Apple CarPlay problems

[Deleted User 2786]

I've had my XC40 PHEV for about a year and half now. It's been a great all-rounder. The only frequent source of frustration has been Apple CarPlay.

My Previous car was a Skoda Kodiaq Edition which came with CarPlay as part of the package. I got really used to using CarPlay for music and navigation and, for 3.5 years, I had faultless operation between my phone and the car. So, I shelled out for the infotainment upgrade for CarPlay when I ordered this Volvo, expecting to replicate that experience. I had high expectations moving from Skoda to Volvo but this aspect has been frustrating and disappointing.

1. The XC40 has a large portrait oriented screen and CarPlay is displayed in landscape orientation. That's fine. It is what it is. But why put the CarPlay display - with its music controls and visual navigation prompts - right at the bottom of the infotainment display, as far away from the windscreen, where the driver's attention is supposed to be, as possible? It's not like anyone is using any of the redundant infotainment buttons taking up all the screen space above it, while using CarPlay for music and navigation. It just seems like a nuts design choice for a brand built on safety.

• I'm also a regular user of alarms on my iPhone and, when an alarm goes off while CarPlay is in use, a banner pops up on the display to ‘stop’ or ‘snooze’, except, more often than not, the banner is positioned so low on the CarPlay display that the buttons on the pop-up are cut off, below the physical edge of the screen. The resulting faffing to stop or snooze an alarm, caused by this, is also dangerous as it takes the driver’s attention away from the road. I assume there is a bit of wonky coding in the CarPlay integration there, possibly related to how CarPlay is displayed on the larger, portrait oriented screen.

• Lastly, Apple CarPlay audio can sometimes cause a conflict with the Volvo infotainment system. This manifests as CarPlay occasionally crashing when trying to play music via CarPlay and then either continuing to crash each time CarPlay is reconnected and then music selected, or the car refuses to recognize the iPhone’s CarPlay connection at all. The problem can be solved (through trial and error) by either turning the engine off and opening/closing the door (not always successful) or manually selecting a radio station in the infotainment system and then reconnecting the iPhone CarPlay connection. I have highlighted this last problem with the garage and asked them to make any software updates but the problem still persists.

All of these are software problems. I've asked Volvo Customer Care to forward these to their infotainment developers but I'm not holding out much hope.

[bba]

1. Yes, it is what it is... Although I am very pleased with the Sensus navigation and I use it often
2. I don't have this issue, the alarms/notifications appear at the top end of the Carplay screen
3. I have that too

In case it is relevant to 2. I use a wireless Carplay adapter.

[eugen61]

Sensus is a 7 years old legacy system in your XC40, don’t expect Volvo to make any updates based on customer input, their new Android Automotive entertainment system is still lacking CarPlay and the next generation CarPlay is supposed to be integrated only in new models starting with MY 2024.

CarPlay text size and banner layout is an Apple issue, not a Volvo issue. It depends on the age of your iPhone and iOS version running on it, try not to use a phone older than iPhone 8 and make sure it’s updated to iOS 15.5.

[Andy40]

As you say, it was it is with regards to the layout, wife’s new car has a landscape display and it is much better for running Apple CarPlay, but not as good when using the cars own sat nav - this is where I find the Volvo one better, do agree through, it would be better at the top half of the screen.

Never had any issues with notifications etc.

Have sometimes had issues with it not liking my phone / connecting to music, which can be frustrating, but normally easy to remedy.

[KeithR56]

After some bad experiences with Sensus maps, I’m toying with the idea of having Apple Car Play installed. However, I rarely use my phone at all when in the car, so if I had it installed, I’d probably only use Car Play for navigation. I don’t need Car Play to answer, or make calls and I’m happy with listening to music on the radio, or from a usb stick.

Quick question: Does Car Play sit at the bottom of the screen all the time, or can you close it like an app when not in use?

[eugen61]

Quick question: Does Car Play sit at the bottom of the screen all the time, or can you close it like an app when not in use?

CarPlay sits at the bottom half of the screen. You can close it by pressing the home button for the centre display and CarPlay will show as the 3rd widget on the screen.

[KeithR56]

CarPlay sits at the bottom half of the screen. You can close it by pressing the home button for the centre display and CarPlay will show as the 3rd widget on the screen.

Thank you.

I’ve just updated Sensus maps to 1383. I’ll see how I go with that for the next few weeks before forking out £350 for Car Play.

[Andy40]

.., I’d probably only use Car Play for navigation. I don’t need Car Play to answer, or make calls and I’m happy with listening to music on the radio, or from a usb stick

Worth noting, if you’re using CarPlay, the other USB socket is disabled. So you can use it and listen to the radio, but not music via a usb stick…

[Mikeg1]

.., I’d probably only use Car Play for navigation. I don’t need Car Play to answer, or make calls and I’m happy with listening to music on the radio, or from a usb stick

Worth noting, if you’re using CarPlay, the other USB socket is disabled. So you can use it and listen to the radio, but not music via a usb stick…

Really? I run AA rather than CP, but I'm sure I can play my USB tunes on the other socket whilst using Waze via AA on the smartphone integration socket

Or am I imagining it?

[KeithR56]

Worth noting, if you’re using CarPlay, the other USB socket is disabled. So you can use it and listen to the radio, but not music via a usb stick

Cars without phone integration (such as mine) only have one front USB socket which is ridiculous in this day and age and taking penny pinching to a new level.

The cost of installing Car Play includes a second USB port. What’s the point of that if you can only use one of them?