2021 Apple car play switches between light and dark mode

Hey all, I just picked up a brand new TRD Off-Road this past weekend and I'm loving it so far! I have had one annoyance that I'm wondering if anyone else has had, the head unit likes to switch seemingly randomly between the light and dark mode. It got really annoying so I switched it from auto to just straight dark mode, and while that helped it wasn't 100%, it still switches randomly to light mode for a little bit then back to dark. Anyone else have this issue? I'd like to be able to leave it on auto so it's easier to see during the day time.

 

It's changing color based off if the truck thinks it's dark or light out. If it's randomly swapping might be a problem with that sensor. No issues with my 2021 OR and I use carplay every day.

 

Mine does it when I hit underpasses. It’s the worst at dusk. Now that you bring it up, it pisses me off too. Just found this:

https://www.wikihow.com/Turn-on-Dark-Mode-in-Apple-Carplay

I’ll report back with an update.



Well son of a buck. There’s a setting icon you fiddle with in your truck’s head unit.

 

My head unit changes brightness traveling through under passes too. It really bugged me when I first got my truck and now I rarely notice it.

 

So I just drove for about an hour and this time with the always dark mode appearance option enabled it didn't randomly switch for a moment like it did yesterday which was super odd. Based on what you guys said I also checked the sensor when I got back and found some plastic from dealer that might have been impacting it. Hopefully will be less finicky later on! Thanks

 

My 12 pro iPhone has randomly dimmed since I got it. It’s a widespread problem. Are you sure it’s not your phone?

 

Yes, I'm still rocking an older iPhone 8+ and I was using it in my old 4Runner's aftermarket head unit for a couple years without issue. Same thing was happening with my girlfriend's phone as well in the new truck. I think I figured out the issue though, sensor was being partially blocked on the truck. The only weird thing was that it still occasionally switched modes even when I changed it to dark mode only in the appearance settings. Thankfully that seemed to stop happening last night, and I'll give it another test when I go on another drive.

 

the CarPlay on my '21 does the same. Particularly annoying when using GoogleMaps. Next trip out i'll play with the settings

 

It's the light sensor in the truck. Here in Oregon, with rainclouds hovering overhead 8 months out of the year, a drive though some tree cover will make it flip back and forth a couple of times.

I'm wondering if there is an option in Techstream or through the dealer to adjust the sensitivity of it.

 

Same problem here in Maine in the late fall thru early spring... not a lot of daylight and if it's cloudy the light sensor gets all messed up. My prior car, a Ford, had bigtime issues with the light sensor... the SYNC display would flip light/dark and the headlights would switch on/off if it was cloudy and driving down a road with a lot of trees.

A sensitivity adjustment for the Tacoma would be nice