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Buadhai

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 15, 2018
1,157
443
Korat, Thailand
We've had a 2023 Corolla Hybrid for eight months now. There are so many things about this car that continue to baffle us (Safety Sense, automatic high lights, etc.), but the most confusing is CarPlay. We both have iPhones. Both are paired with the car. I have supposedly set the car to connect CarPlay to the most recent device. This almost never works as expected.

Sometimes when we are both in the car when it starts up CarPlay:
  • Connects to neither iPhone forcing a manual connect.
  • Connects to a device that is not the most recent device.
  • Connects to my iPhone, but still (sometimes) routes my wife's incoming phone calls through the car instead of through my wife's iPhone.
  • Connects to neither device even though the device list shows that it is connected to one iPhone or the other.
Sometimes when only one of us in the car, CarPlay does not connect to that person's iPhone forcing a manual connect.

This morning we were headed back home. When we departed I had to manually connect my iPhone to CarPlay. We made a pit stop for fuel, coffee and toilet. We both got in the car at the same time. When the car started, neither device connected to CarPlay. So, we had to pull over. Manually select my iPhone and then proceed.

Is this really the way it's supposed to be?
 
not the most seamless option, but a cable should sort this pretty quickly, and top up your phone battery as an extra benefit. You shouldn't have to pull over, just take phone out of pocket/purse and plug in.

Did your wife pair bluetooth in addition to car play? that might explain her calls being routed to the car while you're connected. If you've got CarPlay paired, pairing bluetooth is not really necessary. (not sure if having BT paired would cause CarPlay issues.)
 
If she had paired BT then all of her call would be routed to the car, but they are not. It seems to be pretty random; some are and some aren't.

The thing is, CarPlay ought to work as advertised, not in a random fashion.

As things are now, if we are both in the car when we start the car, we cannot start driving until we see which iPhone, if either, gets connected to car play. This should be a predictable event; not a random one.

I will try the cable next time.
 
If she had paired BT then all of her call would be routed to the car, but they are not. It seems to be pretty random; some are and some aren't.

The thing is, CarPlay ought to work as advertised, not in a random fashion.

As things are now, if we are both in the car when we start the car, we cannot start driving until we see which iPhone, if either, gets connected to car play. This should be a predictable event; not a random one.

I will try the cable next time.
Have you looked in the car’s settings? My wife and I have the same car and in the settings of the car, we can select whose phone gets priority when connecting. I’m not sure about Toyota but in our cars, there are three check boxes in the phone connection settings. BT Calling, BT Audio, CarPlay. When CarPlay is selected, it unchecks the other two. We get the occasional bug here and there but for the most part, CarPlay has been reliable and predictable.

For kicks and giggles have you tried rebooting your car’s infotainment system? That always clears up any CarPlay bugs for us.
 
Have you looked in the car’s settings? My wife and I have the same car and in the settings of the car, we can select whose phone gets priority when connecting. I’m not sure about Toyota but in our cars, there are three check boxes in the phone connection settings. BT Calling, BT Audio, CarPlay. When CarPlay is selected, it unchecks the other two. We get the occasional bug here and there but for the most part, CarPlay has been reliable and predictable.

For kicks and giggles have you tried rebooting your car’s infotainment system? That always clears up any CarPlay bugs for us.
I did set the CarPlay setting so that the most recently connected device would get priority. That doesn't seem to work. It's always a crapshoot. But, I may have done it all wrong.

I have no idea where the BT settings are. (It's my wife's car and I am rarely in it.)

How do you reboot the infotainment system? We got manuals for the car, but they are all in Thai, so it's hit and miss for me. I downloaded an English manual for the car, but it's the Canadian version and has subtle differences.
 
I did set the CarPlay setting so that the most recently connected device would get priority. That doesn't seem to work. It's always a crapshoot. But, I may have done it all wrong.

I have no idea where the BT settings are. (It's my wife's car and I am rarely in it.)

How do you reboot the infotainment system? We got manuals for the car, but they are all in Thai, so it's hit and miss for me. I downloaded an English manual for the car, but it's the Canadian version and has subtle differences.
Not sure how on Toyotas but for my car, I hold down the volume knob/button for 30 seconds.
 
I did set the CarPlay setting so that the most recently connected device would get priority. That doesn't seem to work. It's always a crapshoot. But, I may have done it all wrong.

I have no idea where the BT settings are. (It's my wife's car and I am rarely in it.)

How do you reboot the infotainment system? We got manuals for the car, but they are all in Thai, so it's hit and miss for me. I downloaded an English manual for the car, but it's the Canadian version and has subtle differences.
Typically, you hold the power and the FF (>>|) buttons together until you see your car manufacturer logo.
 
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In my Toyotas (3 of them) you reboot the Audio system the same way. Push the volume knob until it reboots.
I didn't know there was one. The only volume control I know about is some difficult to use buttons on the entertainment screen.
 
This morning I was out cycling when my wife passed me in our Corolla on her way home. Later she told me that as she drove by CarPlay disconnected from her iPhone and connected to mine.

Is this the way it's supposed to work?
 
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