Apple CarPlay Issues?

Hi all I have a brand new 22 TRD OR Premium. I absolutely love the truck but something that bothers me is the Apple CarPlay feature. When I plug my phone and I start up the car I notice that whatever music I have playing sometimes skips over within the track and it just sounds messed up. The only solutions that I’ve seen is to turn the car off and then back on or just change it to Bluetooth audio. It doesn’t happen every time but enough to be inconvenient and it seems to be more prevalent when I plug in my phone and almost immediately go into reverse so I typically wait a little bit before I shift, even then it’s not a guarantee. Anybody have the same issue or any more permanent solutions? Kind of annoying that this is happening to a brand new truck, not sure if this is a dealer fix

 

Let me tell you, the head unit in the trucks are lacking lol mine is so glitchy and does annoying shit but for me, it’s not a big deal and I’ll wait until it dies until I replace it.

But the stinger 10” HU looks pretty cool and there are other options out there you can read about somewhere in here.

 

My 21 TRD OR premium hasn't done this yet, but I've seen several reports like yours. What works for some people is waiting to plug the phone in until after the audio has finished it's boot sequence. HTH

 

I guess I have been lucky! I added a JL Audio amp and some Focal speakers and it sounds amazing! No issues with glitching or Apple functions.

 

it's become a known issue for some of the newer vehicles with premium audio. there doesn't seem to be a permanent fix, however you can reboot your head unit by pressing and holding down the power button at the lower-left of the screen. it's better than having to restart the truck and stops the skipping... until the next time it decides to skip again.

 

Mine glitches occasionally. And takes forever to boot up. Can’t use any buttons for at least 30-40 seconds after start up.

 

Well that’s disappointing to hear. Sucks that a “premium” sound system glitches brand new…

 

Interested to know more about your setup. Details man, details!

 

You must be a lucky guy. I haven’t not had some issues but I plan to replace the speakers and HU eventually until this stuff starts failing worse. I’m one to hold on to stuff until it starts to break. Just replaced my iPhone 8 last year to a 13 mini lol.

 

I got lucky as there is a great audio shop here in Golden. He knew exactly what model speakers where best and they sound crazy good! Its this set https://www.focal.com/en/focal-sound-dedicated-toyotar

You drive these things with a good 100WPC amp and they sound like a million bucks!

 

Also make sure you're using a genuine Apple cable and not the off brand one from Amazon.. Learned that one myself!

 

Sometimes certain generations of iPhones will cause more issues than others, too. And yes, definitely use a genuine Apple cable.

 

Why is that?

 

Yup. Toyota audio is crap. After two warranty replacements I’m saving up for a Crutchfield redo.

 

i don't think it's necessary to have an Apple factory cable, but there are good cables and bad cables. a bad cable will give you various problems. but an Apple cable isn't going to fix the Tacoma's problem with stuttering audio.

 

I'm not the only one experiencing this issue but I've found that if I let the computer/infotainment initialize (i.e. go through the warning splash screen and get to the main infotainment screen) before I plug in my phone, it works fine and there's no stutter. I haven't had the issue since I started that method. I have been using a genuine Apple lighting cable as well, with my iPhone 12.

I've read that some think it stutters due to the OEM head unit's lack of computing power/memory.

Other thread on this topic: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/carplay-stutter.741811/

 

Wow this happened to me today and I thought it was because of the new tint lol. Restarting the car worked.

 

If it happens again, you can also cycle the system by pressing in and holding the volume knob until the screen goes black and the Toyota logo pops up. It does the same as restarting the entire truck.

 

I haven’t yet experienced any issues in my 22, but will note that CarPlay in general is pretty shitty. I’ve had it in 3 previous vehicles and it was always glitchy. Doesn’t really seem to be tied to a specific make or base head unit. I think it must be a tough thing having to be compatible with so many different systems that there is just always some wonkiness.

 

I have a 21 Off Road with the prem sound and it does this crap ALL THE TIME. You plug in your phone, song plays for a second or two, then skips, lags, or just altogether freezes. But it never fixed itself either, I’ve let it try to work itself out for about a hour and it’s just f$&@ed, yet the screen shows the song still playing. Can’t skip songs, can’t go back, can’t even switch to radio. Entire system freezes up sometimes also. Only thing I found is holding the power button fixes it, if I am unlucky I have to do it multiple times.

Toyota dealer tech had 0 helpful suggestions or know how. Just said sometimes the phone needs to be updated. However, happened on my older phone and my wife’s phones as well. Clearly a Toyota issue, clearly just not made well. Frustrating to say the least.