Pixelated screen using Apple CarPlay

Hmmmph!🤔 Noticed that if I open carplay and google maps and leave the vehicle parked up that the pink screen / pixelation issue does not arise …even after an hour.

But when I move off - 5 mins later the issue arises same as everyone else.

also, I got the use of a brand new van with same hardware and software update as my own and the problem did not happen.

I think that points towards a hardware issue - not soft/firmware.

This conversation is becoming a little bit "hot". I know this issue is annoying.

I will add my bit of information to the thread.

I'm a owner of a Seat Leon, 2020. MIB3 installed on Head Unit.

I started getting the "pixelation" only using Waze.

But not immediately, at the end of 2012, after a Waze update, while I was on iOS 15.

After 6 months, it started to pixelate even Google Maps, after an update (still iOS 15).

You can find other users in the same situation, here

I disabled the carplay intergration of both Apps, so at least I can use them on the phone, with driving directions on the speakers and having other (working) apps on Carplay Display.

Never experienced any issue with Apple Maps.

I upgraded to iOS 16, with no change.

But it seems that iOS 16 exacerbated the issues to a wider "audience".

Cabled or wireless, doesn't change the problem.

I'm a software engineer, with more than 20 years of experience on my shoulder. I think that @Desmoben1

partially got the point.

The problem is a combination of unlucky occurences.

Navigation Apps stream video from the phone to the carplay device.

On the Car Head Unit, there is probably a system-on-chip hardware, decoding video, that is not working very well with the new library introduced by Google in their Navigation Apps.

Do you noticed any other app having similar issues ? nope. Only Google Apps.

So, the point is that Google is probably not going to "rollback" the library, the user affected are less than users without issues (probably). It will be a risk to change the streaming library, for other car-makers.

Is Google interested solving an issue with an Apple Device ? So and so, probably they will tell you that Google Maps works best on Android.

Is Apple interested in solving the issue ? Yes, probably they can mitigate, but the issue begin with the Apps and end on the hardware video codec mounted on cars.

Is VW( or other car makers impacted units) interested solving the issue ?

Yes, but probably, they depends on the 3rd party system-on-chip maker and firmware of each MIB3 unit. Probably firmwares are differents from car to car.

This problem is quite hard to fix, probably only putting on the same table Google,Apple and Volkswagen could lead to a solution.

Meanwhile I almost stopped using Waze from Jan 2022.

I prefer to swap car brand, rather than switch to an Android Device, sorry Google.

I have a Tiguan 2022 model and the same pixelated issue. My current workaround is to zoom out of google maps a little every time I start up google maps:

1. If you’re getting directions to somewhere, enter the address first and choose your route. After that zoom out of the map a little
2. If not getting directions, just zoom out of the map a little
3. If the map becomes pixelated. Close out Apple CarPlay and get into the main car menu to reset the pixelation issue. And then repeat steps 1 or 2

I had also run into this issue as everyone else.

Well I was digging around a bit. The issue only comes forward if the CarPlay screen is not using the old standard (800x480px (5:3) aspect ratio - see the image attached.)

The only thing I was not able to find out, if the issue is related to the amount of pixels or the aspect ratio.

The german car manufacturers are suffering from this because they started using the Wider ( 16:9 and or 8:3 ) configurations.

You might know that the carplay or android auto hardware in the headunits are tehcinally just like a screen. They display the image sent by the devices and returning the input from the car. The audio is Bluetooth.

It's still mind bending that it takes that long for the companies to figure out how to fix this.

I tried with updated infotainment version, and in 20 minutes I did not have the issue (usually was there in the first 5-10 mins).

Once I drive more, I will see if issue was resolved with the update (New Ateca with 0836 version).

My VW had a software update this week. Over the air so I didn’t have to take it to the dealer , and obviously whatever the fault was with wireless Apple play has now been rectified as Google Maps and Waze are both now 100%.

It seems that disabling Google Maps from CarPlay apps surprisingly fixes the problem with Waze. Tested for 30 mins — no pixelated screen (Tiguan 2022, MIB3) while using Waze, but further testing is probably required.

Just found a Waze forum, with same issue reported (months ago). https://support.google.com/waze/thread/170885605/lag-on-carplay

I think that also some representatives from Volkswagen should start looking into this (and worrying).

It seems a bug related to the Video Codec used by Waze and Google Maps, in conjuction with system-on-chip mounted in the Volkswagen Group infotainment (MIB3).

3 companies involved...

Removing Google Maps or/and Waze from the carplay enabled apps, allows to continue using the navigation. Obviously navigation will still run only on smartphone without the help of bigger carplay display. But at least you can hear nav instructions from car speakers while, for example, using carplay for Spotify or other services. Not a real solution, but it won’t slow down the cpu of phone/headunit.

Same here since update to iOS16.x on iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Car: Seat Taracco 2022.

Before the iOS update it was working fine for 5 months since I got my car.

Affected Apps: Google Maps, Waze, Maps.

Problem always occurs after a few minutes after starting the apps, problem then persists even if switching to another app or the CarPlay home screen and system becomes unresponsive

I have the same issue with my VW Tiguan 2021 MI3B infotainment system. The issue I have seen is with both Google maps and waze via Apple CarPlay. The screen becomes pixilated then begins to change colour from light pink to eventually turning purple. Also the accuracy of the navigation is off anywhere between 30-300metres.

The VW local dealership has informed me that there will be two software updates by end of 2022 that should resolve this issue.

I posed the question on a VW forum and the answer came back from multiple users that the issue coincided with the release of a VW firmware update in October. Also seen that some Honda owners experienced the same (or similar) issue as far back as 2020 🤷🏻‍♂️

@frontegi I think you're right in that it's a video codec issue (master of science/software engineer with about 15 years experience here ). However, if you'll look at the screenshots, it's the full interface that gets pixelated / discoloured, not just the maps part. So that makes me think Apple Carplay supports the used codec, or the app wouldn't be allowed to load in Carplay. Hence my argument: you can't say Apple is not partially responsible or should help investigate this issue (or even taking the lead).

Even disabling Carplay for those Google apps, forcing them to fix the issue, would be helpful IMO.

Did anybody from here actually contact Apple support about this issue though? I'm currently in contact for a ScreenTime issue, and they're being very helpful with that tbh.

This is NOT an apple issue. It’s the cara media players issue.

I use the same phone in two different cars.

On my VW Caddy 2021 it starts 5 minutes into driving on Google and Apple Maps.

In my Honda it is absolutely fine and stable for hours . Same phone , same IOS etc.

so it has to be a car issue as opposed to an apple issue.

From what other users suggested in previous posts, it looks like VW released a software update that fixes the issue. Don't know, however, if it also depends on specific car models, other than the provided infotainment system