CarPlay stopped working after iOS 26 update.

2015 Dodge Challneger and a wireless Car Play dashcam device:

Talking to people via carplay or my car's stereo (UConnect) has a garbled connection. I sound like a robot to people, but I can hear them fine. This happens if I am connected to only one of the devices also. This started when I installed iOS26. I have a iPhone 17 Pro Max now, so I can't downgrade to iOS18. Will just have to wait on them to fix this and continue to use my airpods in the car until then.

Worked just fine until today. Randomly stopped working on ios 26.0.1

this many people having the same problem…. What an absolute trash software update. Let’s release a completely broken update .

my car keeps telling me my iPhone 15 pro, which has worked until today with no problems, is now saying my iPhone 15 pro is not compatible with Apple CarPlay. Really? My iPhone 15 pro isn’t compatible with CarPlay? What a trash company

CarPlay worked wonderfully, got a iPhonePro 17 26.0.1 and now no option to use the CarPlay in 2018 Ram 1500 with Uconnect 5. Jumping on here to see if this is resolved for anyone and to follow for fixes. Since this across all makes and models, the problem lies squarely with Apple.

Can someone from Apple comment on this thread and let us know if this is a known issue and if they're working on a fix? I find it very concerning that CarPlay has worked flawlessly for two to three years, and that an incremental iOS update to iOS 26 renders CarPlay completely unusable. Even more concerning is that Apple hasn't been able to hotfix this issue within two months.

My issue is a little bit different from the original post, but nonetheless similar in a sense where the issue started happening after upgrading to iOS 26.0.1.

1. I own an iPhone 15 Pro and have a USB type-C hardwire connection Carplay to my 2024 Tiguan, and Carplay in terms of connection, maps, music all work well.
2. However, microphone through Carplay or Bluetooth connection to the car will not work.
3. When I call someone, or when someone calls me, and I use the speaker / microphone via carplay or the car, the other party cannot hear me.
4. Also, I cannot use the Carplay microphone to use Siri either.
5. If I use my iPhone's speaker or Airpods, I can call and talk to people like normal. I can also use Siri if I use iPhone's speaker or Airpods
6. I've tested Carplay on my 2024 Tiguan using my niece's iPhone 15 Pro which has iOS version 18, she has no issue with the microphone

This is pretty frustrating to say the least. We need a fix to these random Bluetooth issues that we are having with iOS 26.0.1 update

Hello, I have a 2018 mustang gt sync 3. I also bought a usb a to usb c anker cable for my new iPhone 17 pro max. My CarPlay has been freezing randomly and just stops playing music and closes out of CarPlay as well. Did you have the same experience? Did you fix your issue already? I turned off my widgets today and will see if that works! Let me know! Thanks!

Just a quick note to thankyou for your "widgets" fix for CarPlay vs IOS26. I spent many frustrating hours in my driveway trying to get ios26 and CarPlay to stay connected. I even looked up how to go back to iOS18 (you can but it's easier to buy a new phone). Your widgets trick was my "Hail Mary" and it seems to be working perfect now. Again, thankyou so much.

When I make a call via the bluetooth application of the android device, others can hear me normally . When I make a call via car play, the car microphone does not work at all most of the time and other times with interruptions… I tried it with an iPhone with iOS 16 and it works perfect .

Sure like to know what you did. I have iPhone 17 Pro Max iOS 26.0.1 and have the problem with cabled Car Play connecting and disconnecting. I have deleted the other iPhone connecting to my car, tried deleting Widgets, new cable, etc. and still have the issue.

The current issue I’m having is I can’t hear my call audio while in CarPlay. Everything else works perfectly but when I make a call I can’t hear the ringing of the other line or the voice of the other person. I have done all the required troubleshooting and nothing has worked, even check my infotainment software for my Integra and everything is up to date. As anyone else had this issue and does anyone have a solution?

A mi tampoco me funciona, después de un mes utilizando el iPhone 17 pro , he probado de todo y sigo sin poder conectarme correctamente, como mucho dura 5 minutos conectado, es muy frustrante.

a parte de otros problemas que trae este modelo.

sinceramente muy arrepentido de haber comprado este modelo, de momento el peor iPhone que tuve.

y también la poca ayuda por parte de Apple.

UPDATE... On the way back home, it disconnected again after a minute of driving.

I "forgot" the carplay device and the bluetooth device.

After re-pairing to my car stereo, it happened again.

After that, i went to the settings section where you "restablish network settings" and did that without forgetting the blueetooth and carplay device. It seemed to work... i disabled the Widgets just in case... I'll see if this worked when a leave work in a couple of hours.

Is my phone defective?

is it a software glitch?

is it a design issue?

it's been a month and can't get my phone to work right... My iPhone 15 with iOS 26.0 worked ok with my stereo...

iPhone 17 with iOS 26.1 RC

Apple Watch Ultra 2 with watchOS 26.0.2

Atoto F7 XE head unit

I usually leave my AirPods at the office… I disables widgets to see what happens… I tried disabling them previously and it didn’t work… let’s see tomorrow…

lots of people blame the widgets… let’s see…

Did't work... I tryed disabling Widgets, Google Maps and Waze...

I unpaired and forgot the phone and the Head Unit (mutually in each others settings)...

I'll try again at lunch time with even my Apple Watch disabled...

This is the last scenario I'll try before I try using the Ottocast Mini 2025 that is supposed to arrive on Sunday.

I left the office at lunch time with my Apple Watch turned off and wireless Carplay didn't fail.

I updates my watch at home to watchOS 26.1 RC and turned bluetooth off before leaving home. Wireless carplay failed before 5 minutes passed even when that disabled... maybe the watch wifi signal messed something.

I'm gonna take a little longer drive when a leave today, i'll try again with the watch turned off completely.

iPhone 17 with iOS 26.1 RC

Apple Watch Ultra 2 with watchOS 26.1 RC

Atoto F7 XE head unit