Volkswagen ID.3 Forum

When I plug my iPhone into a USB-C connector using an adaptor cable, CarPlay works just fine. If my iPhone is not plugged in and it connects to the car's wifi then playing music in CarPlay works as long as the track is already downloaded to the phone. If the phone tries to stream then it is obviously trying to get it via the car's wifi and I don't have the data plan, only the basic mobile connection for telemetry.

So I tried reversing the wifi connection by getting the car to connect to my iPhone's hotspot. It took a few attempts to connect despite entering the correct wifi password but CarPlay doesn't work at all this way round.

Next I tried just making a Bluetooth connection but CarPlay doesn't seem to like this either.

So if I want to use a streaming service using CarPlay I've got to hard-wire my phone to the car. Not ideal.

Is Android Auto the same? Does anyone have a different experience or a workaround?

The only thing I’ve done with CarPlay is play music....and always wirelessly as I’ve never plugged in to the car....and I have no music downloaded to my phone - all streamed via Apple Music.

I’ve had no issues and I’ve not changed any setting with regard to the CarPlay setup/connection since the day I set it up....

Sorry, I know that doesn’t help you - but thought it might be useful to know it works ‘out of the box’ here!

I use YouTube Music via CarPlay, it just works - not had to do anything on the phone or the car since they first paired.

Apple Maps has also now stopped me bothering with the car’s built-in nav - it doesn’t use the ID light but does show on the screen behind the steering wheel.

scott28tt wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:36 pm I use YouTube Music via CarPlay, it just works - not had to do anything on the phone or the car since they first paired.

Thanks scott28tt. Do you know what networking is being used? Is it hardwired (lightning-to-USB-C), vehicle wifi, iPhone wifi (Personal Hotspot) or Bluetooth?
Cheers.

stu-evs wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:31 pm The only thing I’ve done with CarPlay is play music....and always wirelessly as I’ve never plugged in to the car....and I have no music downloaded to my phone - all streamed via Apple Music.

I’ve had no issues and I’ve not changed any setting with regard to the CarPlay setup/connection since the day I set it up....

Sorry, I know that doesn’t help you - but thought it might be useful to know it works ‘out of the box’ here!

Thanks stu-evs. Maybe I should just reset CarPlay and start again.

hwhbev wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:44 pm Thanks scott28tt. Do you know what networking is being used? Is it hardwired (lightning-to-USB-C), vehicle wifi, iPhone wifi (Personal Hotspot) or Bluetooth?
Cheers.

Bluetooth, I’ve never done anything with hotspots and don’t plug the phone into USB.

Seems to work over Bluetooth fine for us although I do get the odd stutter when playing music probably every 20mins or so with tracks stored local to my phone. The ID3 does it with both our iPhones and our two other cars don't do it on the same tracks via carplay.

RDR wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:23 pm Seems to work over Bluetooth fine for us although I do get the odd stutter when playing music probably every 20mins or so with tracks stored local to my phone. The ID3 does it with both our iPhones and our two other cars don't do it on the same tracks via carplay.

Same here, it’s on the list reported to my dealer.

It was fine pre-CarPlay with the same phone and music app connected via Bluetooth - no stutters.

I got CarPlay working again correctly by resetting everything – making the iPhone forget the car's wifi, making the car forget the iPhone's hotspot and deleting the iPhone from the car's list of CarPlay devices. I then set-up CarPlay again from scratch.

What I've learnt however is that CarPlay only uses Bluetooth to exchange network credentials in order to establish a two-way wifi connection specifically to support CarPlay. You can test this by turning off wifi - CarPlay stops.

I think the issue I had was that I had separately established a wifi connection between the iPhone and my car so that the iPhone was using the car as a hotspot. Then when it tried to stream it was trying to do so via the car's wifi and therefore failed because I don't have a data plan. If you don't connect the iPhone to the car's hotspot then when it tries to stream it will use the phone's 4G mobile data, even though it is using wifi for CarPlay.