Carplay Disconnect

Has anyone had their Car Play entertainment system black out and disconnect? It recently started to happen to my 24 tacoma, and its getting kind of annoying. It doesnt happen all the time, but it does from time to time.

 

Haven't had the truck for long, but yes it's happened a few times. Twice today in fact.

 

Disconnections are not uncommon when using Bluetooth connections. Probably won't happen if using the USB C on the display to your phone.

 

There are areas I regularly drive through where I get disconnected if I'm using Bluetooth. I used a Bluetooth adapter in my car and it disconnected when driving in the same locations.

 

CarPlay uses WiFi when using Wireless CarPlay. BT is only used for the initial handshake with the head unit then it hands it off to WiFi for actual ACP duty.

 

Id suggest just plugging your phone directly in to it. If like another user says (i assume theyre right) and it uses the wifi, it can easily get interrupted if youre in an area with a bunch of other signals on your same channel. Not sure how the truck handles it and I doubt its as good as an actual router. Most routers nowadays are pretty good at automatically switching them but not sure about the truck.

I could also be completely wrong, but was just making a comparison to how I used to have to manage my families wifi a long ass time ago as the auto mode sucked, as well as our internet, and id have to keep making sure our channel wasnt crowded. Feel free to correct me lol. This was just my first thought.

 

It has happened a few times in my 23. Like maybe once a year or something rare.

The thing I think is even more maddening is the number of times it wants me to put in a password to connect to car play. I might use the truck with carplay for three, four, five trips and then stop to get gas, get back in and it says "Sorry I don't recognize this device you'll need to log in again." or something like that. Did it with my 19 Ranger too so I think it's much more of an ios thing than an carplay thing.

 

Happens more often than not, that's if it even connects when you first start the truck. Got to go through the menu and manually select to turn it on.

 

That's bizarre. I've been using Wireless ACP for years now across multiple vehicles and have never been asked for a password or to log in. Only when first setting it up to confirm you want to use ACP with that vehicle. Assuming you have a new-ish phone and up to date IOS? My MIL had an iPhone 11 but was on latest IOS and her wireless ACP works fine in a Subaru.

 

It's an iPhone 14 Pro Max so older but up to date.
And to be clear when I said "password" I might have confused some folks. It was early and I was only one or two sips in.

It makes me enter my pass code to unlock the phone. I don't do thumb print or facial recognition.
Aaaaaaand I have a 16 character pass code. So I might be a little more attuned to how often it forgets that it was just working with this car 5 minutes ago.

But don't get me started on the BMW's. Wife's car will only allow ONE phone to connect to it. And when I starrt the car in the garage it see's her phone, so I have to drive out of range, pull over, go through a menu and switch it over to my phone. We asked BMW about it and they told us "NEIN!!!! Ze Beh Em Veigh ist fur EIN Farhrer only! If you need to connect a different phone you need ZWEI Beh Em Veigh's! Unf if you can not afford two you are poor!" We immediately apologized and offered up Poland as a token of good will.

 

I have a wired ACP connection with my Can-Am Spyder. That one does require me to enter the passcode when I plug it in to the USB cable if the phone hasn't been unlocked for an hour. But that's a wired/USB security thing from Apple. Wireless ACP I've never had to enter the passcode.

 

I just use the wired connection never have an issue

 

From Apple:

iOS 18.4.1
This update provides important bug fixes, security updates, and addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/100100



People are still reporting issues even after the update.

Why is CarPlay disconnecting after iOS 18.4.1 update?
Since installing iOS 18.4 I've had intermittent issues with Carplay, on 2 different vehicles, that requires a phone restart to resolve.


With wired Carplay on a Honda Civic, I will get a black screen after 1-2 minutes of use, followed by loss of audio, and then complete disconnect. Restarting the phone is the only way to resolve.


With wireless Carplay on a Toyota Rav4 the vehicle will refuse to connect entirely. Restarting the phone is the only way to resolve.


This occurs 2-3 times per week. Updating to iOS 18.4.1 did not seem to fix the issue. I'm using an iPhone 16 Pro. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced these issues since 18.4.

 

I used 18.4 and 18.5 and am now on 18.6. Didn't have any issues with either previous one, but if you're still on 18.4.x worth upgrading to 18.6 and see if it helps.

 

It happens at least twice a day for me. Not always the same functionality. Normally it starts with streaming audio skipping out, like it lost reception, then it drops completely, screen goes black, after a second or two comes back to the normal blue toyota start screen without the Carplay icon on the top. I have to go back into devices and reselect my phone and move the slider back on for "use for media." Every once in a while the whole head unit will drop, go black and then start up from the boot screen. 2024 Trailhunter, and Iphone 13 pro max running 18.5.

On the list of irritating software things along with the HUD resetting vertical position to the top of the screen randomly.

 

Can confirm. It does not play nicely when I try to connect via wifi to my Garmin Mini 3 dash cam... CarPlay and the dashcam just battle back and forth. I have to disable CarPlay in order to connect to the camera.

EDIT: 5 years lurking and decided to make this my first post for some reason, ha!

 

Turn CarPlay off on your phone, and you can connect the Garmin Drive app and download videos.

 

Unless you have a phone that can have 2 wifi connections at the same time it will never work. One has to be off.

 

Yeah it is a pain when trying to connect to WiFi on your dash cam. Fortunately I don't need to do that very often.

 

Can't say you didn't know what you were getting into - LOL.
Welcome!