Apple CarPlay not working after iOS 15.2 update

Ok so I get an update on the phone and suddenly CarPlay doesn’t work. My husband has the same phone and the same update and his isn’t working correctly either. With a totally different vehicle. His hasn’t worked since he updated to the iOS 15 series in general. And there are TONS of other ppl experiencing the same thing. I searched for hours through other peoples questions and used everyone’s advice to try and solve this myself. To no avail. AND my vehicles infotainment system is updated to its latest software because I took it in and they can’t help me. They said the problem isn’t in the vehicle, it has to do with the update and I’m not the first to have this issue. But thanks anyways!!!!!

I am pulling the update right now. I will let everyone know if this fixes my issue.

After several attempts at trying to fix this myself, I have come to some more understanding of this glitch. I still don’t know why it’s happening. So, when I’m using straight up Bluetooth as a connection, NO CORD, the glitch happens if I use the command button on the steering wheel to prompt Siri. Siri comes up like normal, I ask Siri to place a call, Siri places call but nothing comes out of speakers and the recipient receives the call but once they answer, all they hear is a very annoying static/buzz. Now my husband discovered that there’s a touch button that looks like a phone on the infotainment system that is capable of switching the phone call from car to phone and back and forth. This button has to be toggled on then back off again, and then suddenly the call comes through the car like normal. It’s so odd. Secondly, if I use the same command button on the steering wheel to let’s say, have Siri send a message with dictation, siri will send the message just fine, but usually siri hangs up the “call” and returns to music or whatever when the message has been sent. NOW, after the 15.2 update, it loops back and asks for another command, in which I say cancel and siri replies with “theres nothing to cancel” and then waits for another command. So I let it go thinking it will just shut off on its own. But nope, it loops back and waits for a command. I have to physically hit the hang up command button on the steering wheel. This is also new after the update.

Now, if I straight up use the Apple USB cord and hook my phone up directly, everything seems to work fine, even through the steering wheel. So I think it’s safe to say that the glitch lies in the Bluetooth connectivity feature. I have tinkered with all the settings and it’s still there. I’m hoping this update fixes the issue. Otherwise my only solution is to make sure my phone is always plugged into the car directly. It’s sad because I love the idea of getting into my car, with my phone in my purse and not having to even think about getting that all connected because it normally did it without me touching anything. I would get in my car and go without even knowing my phone is connecting and things are ready to go. So now I have to make sure I plug my phone in or it won’t work right. I really hope this gets fixed. It’s so odd in how it’s malfunctioning, I will say that! It’s not a consistent “glitch” because CarPlay is working, but it’s not at the same time.

I will post again once I use it with the new update.

Thank you for all the replies, hopefully we can figure it out!!!

Well, update 15.2.1 has been installed and the issue still persists with the Bluetooth connection feature. It seems to be unable to automatically switch to the car as it’s form of audio. But it also isn’t on the phone or speaker either. It just doesn’t switch to any form of audio when a call is placed. I just don’t know. I’m not a tech genius but I would like to think I’m not completely tech ignorant either. This is just beyond my range of diagnosis I suppose. I will keep playing with settings to see what I can find but at this time, I cannot use the voice command button with Bluetooth connectivity to make a call without this “glitch” happening. I will have to plug the phone into the car directly and do it that way because as of right now, that allows me to fully utilize CarPlay the way it’s intended. I imagine if I had an iPhone 13, the update would have helped because I believe the 15.2.1 update was intended for 13 users that had CarPlay issues. I was hopeful it would have somehow helped this issue as well. Either way, I’m just glad I have found a workaround to this issue.

The command loop is also still there when connected to Bluetooth but it doesn’t do this when connected to the cord. So I think it’s safe to say that Bluetooth is where my issue resides. I don’t have any issues with my other Bluetooth devices (Apple Watch, Beats, Wonder Booms, etc) so I don’t feel it’s a hardware issue. Everything works fine otherwise. Oh well! Thanks for all the help and if anyone finds any other information that may help, let us know!

Yeah the update didn’t help. I think at this point it was intended for iPhone 13 users but I’m seeing that even some of them didn’t get a CarPlay solution out of that update either. The voice command button is like the whole purpose of “handsfree” and keeping your eyes on the road but since it doesn’t work, it’s just silly. I can solve the glitch by using my lighting cord but it’s such a pain cuz I always forget to plug my phone in…since it’s always in my purse, (why I loved Bluetooth connectivity over cord!!!). It’s just a huge disappointment and I regret updating my phone now. I know we need the security updates and that’s why I feel I had to update. I found out that the original 15 iOS actually caused security issues so I wanted to wait until that was resolved to update to 15.2 version and now I regret it simply because it has caused some other issues too as well as CarPlay. Battery drain, battery life drain, (10% in one week of average 2 hours of daily use) screen freezes, phone randomly shuts off…honestly I want to plug this thing in and revert back to iOS 14. I had NO ISSUES with 15. Now I have a laundry list that’s just a disappointment. Taking it in to tech shop doesn’t do any good either because they literally say “it’s the update, it broke the iPhones, nothing we can do but wait for Apple to get out of the mud and fix it.” No one can help us but Apple.