021 12:48 PM in response to deggie

This seems incorrect for 2 reasons: the point of CarPlay is to replace the UI on the phone so you can concentrate on driving. All the UI should turn over to CarPlay once attached and worked that way for awhile. The volume control on the car is the master control.


Second, if you use Spotify master volume control doesn’t work unless you force the system to recognize you have plugged your phone in. If you select Apple Music then the master volume control will work as expected.


I have since learned (since this morning) that VW dealership has a firmware version that solves this issue but they charge you to upgrade.

Jun 17, 2021 11:38 AM in response to jmelrod

This is the right place for CarPlay (it is considered an Accessory) and it is working by design. On your iPhone there are two volume adjustments as well for music/audio and ringer. It has both of those so you can adjust say the turn-by-turn directions separately from your other audio sources. For example I use the XMSirius on my car to play music but also use Apple Maps. If I adjust the volume when getting directions it will adjust that volume (voice) but once that stops and I want to turn up the volume to listen to Steve Earle's Copperhead Road at full blast adjusting the volume turns that up.

Apple Carplay: Volume adjustment (Also....there's no Carplay topic?)

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