Apple CarPlay Troubleshooting - Solutions to most common issues
All AIO-5 and AIO-6 series products are equipped with world-class components and the most advanced connectivity protocols to run CarPlay without stutters and disconnections. If your Apple CarPlay connection is unstable and is constantly disconnecting, there is probably some issue with the connection. Check the following steps to troubleshoot your connection.
1. Riding Environment Interference
External factors such as strong radio frequencies, high power lines, or other environmental interferences can disrupt the CarPlay connection. If you’re in an area with high levels of interference, try moving to a different location to see if the issue improves.
2. Phone's Low Power Mode Enabled
Low Power Mode restricts background activities on your iPhone and can cause frequent disconnections. Make sure it is disabled.
To disable Low Power Mode on your iPhone:
- Open Settings: Tap on the Settings icon on your iPhone's home screen.
- Tap Battery: Scroll down a little and select the "Battery" option.
- Toggle Low Power Mode: Look for the "Low Power Mode" and switch it off.
3. 5GHz Interference
The 5GHz wireless band, which connects your iPhone to AIO-5, is more prone to interference than the 2.4GHz band.
Switching to the 2.4GHz band can improve connection stability for several reasons:
- Extended Range: The 2.4GHz band covers a larger area.
- Stronger Signal Through Obstacles: It remains stable even with walls or other barriers.
- Better Device Compatibility: The 2.4GHz band is more widely supported across devices.
Switch to the 2.4GHz band: Go to CarLink (on the main screen) > Settings > Use 2.4G AP.
ⓘ Decreasing bandwidth to 2.4GHz will disable 60FPS and allow for only 30FPS. This will make animations less smooth.
4. Turn off Networking & Wireless
Over the last years of Apple CarPlay development, users found out that disabling this one feature causes major improvement to how Wireless CarPlay works.
To disable, go to: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services. There you will find the toggle for Networking & Wireless. Turn it off.
For now, no downsides of turning this setting off have been discovered.
5. Wi-Fi Assist on your iPhone
The Wi-Fi network your phone uses for CarPlay carries the screen mirroring stream, not internet access. iOS can read that as a weak network and Wi-Fi Assist will start pushing traffic over to cellular data. On some phones this back and forth ends with the CarPlay session dropping. One of our customers reported that switching it off got rid of his disconnections.
To disable it, go to: Settings > Cellular (Mobile Data on some carriers), scroll to the very bottom past the app list and switch off Wi-Fi Assist.
On iOS 27 the same setting is called Connectivity Assist and it moved to Settings > Wi-Fi.
ⓘ With this off, your phone will no longer switch to cellular data on its own when a Wi-Fi network is too weak to load anything.
6. Recent iPhone Update
iPhone updates can reset settings to their defaults. After an update, check the following:
Go to Settings > Do Not Disturb and ensure the 'Car' option is not enabled. This setting disconnects all connections when your phone detects you're driving.
Check for any other settings that might have reverted to default and could be affecting CarPlay.
7. Connected to 'Chigee-XXXX' Instead of 'Chigee-XXXX LE'
CHIGEE-xxxx is used for CarPlay or Android Auto connection. CHIGEE-XXXX LE is used for IOS ANCS (notifications only) connection. Ensure your iPhone is connected to 'Chigee-XXXX' instead of 'Chigee-XXXX LE'.
Additional Troubleshooting Steps for CarPlay
If the above steps don’t resolve the disconnection issues, try these additional steps:
- Restart Your iPhone and CarPlay System to reset any temporary glitches.
- Check for iOS Updates in Settings > General > Software Update.
Reset the devices:
- Restart your iPhone
- Turn off WiFi (it will turn on when CarPlay is connected)
- Reconnect Bluetooth
- Reset your CHIGEE device
- Change your phone's Bluetooth name (some signs and symbols cause problems)
- Reconnect to your Chigee device
If you need extra help or have some questions, contact us!