How to Increase Wireless Apple CarPlay Reliability?

[HornetRaider]

I have searched this forum for suggestions on how to improve the wireless apple carplay experience. I have an iphone 17 pro max and a '23 Lariat 511a. Every 5 drives or so, my phone will not connect to the truck. The only thing that I've found to make it reconnect is turning the bluetooth on my phone off and on. After I do that, it'll connect automatically the next 5 or so drives, and then rinse and repeat.

I don't know if this is a phone or a truck issue. I had an aftermarket apple carplay head unit in my old car. I did notice that when upgrading from an iphone 14 to 17, the connectivity got worse. Is there any way to make the phone automatically turn the bluetooth off and on everytime it sees it's being used for PAAK? It's a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but admittedly apple carplay was a big factor in going with this particular EV truck. I just don't know if this is a truck thing or a phone thing.

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[Timeless Epoch]

As a reference point, I also have a 17 Pro Max. With my 24 Platinum it has been very reliable. I don't have PAAK, audio, or carplay issues (looking for some wood to knock on).

 

[HornetRaider]

I should clarify that the PAAK works every time. It's the actual CarPlay that's finnicky.

 

[GunnarH]

FWIW; '25 Lariat with iPhone 16 Pro Max. CarPlay has been very reliable. Had my first glitch yesterday, when after a brief stop/errand, music would only play through the right speaker when I got back in the truck. Stopping and restarting the music fixed the issue.

 

[brewski]

My i13 connect to wireless CarPlay no issues.

 

[chriserx]

I always just leave the truck running, that's pretty much when the phone/wireless glitches so I turned wireless projection completely off. You can always try one of those magic boxes, to sync it'll look like a wired connection and maybe the software is better on those boxes but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[brewski]

I always just leave the truck running, that's pretty much when the phone/wireless glitches so I turned wireless projection completely off. You can always try one of those magic boxes, to sync it'll look like a wired connection and maybe the software is better on those boxes but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is when I do have some glitch reconnecting.
I've found that simply reconnecting through the truck interface seems to work best, vs waiting on it to figure out on its own it should reconnect.

 

[mattskr]

I also have an iPhone 17 Pro and only use PaaK. Bluetooth is needed for both PaaK and CarPlay (it initializes over BT then creates a direct WiFi connection). Toggling Bluetooth on/off should not be needed.

I would probably reset both PAAK and CarPlay, just delete both and re-pair to see if that solves it.

If that doesn’t work it’s likely a truck issue, not phone, as I did have the same issues with connectivity and audio dropout but they were all resolved with the TSB 25-2048 update last year. This was a catch all bulletin that addressed a lot of audio issues but the TSB was canceled so not sure what are the options now if your truck is not up to date.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ent-system-reboot-etc-post-167-updated.25115/

 

[Timeless Epoch]

You know, I did have some connectivity issues once (key not detected) when I had a truck full of passengers. I believe it was because their phones were causing a lot of congestion on the 2.4GHz bands (Bluetooth and some wifi). It wasn’t persistent, just quick hiccups.

Do you have anything in your truck that would be chatty via Bluetooth, wifi, or other 2.4Ghz devices? Cash of stolen phones, all your kids wireless headphones, various bluetooth dongles, etc…

 

[HornetRaider]

I also have an iPhone 17 Pro and only use PaaK. Bluetooth is needed for both PaaK and CarPlay (it initializes over BT then creates a direct WiFi connection). Toggling Bluetooth on/off should not be needed.

I would probably reset both PAAK and CarPlay, just delete both and re-pair to see if that solves it.

If that doesn’t work it’s likely a truck issue, not phone, as I did have the same issues with connectivity and audio dropout but they were all resolved with the TSB 25-2048 update last year. This was a catch all bulletin that addressed a lot of audio issues but the TSB was canceled so not sure what are the options now if your truck is not up to date.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ent-system-reboot-etc-post-167-updated.25115/

The PAAK has always worked. It's the carplay that's inconsistent. I've tried deleting and repairing both, and it's the same issue. Every 5 or so drives, I lose car play (PAAK still works) and have to toggle bluetooth on my phone to go off and on. If I hit the connect button on the truck's screen, connecting with the phone fails. I have to toggle the bluetooth from my phone off and on for it to link up.

 

[HornetRaider]

You know, I did have some connectivity issues once (key not detected) when I had a truck full of passengers. I believe it was because their phones were causing a lot of congestion on the 2.4GHz bands (Bluetooth and some wifi). It wasn’t persistent, just quick hiccups.

Do you have anything in your truck that would be chatty via Bluetooth, wifi, or other 2.4Ghz devices? Cash of stolen phones, all your kids wireless headphones, various bluetooth dongles, etc…

Hah! I wish I could point my finger at any of those. I keep the inside of the truck completely empty. The only thing I could think of is my escort max radar detector, but I don't even keep that plugged in.

 

[mattskr]

The PAAK has always worked. It's the carplay that's inconsistent. I've tried deleting and repairing both, and it's the same issue. Every 5 or so drives, I lose car play (PAAK still works) and have to toggle bluetooth on my phone to go off and on. If I hit the connect button on the truck's screen, connecting with the phone fails. I have to toggle the bluetooth from my phone off and on for it to link up.

At least you have a simple fix. Mine was a little different. I had to shut off the truck and open the driver door. I got to where I would sit in the parking lot until CarPlay worked. Then the other issue was it would connect, but sometimes no audio at all. That one I could at least toggle the phone off/on in the truck menu, usually. But has been rock solid after the updates for the past year or so.

Hah! I wish I could point my finger at any of those. I keep the inside of the truck completely empty. The only thing I could think of is my escort max radar detector, but I don't even keep that plugged in.

I also have the Escort Max.

 

[potato]

My phone (17 pro) always connects fine on a cold start of the truck. But when I leave the truck "running", as I normally do while out and about, fairly often it will fail to reconnect once I get back to the truck. Usually hitting the connect button on the Phone List to manually reconnect works, but sometimes it doesn't and I have to restart Sync. Hold the bottom left and bottom right buttons on the steering wheel for a few seconds. That has always worked for me to force the reconnect.

It is funny how we can have such incredibly advanced technology like the phone itself, and the myriad of computers running the truck, but such basic connection stuff fails often. C'est la vie I guess.

 

[HornetRaider]

At least you have a simple fix. Mine was a little different. I had to shut off the truck and open the driver door. I got to where I would sit in the parking lot until CarPlay worked. Then the other issue was it would connect, but sometimes no audio at all. That one I could at least toggle the phone off/on in the truck menu, usually. But has been rock solid after the updates for the past year or so.



I also have the Escort Max.

I never thought I’d leave valentine until my friend got me this. Love it. Just need to figure out how to mount it so that I don’t block the mirror mount for comma ai.

 

[HornetRaider]

My phone (17 pro) always connects fine on a cold start of the truck. But when I leave the truck "running", as I normally do while out and about, fairly often it will fail to reconnect once I get back to the truck. Usually hitting the connect button on the Phone List to manually reconnect works, but sometimes it doesn't and I have to restart Sync. Hold the bottom left and bottom right buttons on the steering wheel for a few seconds. That has always worked for me to force the reconnect.

It is funny how we can have such incredibly advanced technology like the phone itself, and the myriad of computers running the truck, but such basic connection stuff fails often. C'est la vie I guess.

It’s interesting how opposite our experiences are. Once my phone connects, my phone will reconnect as many times as I’ve ever left and come back to the track.

It’s that initial connection during startup that’s inconsistent for me.

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