App-connect Frequent Drop Outs

[Shaun Witts]

While using Waze through AppConnect last night I encountered frequent connection problems with the head unit just going blank, and then trying to reconnect to my phone (iPhone 8). This was preceded by the headunit (standard VW without nav) totally freezing accompanied by a contstant high pitched tone. I had to turn it off & on to clear this. I even swapped the USB lead out for a genuine Apple one, but it was unuseable due to the frequent drop outs. So after the drive to work this morning (when it was working fine), I thought I would plug Carista in and check for any error codes. There was 1 Infotainment system fault code:
00531 Mass Air Flow Sensor Reference Voltage
I can't see that this is relevant to my App-connect issue, and it's probably a red-herring as my van is running well.
Has anyone else had such frequent App-connect issues before and, more importantly, have they fixed them?

 

[Deaky]

Try a different iPhone lead

 

[Shaun Witts]

I've tried two - a shorty one and an OEM Apple one.

 

[Nigel W]

Hi, did you turn the headunit on and off or do a restart? To do a restart press and hold the off button until you see it start a re-boot.
Probably won’t solve anything but it’s one thing less to rule out.
If you can hold on for a few weeks apple will soon be launching ios13 which has an ‘improved’ new version of CarPlay and revised apple maps so rather than messing around now doing reinstalls let’s just hope the new version will clear out your problem.

 

[Shaun Witts]

Thanks for the feedback.
No, I just did an off/on at the headunit control - so no reboot - and an ignition off/on also.

I've been using CarPlay and either Google or Waze for a while now, and have always encountered occasional drop-outs, but it will usually reconnect straight away. This time it froze at a critical time, meaning I missed a turning, and then wouldn't reliably re-connect. I was in the Lakes, heading for Seathwaite, and ended up getting my OS paper map out! Very frustrating.

 

[Nigel W]

Thanks for the feedback.
No, I just did an off/on at the headunit control - so no reboot - and an ignition off/on also.

I've been using CarPlay and either Google or Waze for a while now, and have always encountered occasional drop-outs, but it will usually reconnect straight away. This time it froze at a critical time, meaning I missed a turning, and then wouldn't reliably re-connect. I was in the Lakes, heading for Seathwaite, and ended up getting my OS paper map out! Very frustrating.

Just a thought- where is the phone?
Remember you are relying on the phone being in line of sight of a satellite to get a gps signal. If it can’t get gps it will try to get your position by phone mast. So.....if no line of sight and a crap phone signal it will be stuck. The phone reception in the lakes is not the best and if your phone is tucked away then it will struggle and possibly freeze as you describe.

 

[Murdoch]

Try cleaning out the lighting connector on your phone.

I have this regularly on my T32 T6 and I’m not convinced it’s a phone / lead issue .... bumpy roads certainly don’t help and for clarity, when I use my phone and lead with a Skoda courtesy car, I didn’t have the issue at all

 

[Shaun Witts]

Even if the GPS signal was lost, the CarPlay connection would still be there.

However, cleaning out the Lightning Connector is a good idea, both on the phone & the cable itself.

 

[Dilbert]

Poor cables / bad connections can easily cause issues with Android and iOS. It only needs a loss of a few data packets at it will hang.

Don't skimp on cable quality where continuous communication is required.

 

[bullock]

@Shaun Witts did you resolve this?

We have had a similar ongoing problem since purchase 2 years ago that a head unit firmware hasn’t improved. We get regular freezes and audio dropouts where the other person can still hear us, and then the head unit resets. Sometimes this is accompanied by an unpleasant square-wave noise that we can’t turn off!

Different phones, cables, OS or signal areas doesn’t influence this behaviour


Would love to know if you’ve any advice!

 

[BognorMotors]

There is a software update available for this or in a couple of cases we’ve had head units replaced. My present van does this all the time and I need to get it booked in

 

[Shaun Witts]

@Shaun Witts did you resolve this?

It hasn't been as bad again (I've not had the blank screen & noise again), but it is still dropping out & reconnecting occasionally.

I need to check which firmware version I have and whether there is an update available?

 

[Insert Coin]

Mine does it too, no matter which lead or which phone. It can go a week and not crash at all and then another time it will crash 3 or 4 times in 30 mins.

I've said this before, but the Disco headunit is the biggest waste of £1000 I've ever spent, and I've wasted quite a lot over the years

Really tempted to swap it out with a Kenwood/Alpine, but knowing that the old unit is only any good as a door stop prevents me.

 

[Shaun Witts]

I actually have a Kenwood DMX7017DABS sitting in a box at home that I would rather use. But it will not work with the OEM rear camera and, after lining, the trim on my tailgate is now bonded on making access to the camera problematic. Plus I don't know whether the cable from the tailgate to the headunit will also need replacing, which will not be easy in a lined van.

 

[Smr72]

I had this with mine too, tried new cable, cleaned phone and lightning connector still no joy, contacted vw under warranty and the tried to do an update but couldn’t get link to work, eventually changed head unit and it’s worked fine since.
I have also now got Bluetooth media now as well which I didn’t have before so no need for cable, bonus!!
If it’s under warranty get it back to VW

 

[bullock]

Mine’s going back in for another look with a different dealer (the one I bought it from). Will let you know how it’s resolved