Hi all, been having this strange behavior of late with car play.

I have (as far as I know) everything set to dark mode all the time.

But have I missed a setting because the menu bar appears white most of the time.

Only very late at night does it change to dark like I want it to be all the time.

Does anyone know how to fix this please, as far as I know it’s only been behaving like this since 27.0.1.

Thanks

I am running iOS 27.2 on an iPhone 18 ProMax. Earlier this week I updated to the latest version of iOS. No problems whatsoever. This morning CarPlay refuses to connect and the CarPlay settings have completely disappeared from the Settings menu on the iPhone. When I search for the CarPlay settings, it appears in the list of search results, but nothing happens when I select it. It’s like CarPlay has completely disappeared from the software. Doesn’t appear in Settings, doesn’t appear in ScreenTime, and doesn’t appear anywhere else.

Some further context is that I have two devices in the car with me. One of the devices I have disabled CarPlay on because I use the other iPhone as a dashcam. I have had zero issues with my setup for the past year until today. When I try to go and enable CarPlay on the dashcam iPhone, it too doesn’t show CarPlay settings or CarPlay in screen time. ScreenTime doesn’t even show CarPlay as a blocked app on the dashcam iPhone despite me having it setup that way for the past year.

This makes absolutely no sense to me. I am proficient with iOS (been learning to develop apps) and have never seen such a strange issue like this before. I am stumped by this and I’m wondering if anyone else is having the same issue.

I also connect using a USB cable in a 2023 Lexus that doesn’t show any available updates for the car.

SOLVED: With the latest iOS update ScreenTime options were rearranged. Under the old way specific “apps” could be blocked, like CarPlay. However under the new update CarPlay is considered an “other feature”. That explains why when I was looking for blocked apps, nothing was appearing as blocked.

I originally had CarPlay disabled on my second device so that when I had both plugged in they would not fight each other. However, the latest update seems to have taken the settings I had applied to my second device and applied them to all my devices. Essentially, I had to reapply my individual device settings to all my devices again. The odd part is that I updated a couple of days ago and it worked fine yesterday. So, I’m not even 100% sure it was the update. What a pain in the ass Apple…

Hey everyone! I’m not sure if there was an update or something but one day my CarPlay stopped showing icons like it usually does. I noticed it for messages where usually the initials showed above a person’s name if they’re favorited, but now it’s just blank air. Also with my Google Maps, the icons that usually show for saved locations like home are also just blank. Do I need to reset or update something? Any advice is much appreciated! I have a 2019 Toyota Camry if that helps.

I have my phone connected to the cable but it won’t let me use carplay my phone is up to date and it was working perfectly fine a couple days ago need help asap

This is for Carplay. I dual posted and that is a key piece missing from my (uneditable) title.
Since upgrading my iPhone 15 pro to iOS 27 the touchscreen in CarPlay has been flaky. Sometimes works sometimes not. This part of the screen works, that part does nothing. Change screens and different parts work.
Anyone else seeing inconsistent behavior?
Using it wireless.

I built TalkClok- a fully customizable Briefing that talks to you:

Your weather, your traffic, your calendar, your tasks - and so (!) much more.
Just drive and listen. Comprehensive, totally customizable yours and up-to-date, always intelligent and natural.

I thought the app up 8 years ago, now it was time to totally rewrite it, with everything that is now hot and state-of-the-art > All Apple APIs, reliable, crystal clear, customizable, accessible, Siri, CarPlay and whatnot.

Here's the AppStore link
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/talkclok-talking-alarm-clock/id1413717325

It works like perfect in CarPlay with Siri - so i thought you might be interested.
Ask me anything, or check the pages.

https://www.talkclok.com/

After upgrading my iPhone 16 to iOS27 I realised a few widgets had disappeared in CarPlay. The one that stood out for me was Spotify (Recently Played).
It was no longer on screen, nor was it now on the list of Widgets available to add/remove via my phone - Wasn’t on the hidden list of incompatible widgets at the bottom of the screen either.

Long story short, I’ve had to delete the app from my phone and reinstall it. Having to re-download my offline media (sigh) is the only drawback but the app has reappeared in my available widgets..

Hopefully this might help somebody out there who has a lost widget since the update. Completely delete the app from your phone, and reinstall.

Settings - General - CarPlay - MyCar - Widgets

Hi there,

Yes, after market systems are bound to fail. But before I change it I wanna see if it's fixable.

Recently I changed phones, same sim. The system has slowly started to glitch in it's audio, and freeze the screen until it fixes itself.

It happens at random intervals, I was of the assumption that it could be other cars that interfere with my connection but that wasnt it.

Any ideas?

Hi! I have a 2015 VW Golf 7 GTE with an AUTOABC aftermarket CarPlay screen.
A white border appears around the screen. It disappears a few seconds after turning on my parking lights, but stays permanently when I disable automatic headlight detection.
The seller thinks it might be an iOS issue.
Has anyone experienced this or found a fix? Thanks!

Is there an easy way through any of the navigation apps, whether Apple, Waze, or Google, to determine stops that are along the route you are currently on. For example, if I’m looking for the next truck stop on the route or Starbucks or anything. I can’t stand when the nearest rest stop or suggestion is 0.5 miles behind me. I feel like I’m missing a setting somewhere

Does anyone know how I can get google maps or Waze on my digital dash virtual cockpit on my MK7.5 GTE ADVANCE 2020 without changing the head unit? I saw that people can do it for MHI2 versions but that’s expensive to replace from an MST2. Was wondering if there is some update or something I can do to add it? PLS LMK!!!

Installed SW train version:
MST2_EU_VW_PO876D

Installed SW MU version:
0876

Part number:
3Q0035874C

sometimes it connects within seconds, sometimes i have to keep turning on/off bluetooth/wifi.

everything i’ve read says i just need to restart my phone or infotainment system, but i feel like there’s a simple fix that i just don’t know about; something im doing wrong.

anyone else have an issue like this and figured it out?

when i leave my house, my car is still connected to my home wifi. do i need to drive far enough away for it to disconnect and then connect to the dongle?

i’m brand new to this so im sorry if its a common question. thank you!

oh also, when Carplay DOES work, my bluetooth says it’s connected to my car but not the dongle. this seemed backwards to me but that’s what it says when it happens to work.

Hey hey everyone,

So I drive a 2013 fiat 500s that came with a regular car radio built in. I had this CarPlay set I bought off Amazon for my father (his android phone was just slightly too old to use it) so I decided to make use of it for mine :).

Issue is the drain on the battery. I was taking my lunch breaks in my car, listening to my music on the set and just kinda vibing out. I’m still new to driving so I made the dumb mistake of leaving my headlights on as well, this paired with the CarPlay set drained my battery and I needed a jumpstart 😂.

I’d love to keep using it cause the maps and Bluetooth are so convenient, so I was wondering if anyone would have any recommendations for portable battery packs or other power sources I could use to keep my car battery safer?

I’m looking for carplay recommendations for my 2013 Toyota Camry with 208K miles that I will keep until it quits.

If you've done a 14-hour drive with three kids, you know the real navigation question isn't "what's the fastest route?" It's "where can we stop in the next 20 minutes so everyone can run around?" On our drives from Florida to Ohio, my wife Jordan and I kept ending up at gas stations because we couldn't tell, from the road, where the good parks were or how far off the highway they'd take us.

So I built WanderWay, with significant assistance from Claude Code and Grok Bot, a navigation app that shows you what's worth stopping for along the way.

**What it does**
- **Nearby Sights with detour times:** parks, museums, overlooks, historic sites, covered bridges and more (16 categories), each showing how many minutes it adds before you commit.
- **Turn-by-turn on iPhone and CarPlay:** routing comes from Apple Maps, with spoken directions, automatic rerouting and multi-stop routes.
- **Stories as you drive:** Story Mode reads short histories of the places you pass, which is great for keeping older kids interested.
- **Sunday Drives:** tell it how much time you have, from 30 minutes to 5 hours, and it plans a drive past the best sights. It even checks the weather.
- **Scenic Detours:** add 10 to 30 minutes to any drive and it picks the sights worth the extra time.
- **Road Trip Journal and Passport:** your drives are saved with the places you visited, plus stamps and milestones the kids love collecting.
- **Offline downloads,** so dead zones don't leave you stuck.

**On CarPlay specifically**
- Nearby Sights and detour times right on the car screen
- A WanderWay card on the CarPlay Dashboard, next to your music
- The next turn on the instrument cluster, in cars that support it
- Hear the Story and Show Route Overview from the dash

It's free to try for 14 days, then a one-time $4.99. No subscription, no ads, no account, and your location history stays on your phone. I'm a solo dev, so honest feedback helps a lot. Parents especially: what do you wish your nav app told you on a long drive?

[App Store link](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wanderway-navigation/id6807600062)

I’m ready to switch away from iPhone because of this. It’s so frustrating.

Id say almost 50% of the time when connecting to CarPlay, it starts in “voice mode”. The must only comes out of one speaker and sounds absolutely horrible. Changing the volume doesn’t change the music volume at all, and volume bar will say something like “voice”. As if I am changing the volume of navigation or Siri or something.

How do I get out of this mode? Who knows!! Sometimes activating Siri once works. Sometimes it takes five tries. Sometimes that doesn’t work at all and I have to disconnect and reconnect. Sometimes that doesn’t work at all. Sometimes I have to reboot my phone completely and even then THAT doesn’t work.

This happens in multiple vehicles. Wired and wireless CarPlay. Happened in iOS 26 and continues to happen in iOS 27. There’s no rhyme or reason to it but it’s making me lose my mind. Gemini says it’s a known glitch and I’ve found no way to fix it.

Hey r/CarPlay,
Full disclosure right up front: I'm the developer of this app.
I spend a lot of time driving, and my best thoughts, reminders, and to-do list items almost always hit me while I'm behind the wheel. Standard Voice Memos felt clunky on CarPlay, and relying on Siri to set structured reminders while driving can be hit-or-miss.
To solve this, I built RoadNotes, a native CarPlay voice recording app designed specifically for hands-free use on the road.

Website & Details: https://www.roadnotesapp.com

I’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or any features you'd like to see added for CarPlay.
Thanks for checking it out!

Any help with this for a VW Amarok would be greatly appreciated

Hello everyone.
I bought for my GLS Maybach a full-screen CarPlay head unit directly from the official manufacturer/seller (Hualingan) claiming a 1-year warranty. After 11 months of use, the unit failed (the CarPlay interface completely freezes when trying to play audio/music).
I contacted the seller/manufacturer for warranty support since it was still within the 1-year window, but they completely refused to help and simply blew me off, telling me to "buy a new phone" instead of fixing or replacing their defective product. Now they are ignoring my messages.
Be careful with Hualingan units and fake 1-year warranty listings.

https://youtube.com/shorts/kQG4ok2rIgk?si=BoO9v4YuB_Uy8tZ9