Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
CarPlay has always been considered the more stable and reliable alternative to Android Auto, but the debut of the USB-C iPhone 15 and iOS 17 turned an otherwise refined experience into a confusing mess.
However, it looks like some users have been struggling with problems with CarPlay even before the launch of iOS 17. And according to a report, a GPS connection error has been around for at least one year.
CarPlay's GPS connection malfunctions in three ways. For some users, the location displayed on the map in the likes of Apple Maps and Google Maps gets stuck, no longer updating the user's position and therefore providing inaccurate turn-by-turn guidance. The car keeps moving, therefore changing its location, but the broken GPS integration in CarPlay does not allow the navigation app to update the location.
Others claim the navigation app places them in the middle of nowhere, sometimes right in a field, despite driving on a highway. Needless to say, this also leads to broken turn-by-turn directions, as Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, and other navigation apps don't know precisely where they are.
Finally, navigation apps can't accurately determine the car's location and display the typical GPS radius, with the user located somewhere in the circle. However, the directions are again broken.
In all cases, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, and any other navigation apps become useless, as they can't provide accurate guidance. The issue isn't limited to a specific navigation app or car brand, as it happens with Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze in Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, and BMW cars. CarPlay is the only common component in all these reports, so Apple's system is likely the culprit.
The issues appeared shortly after the launch of iOS 16 last year, but iOS 17, the latest operating system version released by Apple, doesn't bring things back to normal. Others discovered that launching navigation apps on the iPhone before loading CarPlay allows the navigation app to work correctly, at least for a limited time. When the issue is triggered, breaking down the route guidance, users can also unlock their iPhones and launch the navigation apps, temporarily restoring the normal functionality.
Otherwise, it's impossible to bring things back to normal, as the issue seems to happen occasionally, with or without the app running on the mobile device. Apple has never commented on the glitch, and it's impossible to tell if the company is at least investigating the error. For now, the only solution is to switch to the mobile device whenever CarPlay's GPS is misbehaving, which obviously defies the purpose of CarPlay in the first place.
If navigation no longer works in the middle of the drive, pull over and switch to the mobile device without the vehicle still moving.
CarPlay's GPS connection malfunctions in three ways. For some users, the location displayed on the map in the likes of Apple Maps and Google Maps gets stuck, no longer updating the user's position and therefore providing inaccurate turn-by-turn guidance. The car keeps moving, therefore changing its location, but the broken GPS integration in CarPlay does not allow the navigation app to update the location.
Others claim the navigation app places them in the middle of nowhere, sometimes right in a field, despite driving on a highway. Needless to say, this also leads to broken turn-by-turn directions, as Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, and other navigation apps don't know precisely where they are.
Finally, navigation apps can't accurately determine the car's location and display the typical GPS radius, with the user located somewhere in the circle. However, the directions are again broken.
In all cases, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, and any other navigation apps become useless, as they can't provide accurate guidance. The issue isn't limited to a specific navigation app or car brand, as it happens with Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze in Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, and BMW cars. CarPlay is the only common component in all these reports, so Apple's system is likely the culprit.
The issues appeared shortly after the launch of iOS 16 last year, but iOS 17, the latest operating system version released by Apple, doesn't bring things back to normal. Others discovered that launching navigation apps on the iPhone before loading CarPlay allows the navigation app to work correctly, at least for a limited time. When the issue is triggered, breaking down the route guidance, users can also unlock their iPhones and launch the navigation apps, temporarily restoring the normal functionality.
Otherwise, it's impossible to bring things back to normal, as the issue seems to happen occasionally, with or without the app running on the mobile device. Apple has never commented on the glitch, and it's impossible to tell if the company is at least investigating the error. For now, the only solution is to switch to the mobile device whenever CarPlay's GPS is misbehaving, which obviously defies the purpose of CarPlay in the first place.
If navigation no longer works in the middle of the drive, pull over and switch to the mobile device without the vehicle still moving.
Google News