3 ms·

CarPlay is still wholly dependent on the car’s infotainment stack. If your Suburu’s system is crashing, CarPlay can’t insulate you from that.

nmcfarl 2y ago
I don't know about that - my Subaru head unit crashes a lot more when I'm clicking around in the Subaru programs, and it very rarely crashes when I'm clicking in CarPlay. My feeling is there are bugs in the Subaru provided programs, and very few bugs in the program that launches CarPlay and gives it control of the screen (probably because that is a very simple program). So it seems that the more features I use via carplay the less it crashes. It's not perfect, but it certainly helps.
- bonestamp2 2y ago
  I had the same problem with my Volvo XC-90 (2020 Model). It's been years since any of my iPhones have crashed. Never had a problem with carplay in my BMW or Chrysler minivan either. I hope Volvo has found the problem and released a fix by now.
- skinner927 2y ago
  I had/have a 2020 Subaru Forester and 2024 Subaru Ascent and both head units have completely frozen to the point removing the battery was the only fix (even the radio fuses didn’t reset the underlying computer). It’s really quite a shame as they’re fantastic cars otherwise. But yes, it’s never CarPlay that does it.
saganus 2y ago
In my case, I own a VW SUV and to my surprise when I go nearby a particular antenna, if I have my Android phone connected it crashes the whole infotainment system, and I can't do anything with it unless I turn the car off for several minutes, which is obviously impossible if I'm going somewhere. However my wife has an iPhone and although going next to the same antenna does crash the system as well, it does so very briefly and just resets the connection or something, and as soon as we go out of range it starts working again. So it does look like there's some difference between CarPlay and Android Auto even when using the same exact car with both. No idea why this happens and I can only assume the antenna is transmitting in a frequency that interferes with the wifi connection (it does not require a cable like older VW cars) which triggers a bug in the Android's stack, but Apple's stack seems more resilient somehow. I would love to know if anyone else has had the same experience because I find it quite baffling and very annoying when I forget to disconnect my phone when going through that antenna.
dijit 2y ago
that’s less true in reality than you think, because I am in a similar situation as OP. Infotainment systems are prone to runtime errors and crashes, if you interact less with the internal workings of the infotainment system itself, it does a somewhat good job of just passing audio through and you have fewer sessions with a crash. That said; i have noticed a disparity in what the infotainment gps navigation can do and what carplay can do- carplay is often limited to the center console, but the built-in navigation can go into the HUD of the car. An annoying difference.
fire_lake 2y ago
If the car stack is doing less then crashes are not as likely?

nmcfarl 2y ago

I don't know about that - my Subaru head unit crashes a lot more when I'm clicking around in the Subaru programs, and it very rarely crashes when I'm clicking in CarPlay. My feeling is there are bugs in the Subaru provided programs, and very few bugs in the program that launches CarPlay and gives it control of the screen (probably because that is a very simple program). So it seems that the more features I use via carplay the less it crashes. It's not perfect, but it certainly helps.

bonestamp2 2y ago
I had the same problem with my Volvo XC-90 (2020 Model). It's been years since any of my iPhones have crashed. Never had a problem with carplay in my BMW or Chrysler minivan either. I hope Volvo has found the problem and released a fix by now.
skinner927 2y ago
I had/have a 2020 Subaru Forester and 2024 Subaru Ascent and both head units have completely frozen to the point removing the battery was the only fix (even the radio fuses didn’t reset the underlying computer). It’s really quite a shame as they’re fantastic cars otherwise. But yes, it’s never CarPlay that does it.

saganus 2y ago

In my case, I own a VW SUV and to my surprise when I go nearby a particular antenna, if I have my Android phone connected it crashes the whole infotainment system, and I can't do anything with it unless I turn the car off for several minutes, which is obviously impossible if I'm going somewhere. However my wife has an iPhone and although going next to the same antenna does crash the system as well, it does so very briefly and just resets the connection or something, and as soon as we go out of range it starts working again. So it does look like there's some difference between CarPlay and Android Auto even when using the same exact car with both. No idea why this happens and I can only assume the antenna is transmitting in a frequency that interferes with the wifi connection (it does not require a cable like older VW cars) which triggers a bug in the Android's stack, but Apple's stack seems more resilient somehow. I would love to know if anyone else has had the same experience because I find it quite baffling and very annoying when I forget to disconnect my phone when going through that antenna.

dijit 2y ago

that’s less true in reality than you think, because I am in a similar situation as OP. Infotainment systems are prone to runtime errors and crashes, if you interact less with the internal workings of the infotainment system itself, it does a somewhat good job of just passing audio through and you have fewer sessions with a crash. That said; i have noticed a disparity in what the infotainment gps navigation can do and what carplay can do- carplay is often limited to the center console, but the built-in navigation can go into the HUD of the car. An annoying difference.

fire_lake 2y ago

If the car stack is doing less then crashes are not as likely?