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No sound in Carplay: how to fix it on your iPhone

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Carplay is a handy navigation system that minimizes most travel risks. But even with it sometimes difficulties arise.

Here are the basic actions you can take to fix the sound in Carplay. If none of the above help - contact a car service or Apple support.

Table of Contents

The main problems with Carplay sound

  • iOS notifications don't work
  • music doesn't play on car
  • the call is received on the phone and not on the head unit

Reasons for no sound can be: iOS software error, broken speakers, malfunction of the iPhone or head unit.

Step 1: Check that the speakers are working properly

The easiest thing to do is to check if the speakers in your car are working properly. To do this, you need to:

  1. Disconnect Carplay from your phone,
  2. Connect music via USB flash drive or radio,
  3. If the sound won't play even this way - contact for service.

Step 2: Check the connection

If your problem is that your phone won't connect or the connection is "interrupted" along with the sound, do the following.

If you are using bluetooth:

  1. Go to "Settings";
  2. Go to "Bluetooth";
  3. See which device your iPhone is connected to.
  4. Do the same through the Carplay screen.

If you use a USB cable, check that it works through another device or charger. Also try plugging the cable into a different USB connector in the car. The problem may not be in the cable, but in the connector itself.

Sometimes the USB cable is damaged, which causes the device to appear connected and perform some of its functions, but there is no sound. This is most often caused by the use of uncertified, counterfeit cable. Check the operation using the original cable that came with your iPhone.

It's possible that another device is connected to Carplay. If you have a second phone in the car, or if you're charging it with a USB cable while the second phone is connected via bluetooth.

Step 3: Check Carplay compatibility with your car or region

If you haven't connected your phone to Carplay before and it doesn't work the first time you run it, check to see if your phone model is compatible with the app. There is information about this on Apple's website.

Also check Carplay availability in your region. In many countries, the app may simply not work even though it is pre-installed on the vehicle.

Step 4: Restart the Bluetooth connection

A simple item that solves minor system glitches: sound disturbances, occasional hang-ups, etc.

Method 1.

  1. Go to the iOS settings;
  2. Select Bluetooth;
  3. Find your machine in the dropdown list;
  4. Tap the gear icon or the three dots;
  5. Tap "forget".

After that, Reconnect the device to the car again.

Method 2.

Another way to restart the connection:

  1. Tap "Settings";
  2. Go to "General";
  3. Select "Carplay";
  4. Pair in wireless mode.

Step 5: Reboot the devices

In order to reboot Carplay - simply turn the car off and on again. If it does not turn off for some reason, manually turn the car stereo on and off.

You can reset the phone in the easiest way, or by holding down the power and volume down button. This will force a reset. On older models, you may need to tap the home button.

Step 6: Reset Carplay settings

Sometimes the problem lies in a system failure. It's a simple application glitch or your phone's OS is updated and the head unit's OS is not.

Manually updating the firmware on Carplay without proper experience is almost impossible, as Apple products are much more complicated than others. Instead, you can reset the device to factory settings.

This is done using the same algorithm as on the iPhone.

Step 7: Remove privacy restrictions

For the app to work properly, you need to give certain iPhone permissions.

  1. Go to the iOS settings;
  2. Select "screen time";
  3. Select "content restrictions and privacy";
  4. From the "allowed apps" list, select Carplay.

Step 8: Restart Siri

If Carplay is not responding to voice commands - try restarting the voice assistant.

  1. Go to iOS Settings;
  2. Tap "Siri & Search";
  3. Allow the "Hello Siri" option;
  4. Check the connection and configure the voice command.

Step 9: Clear storage space on your iPhone

The app can freeze because of the phone. More often than not, it's due to overflowing storage. Check how much storage you have and delete unnecessary files if necessary.

Step 10: Remove USB Restricted Mode

This feature is designed to increase the security of the device. It works if more than one hour has passed after locking the iPhone. After that, the USB signal is no longer received. Because of this, Carplay may simply not connect if you activate USB without unlocking the device.

Sometimes the signal can also stop being received while driving if you're just listening to music from your phone and using voice commands exclusively without unlocking the screen.

Disabling this feature is pretty easy:

  1. Go to Settings;
  2. Tap Face ID;
  3. Select the USB accessories section;
  4. Activate the USB accessories feature.

If you use the T-Link app, it is often the cause of missing audio during a call. To fix it:

  1. Go to "Default apps in navigation".
  2. Uninstall or disable T-Link.

Step 12: Check Spotify's performance

It is not uncommon for the music player's servers to malfunction. Check the player's performance and sound on the downloaded music, and if everything is fine, replace Spotify with another player.

Also, don't forget that Spotify features are blocked in some countries, and this could also be the reason for the malfunction.

Step 13: Create another iDrive Spotify account

If you have a BMW, you may need to create a German account on BMW-ConnectedDrive and use it in the car. The activation code can be sent directly to the car. Then you can use the Spotify functionality even without your phone or flash drive.

A few more reasons for no sound

  1. Critically low battery level on your iPhone;
  2. Overheating or overcooling of the device;
  3. The "do not disturb", "driving", etc. mode is on. It is recommended to turn them off before. How the phone will be connected to CarPlay.
  4. If notifications do not work exclusively - tap the volume button when a notification appears.

Ilia is a professional writer. He has expert knowledge in GPS and cartography with 15 years of experience. Additionally, Ilia has extensive experience in data recovery on PC and mobile. He started his career as a journalist by reviewing PC and mobile apps. His current responsibilities are to keep track of users' questions on MGT and answer them.