7 ms·

My phone NEVER connects properly and if I want to use it for streaming, I have to spend 2-3 minutes connecting it every time. This has always been the case. Pas

My phone NEVER connects properly and if I want to use it for streaming, I have to spend 2-3 minutes connecting it every time. This has always been the case. Past 3 cards, past 6 phones. Now-a-days I load up a small flash drive for the car with a small sampling of what I want to listen to. I have another one at home and "Swap" them from time to time with new things. That way it's not overloaded, doesn't take 2 minutes to load up. So it's very much like a mix CD or the mp3 CDs I would burn a couple of decades ago.

philistine 2y ago
Wired CarPlay is rock solid. Bluetooth has never, and never, will be as foolproof as a wire, or as Wi-Fi for that matter.
- ClassyJacket 2y ago
  My car bluetooth (2022 Tesla Model 3) is great and reliable, EXCEPT the huge latency. It connects and disconnects when it should, and is fine for audio, but if I want to sit in my car and watch a video (when public charging, when eating, or on my break at work, so a common situation), it literally has about one second of latency making everything completely unwatchable.
- drivers99 2y ago
  > Wired CarPlay is rock solid Mine always has a sound blip a few (15? 30? I haven't timed it) seconds in whenever I play any song (or at least, the first song when I start playing music). I wish I had a CD player in the car.
- saturn8601 2y ago
  This is not true in my case. This year I have been renting various cars to see which is best to replace my current car. Using wired carplay there are random car specific bugs (Google Maps losing tracking and freezing up, spotify crashing requiring to stop and restart the car, etc.) I have tried Ford, Chevy, Mazda, and Hyundai,(Tesla as well but that is not Carplay).
- girvo 2y ago
  Unless you're in a 2017 VW Polo, then even wired CarPlay can be weirdly flaky. Though that appears to be the ICE system itself losing the plot rather than the connection per se, but I can't be certain. It was quite surprising to come across!
  - philistine 2y ago
    Add my Prius Prime to the list. Nothing but a perfect experience. My phone is too old and hangs often, but closing the phone screen helps a lot.
- RHSeeger 2y ago
  Of course, wired means you need to plug and unplug a USB a lot more often. And the USB port is the first thing to go on many phones.
AlbertCory 2y ago
I have a microSD card in the phone, and it's great. When it works. When it doesn't, the CD always works. Always. But one does get sick of that CD. Bluetooth sucks.
- doubled112 2y ago
  > the CD always works Unless it doesn't. In the 2011 Ford Focus my wife and I had, the stereo would lock up, stop responding to input, and play the same 1/4 second on repeat until you cut power.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago
  I used to have a car with a tape player in it. No CD player. But I got a kit that was meant to give that the ability to play CDs, which consisted of a CD player and an adapter where one end plugged into an audio output jack and the other end was an imitation cassette that went into the tape drive. It was great. I used a tiny screenless mp3 player and plugged the tape adapter into it. Worked beautifully except for the fact that I couldn't charge the mp3 player in the car. But I could easily organize whatever music I wanted for the car on that mp3 player, and since it was screenless it could be operated by feel. A friend of mine was proud, once, that his new car included an audio input jack in the dashboard. That's gone out of fashion now, but frankly it's still the ideal setup.
  - reginald78 2y ago
    > A friend of mine was proud, once, that his new car included an audio input jack in the dashboard. That's gone out of fashion now, but frankly it's still the ideal setup. I haven't shopped for new cars recently and I hope this isn't true! I like to listen to audio books and don't really want my phone involved. While AUX jacks aren't the only way to do it I like the option. A 2006 car I had lacked and AUX jack and had a CD player. After experimenting with FM transmitters (beyond horrible) I eventually had to install a new head unit myself. In the past I used to take it to a car stereo place but they had all shutdown by the time I needed them. While there were directions and adapters available it was a pain because I had to tear apart a lot of the dash trim to do it. I ended up wishing it came with a cassette deck because those adapters you mention are cheap and work quite well. I still have a 2011 car with CD player and no aux jack which doesn't seem to support stereo replacement, or at least it is going to be an even bigger project. But since it can read data CDs full of mp3s I just burn audio books to a few CDs and the swapping is so minimal it isn't a concern. My wife's car is a 2019 and it seems to have corrected all the wrongs here, it has an aux jack and CD player but it will also read USB sticks. It's actually nice to be able to switch to different systems. Of course I hardly drive it and she mostly listens to audio CDs still!
prpl 2y ago
I have a two VWs, ‘17 and ‘19. Both connect flawlessly with bluetooth and wired carplay (no wireless carplay on these though) Phone sound is also much better than cheap headphones or speaker. No latency issues (unless it’s Google Meet)
__MatrixMan__ 2y ago
Mine connects 100% of the time. Pause works 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time it invokes "redial last number".
ranger207 2y ago
I have an aftermarket head unit for my pre-infotainment car that's worked perfectly for Bluetooth since the day I got it. Given my experiences elsewhere, I'm convinced the problem with car Bluetooth isn't the Bluetooth, it's the car manufacturer's code
squidgedcricket 2y ago
I used to have the same issue, my 2012 Kenwood head unit stopped being reliable w/ phones a few years ago. I did an aux cable for a while, but now have an cheap BT adapter plugged into to aux port and it's super reliable with my phone. I plan to get rid of the head unit completely to get rid of the screen in my dash, it looks tacky next to the analog clock and magnetic compass.

philistine 2y ago

Wired CarPlay is rock solid. Bluetooth has never, and never, will be as foolproof as a wire, or as Wi-Fi for that matter.

ClassyJacket 2y ago
My car bluetooth (2022 Tesla Model 3) is great and reliable, EXCEPT the huge latency. It connects and disconnects when it should, and is fine for audio, but if I want to sit in my car and watch a video (when public charging, when eating, or on my break at work, so a common situation), it literally has about one second of latency making everything completely unwatchable.
drivers99 2y ago
> Wired CarPlay is rock solid Mine always has a sound blip a few (15? 30? I haven't timed it) seconds in whenever I play any song (or at least, the first song when I start playing music). I wish I had a CD player in the car.
saturn8601 2y ago
This is not true in my case. This year I have been renting various cars to see which is best to replace my current car. Using wired carplay there are random car specific bugs (Google Maps losing tracking and freezing up, spotify crashing requiring to stop and restart the car, etc.) I have tried Ford, Chevy, Mazda, and Hyundai,(Tesla as well but that is not Carplay).
girvo 2y ago
Unless you're in a 2017 VW Polo, then even wired CarPlay can be weirdly flaky. Though that appears to be the ICE system itself losing the plot rather than the connection per se, but I can't be certain. It was quite surprising to come across!
- philistine 2y ago
  Add my Prius Prime to the list. Nothing but a perfect experience. My phone is too old and hangs often, but closing the phone screen helps a lot.
RHSeeger 2y ago
Of course, wired means you need to plug and unplug a USB a lot more often. And the USB port is the first thing to go on many phones.

AlbertCory 2y ago

I have a microSD card in the phone, and it's great. When it works. When it doesn't, the CD always works. Always. But one does get sick of that CD. Bluetooth sucks.

doubled112 2y ago
> the CD always works Unless it doesn't. In the 2011 Ford Focus my wife and I had, the stereo would lock up, stop responding to input, and play the same 1/4 second on repeat until you cut power.
thaumasiotes 2y ago
I used to have a car with a tape player in it. No CD player. But I got a kit that was meant to give that the ability to play CDs, which consisted of a CD player and an adapter where one end plugged into an audio output jack and the other end was an imitation cassette that went into the tape drive. It was great. I used a tiny screenless mp3 player and plugged the tape adapter into it. Worked beautifully except for the fact that I couldn't charge the mp3 player in the car. But I could easily organize whatever music I wanted for the car on that mp3 player, and since it was screenless it could be operated by feel. A friend of mine was proud, once, that his new car included an audio input jack in the dashboard. That's gone out of fashion now, but frankly it's still the ideal setup.
- reginald78 2y ago
  > A friend of mine was proud, once, that his new car included an audio input jack in the dashboard. That's gone out of fashion now, but frankly it's still the ideal setup. I haven't shopped for new cars recently and I hope this isn't true! I like to listen to audio books and don't really want my phone involved. While AUX jacks aren't the only way to do it I like the option. A 2006 car I had lacked and AUX jack and had a CD player. After experimenting with FM transmitters (beyond horrible) I eventually had to install a new head unit myself. In the past I used to take it to a car stereo place but they had all shutdown by the time I needed them. While there were directions and adapters available it was a pain because I had to tear apart a lot of the dash trim to do it. I ended up wishing it came with a cassette deck because those adapters you mention are cheap and work quite well. I still have a 2011 car with CD player and no aux jack which doesn't seem to support stereo replacement, or at least it is going to be an even bigger project. But since it can read data CDs full of mp3s I just burn audio books to a few CDs and the swapping is so minimal it isn't a concern. My wife's car is a 2019 and it seems to have corrected all the wrongs here, it has an aux jack and CD player but it will also read USB sticks. It's actually nice to be able to switch to different systems. Of course I hardly drive it and she mostly listens to audio CDs still!

prpl 2y ago

I have a two VWs, ‘17 and ‘19. Both connect flawlessly with bluetooth and wired carplay (no wireless carplay on these though) Phone sound is also much better than cheap headphones or speaker. No latency issues (unless it’s Google Meet)

__MatrixMan__ 2y ago

Mine connects 100% of the time. Pause works 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time it invokes "redial last number".

ranger207 2y ago

I have an aftermarket head unit for my pre-infotainment car that's worked perfectly for Bluetooth since the day I got it. Given my experiences elsewhere, I'm convinced the problem with car Bluetooth isn't the Bluetooth, it's the car manufacturer's code

squidgedcricket 2y ago

I used to have the same issue, my 2012 Kenwood head unit stopped being reliable w/ phones a few years ago. I did an aux cable for a while, but now have an cheap BT adapter plugged into to aux port and it's super reliable with my phone. I plan to get rid of the head unit completely to get rid of the screen in my dash, it looks tacky next to the analog clock and magnetic compass.