I have a 2019 and running into Carplay issues. Carplay will connect and hold a connection for a few minutes and then disconnects. I am unable to get another connection until the next time I start the car. Here is what I have tried:
Multiple cables both Apple and third party
Multiple (4) different iPhones. All 4 work in our other car (Hyundai Elantra), all 4 run into the issue in the Ascent
Full factory reset of the head unit
Have tried all above in both USB ports
Removed car from Carplay and let it recreate it
Set Allow Access When Locked to USB Accessories
I have opened the maintenance screen (pressing home and scroll 6 times). I noticed the USB ports always show as 1 - NG and 2 - On, regardless of whether or not I have the phone plugged into either port. I have tried researching more about the maintenance screen, but cannot find much.
I have taken the car into the dealership and was greeted with "Well Subaru infotainment centers suck and there is not much they can do about it until Subaru fixes the issue". They claim they did some tests, but since it connects for a bit, they do not deem it an issue. I also reached out to Subaru through their website, but have not been able to get a response.
My question is, has anyone else run into this issue? Any suggestions on next steps?
I have a 2019 and running into Carplay issues. Carplay will connect and hold a connection for a few minutes and then disconnects. I am unable to get another connection until the next time I start the car. Here is what I have tried:
Multiple cables both Apple and third party
Multiple (4) different iPhones. All 4 work in our other car (Hyundai Elantra), all 4 run into the issue in the Ascent
Full factory reset of the head unit
Have tried all above in both USB ports
Removed car from Carplay and let it recreate it
Set Allow Access When Locked to USB Accessories
I have opened the maintenance screen (pressing home and scroll 6 times). I noticed the USB ports always show as 1 - NG and 2 - On, regardless of whether or not I have the phone plugged into either port. I have tried researching more about the maintenance screen, but cannot find much.
I have taken the car into the dealership and was greeted with "Well Subaru infotainment centers suck and there is not much they can do about it until Subaru fixes the issue". They claim they did some tests, but since it connects for a bit, they do not deem it an issue. I also reached out to Subaru through their website, but have not been able to get a response.
My question is, has anyone else run into this issue? Any suggestions on next steps?
Your list of things tried didn't mention updating the infotainment system software, do you know if it's at the current release level or has ever been updated?
I'm not a Carplay user but I know some problems were fixed in recent software updates so that's why I'm asking.
This week I have started monitoring the time it takes to disconnect. It always seems to be in the 5-7 minute range. Although yesterday afternoon, it disconnected in about 2 minutes.
When I have Apple Carplay Issues; usually something on your list fixes it. Great list by the way! Disconnecting that often and repeatable is not just a "that's the way it is" problem. I would say you have thoroughly tested it and there may be a problem with in the head unit or the wring to the USB ports.
I have not had this issue since I updated the firmware a couple of months ago. I did have it occur very occasionally prior to that. iPhone XS-Max on latest iOS, too.
Do you have the Subaru Starlink app installed on the iPhones?
Until the most recent update of that app, I noticed times where Starlink and CarPlay seemed to fight for control of the head unit. I'm currently running v 2.3.2 of the Starlink app on an iPhone XS Max with iOS 13.3 and things have been working very smoothly for the past several weeks.
I had removed the Starlink app from my phone as I wasn't using it and wanted to remove the possibility it was the issue.
I did finally hear from Subaru at the end of day yesterday. They are reaching out to the dealer to work out next steps. If anyone has any other ideas, please share. Otherwise, I will make sure to update this conversation if I ever get it working.
I noticed the USB ports always show as 1 - NG and 2 - On, regardless of whether or not I have the phone plugged into either port. I have tried researching more about the maintenance screen, but cannot find much.
spotify and pandora also fight for control of the head unit
Full factory reset of the head unit is different from hard restart ... press and hold power button till its restarts (~20 seconds )
I have this exact issue on my 2019 Ascent. Not only have I gone through and done everything you did, Subaru replaced my radio two weeks ago and it happened as soon as I left the lot. We have tried two different iPhones and have the issue. I've bought new Apple cords and nothing. I've even gone to Apple and they recommend I completely reset my phone from scratch without using backup and did this. My phone is up to date and the car infotainment is up to date. I also removed Starlink app from phone since I don't use it. Nothing has worked. It's very frustrating because I travel for work and hate that I cannot see my maps on the screen. It's odd because the phone will stay charged and I can use Bluetooth in the car, even though Carplay disconnects completely and it usually happen within 2-5 minutes of driving. I don't know what to do next, but completely at a loss and very frustrated.
Do you guys with this issue happen to use a VPN client on your phones? That's a known issue that doesn't play nice with CarPlay. It seems unlikely since you tried multiple phones, but just wanted to throw that out there.
I reached out to Apple yesterday and today they escalated it. They have setup some diagnostics on my phone to help trace what is happening when the disconnect happens. I will be submitting the results to their software engineers this evening. I will update once I hear back. It will be nice to know if it is an Apple or Subaru issue.
I was able to successfully duplicate the issue while running the diagnostic profiles Apple had me put on my phone. Both diagnostics have been provided to their software engineers. They said I should expect a response by the end of this week.
I have just received word back from Apple. They were able to confirm through the diagnostics that it is indeed a bug in IOS. They said they are aware of it, but at this time, do not have any ideas on how to fix it. They have asked me to keep trying different tests and to let them know if I have any luck. I have discovered that if you re-boot the phone 2 times, it will connect and stay connected until you shut off the car. Not ideal, but will work for long trips.
Thanks for the update. I tried what you mentioned but my phone still disconnects. We tried my husband's Samsung phone and it turns out his phone does the same thing (disconnects after 5 or so minutes). So maybe it's an issue with both Apple/Samsung softwares and the car software.
I have an iPhone 6s with ios 13.3.1 and I have not had any connectivity issues with CarPlay. It has been widely reported that connectivity issues were introduced with ios 13. The issue I have is that you cannot customize the widgets on the CarPlay dashboard.
Mines an 11pro in same iOS. No issues either. I wonder if it had to do with the carrier?
good news on the widgets. Rumors point to iOS 13.4 at least supporting different maps on the widget screen. If not 13.4 then maybe soon anyway. Im looking forward to using waze and music at the same time
I have a 2019 and running into Carplay issues. Carplay will connect and hold a connection for a few minutes and then disconnects. I am unable to get another connection until the next time I start the car. Here is what I have tried:
Multiple cables both Apple and third party
Multiple (4) different iPhones. All 4 work in our other car (Hyundai Elantra), all 4 run into the issue in the Ascent
Full factory reset of the head unit
Have tried all above in both USB ports
Removed car from Carplay and let it recreate it
Set Allow Access When Locked to USB Accessories
I have opened the maintenance screen (pressing home and scroll 6 times). I noticed the USB ports always show as 1 - NG and 2 - On, regardless of whether or not I have the phone plugged into either port. I have tried researching more about the maintenance screen, but cannot find much.
I have taken the car into the dealership and was greeted with "Well Subaru infotainment centers suck and there is not much they can do about it until Subaru fixes the issue". They claim they did some tests, but since it connects for a bit, they do not deem it an issue. I also reached out to Subaru through their website, but have not been able to get a response.
My question is, has anyone else run into this issue? Any suggestions on next steps?
I have a 2019 Premier in Canada (Touring trim in the USA), which I bought in January 2019 and had the same and identical issues. We tried exactly the same measures, which included:
tried different phones. My iPhone XS at the time, the wife’s iPhone X at the time and two brand new iPhones 11 Pros lately.
tried different cables, including Apple OEM cables straight out of the box
tried setting up the phone as new without restoring any old data, to try to eliminate the software issue on the phone side
during the last year the dealership tried multiple times Reprogram the car unit, update the car unit software and even something they called a ”hard software reset” (whatever that means)
the disconnecting issue never changed
So in January it was the first time I actually visited the dealership exclusively to deal with this and upon their suggestion they replaced the radio unit For a brand new one. No success.
then todayI went back and they replaced the USB Hub. That square piece with the 2 USB sockets on the dash. IT FINALLY WORKED!!!!
I drove the whole day without a single disconnection. Apparently that small piece of hardware that was replaced in a matter of minutes was the culprit.
Kudos to Downtown Subaru here in Toronto.
I hope this info can help
Just checking in to see if your disconnection issues are still resolved after the USB hub replacement. I have an appointment tomorrow with the dealer and would like to reference your fix.
Yep!!
Yes it was. I'm using CarPlay every single day and I haven't experienced a single disconnect ever since they replace the USB hub.
Prior to that the dealer tried everything else they could think of, including replacing the infotainment head unit, but never solved the random disconnections.