Do you have a T6.1 with faulty App-Connect?

[AlexSparky]

I don’t understand how one of the biggest manufacturers can get some thing like this so wrong and not have a fix yet. I too was talked out of the mid range head unit with sat nav and as I have car play in my Audi and old caddy and never had any problems so had not crossed my mind that a new van would have problems playing music.

 

[ojf10000]

I don’t understand how one of the biggest manufacturers can get some thing like this so wrong and not have a fix yet. I too was talked out of the mid range head unit with sat nav and as I have car play in my Audi and old caddy and never had any problems so had not crossed my mind that a new van would have problems playing music.

Mental mate isnt it

 

[ojf10000]

Has anyone actually complained to VW about this issue? I’ve just sent a lengthy email to customerservices@volkswagen.co.uk
Probably wont have much effect but the more that complain, hopefully, the more that will be done about it

 

[MrEds]

I’ve had this issue for ages now, crackling intermittently throughout every song played through Apple Music. Whilst at vw for a heater failure related issue months ago I mentioned it and the guy said vw were way behind on updates compared to Apple and there’s nothing they could do as of yet. I have found a temporary fix by pressing the speech button on steering wheel on and off this clears the crackling immediately it is still a pain in the arse, but less hassle than pulling your usb lead in and out I suppose. I think I’ll have a go at the reset thanks @Phibbo assuming it won’t cause any other issues if I do it ?

 

[MrEds]

@ojf10000 - you have a point, most of us with the issue probably just have a moan whilst in the garage for something else and walk away naffed off and I’m pretty sure the vw staff we are moaning to aren’t putting in complaints on our behalf. I shall complain also, that’ll make two of us I guess.

 

[Phibbo]

I’ve had this issue for ages now, crackling intermittently throughout every song played through Apple Music. Whilst at vw for a heater failure related issue months ago I mentioned it and the guy said vw were way behind on updates compared to Apple and there’s nothing they could do as of yet. I have found a temporary fix by pressing the speech button on steering wheel on and off this clears the crackling immediately it is still a pain in the arse, but less hassle than pulling your usb lead in and out I suppose. I think I’ll have a go at the reset thanks @Phibbo assuming it won’t cause any other issues if I do it ?

I'm not an expert... but I've had no other issues. You could go through the system first and note down all the settings...? Good luck!

 

[Phibbo]

I don’t understand how one of the biggest manufacturers can get some thing like this so wrong and not have a fix yet. I too was talked out of the mid range head unit with sat nav and as I have car play in my Audi and old caddy and never had any problems so had not crossed my mind that a new van would have problems playing music.

Odd - I was talked out of it too. 'Save yourself and just use your phone' etc etc.

 

[ojf10000]

I did the reset last night, initially all good, did a few shortish journeys earlier today, all good, did an hour this afternoon and by the end of the journey it was back. I think its pretty much going to be a repeat of when i first got the van… to begin with all good but suffered with it towards the end of long journeys, it then slowly got worse and started happening quicker and quicker up until it took about a minute to start.

 

[Phibbo]

I did the reset last night, initially all good, did a few shortish journeys earlier today, all good, did an hour this afternoon and by the end of the journey it was back. I think its pretty much going to be a repeat of when i first got the van… to begin with all good but suffered with it towards the end of long journeys, it then slowly got worse and started happening quicker and quicker up until it took about a minute to start.

Thats depressing... I'm still only on about an hour driving. If that's the case I'm definitely writing to VW head office too...

 

[Booicore]

Brand new T6.1 built in May and picked up last weekend (June 2021). It has this exact problem. It takes about 10 minutes to get to sounding like a badly tuned AM radio. It's booked in for a warranty look-see at the end of the month. Meanwhile I'll try the factory reset and report back here.

 

[TheBoyRoberts]

Alas, I too have the same issue.

Is it possible to download an update to the system software and update or does it have to be done via the dealer?

For those interested, I'm on Hardware: 715 and Software: 0740

 

[AlexSparky]

I had mine into Vw and they say it is an apple problems and Germany are aware of the issue. Saying that I did a reset of the media unit and I have not had the problem ( touch wood). The guy said it affects his company car and also affects him using ways .hopefully if it is an apple problems they send out a fix soon.

 

[TheBoyRoberts]

I’ll give the factory reset another go.

I’m sure I’ve done a full reset, but perhaps not.

 

[Beastman86]

So collected the van from VW York earlier, as I suspected they didnt fix it but advised its an issue they and VW are aware of. They believe since apple updated their firmware car play uses more bandwidth and the head unit is struggling to process it. Surprisingly he didnt blame apple and said its exclusive to the older composition audio unit and that the newer discover media unit is not having the same issue. Pissed me off to be honest, when I bought the van I wanted the upgraded stereo but was talked out of it by the dealer as apprently it was a waste of money as carplay using google maps etc was far superior.
He claims VW are working on a fix but if the hardware within the unit is lacking the power I’m not sure what a software update will achieve.
He claims some people have had improvements and/or success with a firmware update but that mine already has the latest version (got the van in April).
I did the factory reset earlier, nothing came up about privacy settings though?! Will give it a try tomorrow and see how it goes

Took mine over to York on Monday.
They were well aware of the problem and had said VW are trying to resolve it with firmware updates.
They did give us a short VW USB C to Lightning lead. I Have used it since and it seems to be holding up.
Not convinced it’ll be a cure though. Sure the issue will crop back up.
Keep you updated…..

 

[Beastman86]

Update - Longer trip today and unfortunately the short VW official lead has the same issue.
Don’t bother buying one (fortunately VW gave us it to try).
Did try press the voice control button on the steering wheel trick and does work as a temporary measure.

 

[Booicore]

Brand new T6.1 built in May and picked up last weekend (June 2021). It has this exact problem. It takes about 10 minutes to get to sounding like a badly tuned AM radio. It's booked in for a warranty look-see at the end of the month. Meanwhile I'll try the factory reset and report back here.

The factory reset method worked for me BUT maybe it was dependant on other steps. Here's exactly what I did.

- Disconnect the USB cable from the van. Turn the ignition off completely.
- Turn the key back on to power the van. I didn't start mine up but it probably doesn't matter.
- Change the Privacy settings on your Head-Unit to the least secure; this isn't your banking app so I'm pretty sure it's not a risk.
- Do a full factory-reset of the head unit; it's somewhere in the settings. Read the alerts as it sometimes says it hasn't done it properly. It took me 3 attempts.
- Install the VW WeConnect App on your phone; this needs your VIN number and connects to your van directly from VW. I suspect this step may enable a software update.

I also bought a new cable for a tenner off Amazon which probably has nothing to do with it but I'm just saying this for completion.
One of the above steps cured the issue. I've driven it for hours at a time and it's been bang-on ever since.

I hope this helps someone.

 

[Phibbo]

Yep - can back up Boicore above. It DOES seem to have worked. I’ve now been driving for a couple of weeks and am on holiday in Devon and done at least 24 hours solid driving and no problems as yet…

 

[Milsy68]

I'm 3 weeks in since I did the above and it's held ok so far. Fingers crossed...

 

[Kayjay77]

Hi Everyone,

Been experiencing crackling when playing music from a phone. I have tried different phones, different wires and different ports in the car. Crackling comes after a little while into the journey. Sometimes taking the wire out and plugging it back in helps.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? I have ran out ideas on how to fix it.

Thanks everyone.

Yes I have the same issue, thought it was the USB adapter but bought a USB C charger and its still the same. Works fine through Bluetooth connection.

 

[Richie_duckdive]

Finally had the follow up appointment/ service on this issue this morning.

Learnt from my previous visit and was armed with a video of the crackling ok full flow which really helped.

They tried to replicate the fault but no joy but have now escalated the issue to VWs UK HQ tech person.

Hoping to hear soon from them on next steps and will keep you posted if I make any progress.

In the meantime who knows, ios15 might fix it?!