iPhone 8 Plus Plays Through Phone When Connected to CarPlay via USB

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Level 1

6 points

iPhone 8 Plus Plays Through Phone When Connected to CarPlay via USB

I upgraded my iPhone 6 to an iPhone 8 Plus this fall. When in the car, I normally connect my phone via USB and use Apple CarPlay. However, since upgrading, I have noticed a bug where if I happen to pause my music, it will then play through my phone speaker instead of the car when I resume playing. Other times, the audio quality isn't as good and then it all of a sudden improves. The only way to fix this is to unplug my phone and replug it back in.

Note this issue did not occur with my old phone, and I have already replaced the USB cable. Is there a known issue with the new iPhones and CarPlay?

iPhone 8 Plus, iOS 11.2.1

Posted on Dec 21, 2017 7:10 AM

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Answer 1

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Jan 2, 2018 6:38 PM in response to MASTERNC

Hey MASTERNC,

Thanks for the information. If the issue seems isolated to the Music app in two different cars with different USB cables, one thing you can try is deleting and re-adding the built-in Music app.

Delete a built-in app from your device

On your iOS device, touch and hold the app lightly until it jiggles. If the app doesn't jiggle, make sure that you're not pressing too hard.

Tap on the app, then tap Delete.

Press the Home button to finish.

If you have an Apple Watch, deleting an app from your iPhone also deletes that app from your Apple Watch.

Restore a built-in app that you deleted

On your iOS device, go to the App Store.

Search for the app. Make sure that you use the exact name of the app. Find the correct name of built-in apps.

Tap to restore the app.

Wait for the app to restore, then open it from your Home screen.

If you have an Apple Watch, restoring an app to your iPhone also restores that app to your Apple Watch.

Delete built-in Apple apps on your iOS 11 device or Apple Watch

Cheers.

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Answer 2

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Dec 21, 2017 7:35 PM in response to MASTERNC

Hey MASTERNC,

If I understand correctly, you are having trouble with your iPhone playing over the car speakers and having issues with the audio quality. It looks like you have already done some troubleshooting. I would recommend you read this article and use it to help troubleshoot the issue.

If you're using USB Playback

Restart your iOS device and your car.

Connect your iOS device to a different stereo USB port (if you have one).

Try a different Lightning to USB cable.

Update your iOS device.

Install any firmware updates for your car stereo.

Try playing audio from a different app. If you can't play audio from a third-party app, contact the app developer for help. If you can't play audio from an Apple app, contact Apple Support.

Get help connecting your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with your car stereo

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Have a good one.

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Answer 3

MASTERNC Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 2, 2018 10:32 AM in response to chris_g1

I have not had a chance to update the stereo firmware. However, I did have two more observations after experiencing this problem again a few more times. These lead me to believe the issue is in iOS or the iPhone I have rather than the car stereo.

1. It does not seem to be specific to using CarPlay. I was renting an entirely different vehicle (that did not have CarPlay) using a different USB cable, and the same problem occurred.

2. In CarPlay, the problem goes away (i.e. the music plays through the car instead of the phone speaker) when I switch out of the Music app (say, I go to Maps or the home screen).

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