Wireless Apple CarPlay Not Worth it

[Eric]

I feel like I've tried to work with this as best as I can but finally gave up on it, at least in my BMW but from what I'm reading it seems ubiquitous across all platforms when using BT. Yes, you shouldn't use/need your phone while driving but it's not a realistic expectation in today's world, especially considering the limited amount of apps CarPlay offers.

At the core for me is that anytime you use your phone for anything that has sound the car hijacks the audio and automatically shifts to CarPlay, even when it has no association with it, and then you have to go into your car settings (several steps while driving) to get back to the native audio that you were listening to in the default infotainment system.

When it was wired this was never an issue, it seems like it just can't properly juggle audio sources with BT.

 

[Vincent Hannah]

Skip the native audio. In fact, skip all the horribly designed car infotainment stuff and let CarPlay handle everything. That's what I do in my Hyundai Venue and wireless CarPlay works perfectly.

 

[Eric]

Skip the native audio. In fact, skip all the horribly designed car infotainment stuff and let CarPlay handle everything. That's what I do in my Hyundai Venue and wireless CarPlay works perfectly.

Okay, I'll have to do without the free year of XM Radio and the ability to pinch and zoom in maps but I want to give it a try and see how it works out. It's a shame that we have to choose one or the other though.

 

[Cmaier]

Okay, I'll have to do without the free year of XM Radio and the ability to pinch and zoom in maps but I want to give it a try and see how it works out. It's a shame that we have to choose one or the other though.

use the sirius carplay app, no?

My wife hasn’t had any problems with wireless wifi, on either her older x3 or her i4. She does switch back and forth between native FM radio and carplay, but seems to have no problems.

 

[Eric]

use the sirius carplay app, no?

Yes, but the free year comes with thin the native BMW Sirius XM app, I don't have that specific account login info as it's baked in. So I'm using our dumbed down version on the iPhone Sirius XM app which does work in CarPlay

My wife hasn’t had any problems with wireless wifi, on either her older x3 or her i4. She does switch back and forth between native FM radio and carplay, but seems to have no problems.

Specifically for me when listening to audio from the native BMW infotainment music app, if I open an app on my iPhone (say Reddit for example but it's the same for FB, IG, etc), the audio from Reddit has now taken over which for whatever reason exits the infotainment system entirely and jumps into CarPlay (even though there is nothing in CarPlay needed).

Now, when I leave said app on my iPhone CarPaly stays on the screen and I have to go back through the menu system and manually change my audio source back to the car. I've tried dozens of times and it's the only way it will work, it's frustrating enough to make me turn off CarPlay entirely, even when off I can still use the iPhone over BT without issues though.

Thinking about it, it seems like if they would only use BT for phone and CarPlay and separate all other audio out then it would solve the problem but it can't seem to reconcile it. I'm sure this is why wired works so well.

 

[Cmaier]

Yes, but the free year comes with thin the native BMW Sirius XM app, I don't have that specific account login info as it's baked in. So I'm using our dumbed down version on the iPhone Sirius XM app which does work in CarPlay

Oh, my wife got a letter from Sirius a few weeks after she got the car, and I was able to add her radio, including the free year, to my account.

 

[Eric]

Oh, my wife got a letter from Sirius a few weeks after she got the car, and I was able to add her radio, including the free year, to my account.

I'll see if I can find it. So she also uses CarPlay exclusively then? It's a shame to give up that beautiful BMW media system, it's really well designed.

 

[Cmaier]

I'll see if I can find it. So she also uses CarPlay exclusively then? It's a shame to give up that beautiful BMW media system, it's really well designed.

She uses carplay for most audio, but she does listen to FM sometimes. When incoming messages come in, or whatever, it doesn’t seem to cause any problem. She prefers the carplay nav, and I don’t think I’ve ever even seen the i4’s native nav. Honestly, she’s still learning how to use the car - the other day I had to show her backup assistant.

 

[Eric]

She uses carplay for most audio, but she does listen to FM sometimes. When incoming messages come in, or whatever, it doesn’t seem to cause any problem. She prefers the carplay nav, and I don’t think I’ve ever even seen the i4’s native nav. Honestly, she’s still learning how to use the car - the other day I had to show her backup assistant.

I've never tried backup assistant either but love the display showing exactly where you are. I've also noticed that if I'm not in CarPlay that I don't get any notifications for text messages, when I am in CarPlay and try to respond to a text with voice and pause for more than 2 seconds it tries to auto send instead of waiting. For me this is completely unusable.

When using my iPhone with bluetooth I can just press the speaker button, speak as slow or fast as I want and it won't send until I press the send button.

 

[Eric]

Okay, I feel like I really gave it the best shot and it's just not going to work for me so I'm going to keep it off, when it's wired there was never any issues but it simply cannot interoperate properly with the car. TBH the infotainment system in the BMW is beautiful and well designed and aside from the mapping system, feels superior to CarPlay so I don't feel too bad about it. I'll get used to dealing with the navigation, it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

If BMW ever goes back to adding a wired solution I'll be happy to use it again, maybe it can be turned back on with an update or something.

 

[Edd]

I BMW ever goes back to adding a wired solution I'll be happy to use it again, maybe it can be turned back on with an update or something.

That needs to happen. Apple’s far from perfect but I’m shocked they find the wireless issues we’ve discussed recently to be acceptable performance.

 

[Eric]

That needs to happen. Apple’s far from perfect but I’m shocked they find the wireless issues we’ve discussed recently to be acceptable performance.

The technology to separate it out with bluetooth simply isn't there for whatever reason. BMW is also to blame here, removing the ability to plug it in directly seems like a cheap shortcut on their part, we expect better from a luxury brand.

 

[fischersd]

Wireless CarPlay is over Wifi - the bluetooth connection should only be used for authentication to get on Wifi.

This is totally within the realm of something that Apple can solve (and should!).

 

[Eric]

Wireless CarPlay is over Wifi - the bluetooth connection should only be used for authentication to get on Wifi.

This is totally within the realm of something that Apple can solve (and should!).

Ahh okay, I had no idea, always thought it was BT for some reason but it makes total sense now that I think about it. It also sucks down the phone battery because it has to open all the apps in the background. All in all it's a pretty awful setup.

 

[fischersd]

Ahh okay, I had no idea, always thought it was BT for some reason but it makes total sense now that I think about it. It also sucks down the phone battery because it has to open all the apps in the background. All in all it's a pretty awful setup.

That's why you should put a wireless charger in that cubby in your console (if it didn't come with one)

Edit: Does make the phone pretty damn hot when you've been using it for GPS, music and charging for a few hours of driving.

 

[Eric]

That's why you should put a wireless charger in that cubby in your console (if it didn't come with one)

Edit: Does make the phone pretty damn hot when you've been using it for GPS, music and charging for a few hours of driving.

Yep, I have it on the charger a lot of the time anyway but it burns the phone up. All in all just not worth it anyway, my phone is a lot happier since turning off CarPlay entirely.

 

[throAU]

Wireless carplay is working perfectly in my 2025 RAV4. Built in wireless charger, iPhone 16 Pro Max. Literally ZERO issues in the 2 months I've had the car and it even integrates maps directions and media information with the dash.

More reliable than wired on my aftermarket Alpine head unit i have in my Holden Ute.


So yeah, sounds like a BMW problem...

 

[Eric]

It's fine if you just use CarPlay and forgo trying to mix your car features with it. Frankly, the audio system in the BMW infotainment center is cleaner and easier to use than CarPlay so that's my main driver in the end.

 

[Roller]

My last car was a BMW. Wireless CP usually worked well, apart from occasionally not connecting automatically. Although the stock infotainment was quite good, I liked being able to use iPhone playlists and other features in CP.

Thankfully, wireless CP is better in my Nissan, because the infotainment system, especially the nav, is horrible. The car always connects to the last device, so I often have to select my iPhone after startup since my wife’s phone is usually in close proximity at home.

We did share a vehicle with only wired CP for a bit. Switching was a pain because our iPhones had different ports. Even without that problem, though, it’s much more convenient to keep my phone in my pocket.