iphone 12 no longer auto connecting to airplay

[Daktari]

for quite a while now my iphone doesn't automatically connect to the Bronco anymore, I have to go to the apps and select car play and select to connect the phone, system then asks me to connect with usb cable but connects wireless after a bit and works fine.

I've removed the phone from the Bronco and the Bronco from the phone several times to see if that works, reset the radio, but none of those do anything.

Service manager says one of her techs is a sync guru and to just come by sometime but maybe someone here as an idea I could try first before wasting their and my time.

And once it works again, is there a way from stopping the Bronco automatically switching from Sirius to spottify on the phone? For short drives I don't care what music plays and am fine with Sirius. While it still worked to autoconnect the system switched away from sirius while I was backing down our long driveway and music went away, spottify I had to hit play first. Just a minor irritation while the screen shows the backup camera view.

Thanks for any ideas!

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[PleaseDontRoll]

Might be an obvious/already tried suggestion but have you restarted your phone itself? When I have pairing issues with any BT device its usually the sending device, not the receiving device.

 

[HeliPilot]

Might be an obvious/already tried suggestion but have you restarted your phone itself? When I have pairing issues with any BT device its usually the sending device, not the receiving device.

That was my first thought as well. He mentioned everything else, other than that.

 

[Daktari]

Might be an obvious/already tried suggestion but have you restarted your phone itself? When I have pairing issues with any BT device its usually the sending device, not the receiving device.

I'm actually not quite sure now, I think I did, but worth a try, thanks!

 

[Monster1926]

Same here I noticed that today. Probably another update they pushed out

 

[mybikeisred]

I have similar issues. And then three times when it did connect to car play, it started playing the audio from some Jim Jeffries stand up thing that I know has never once played on my phone. Is it possessed?

 

[Daktari]

so tried that, didn't help.
Phone and Bronco are connected to my wifi, I drove a bit away until that dropped and then it connected to the PROJ..... network the Bronco sets up. But still no car play. Have to go to apps>carplay>my phone>connect to carplay>get a note to connect via USB>phone connects without but I have to close that notification by hand, then I can get carplay to work.

I guess I'll see when their sync guru has time to look at it, they're pretty close to me. Mainly was wondering if I'm maybe missing something obvious.

Of course, no idea if an update in the Bronco or an update on my phone messed something up, since all those happen automatically.

Thanks!

 

[mtap]

Same issue for about a week now. Yes I’ve restarted my device…side note might be an apple issue because i have the same thing going on with my Tundra.

 

[Kimberley]

Mine would do that in the Bronco sport I had, thought it was a combo of ford updates and my old apple 7 phone that I am denial about updating. In less than a month it has done it my real Bronco but its been too cold to sit out there and try to play with it. Due to charging issues with the 7 I have the aux cord is connected most of the time and I wonder if that is what causes the issues of connecting when not plugged in.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

for quite a while now my iphone doesn't automatically connect to the Bronco anymore, I have to go to the apps and select car play and select to connect the phone, system then asks me to connect with usb cable but connects wireless after a bit and works fine.

I've removed the phone from the Bronco and the Bronco from the phone several times to see if that works, reset the radio, but none of those do anything.

Service manager says one of her techs is a sync guru and to just come by sometime but maybe someone here as an idea I could try first before wasting their and my time.

And once it works again, is there a way from stopping the Bronco automatically switching from Sirius to spottify on the phone? For short drives I don't care what music plays and am fine with Sirius. While it still worked to autoconnect the system switched away from sirius while I was backing down our long driveway and music went away, spottify I had to hit play first. Just a minor irritation while the screen shows the backup camera view.

Thanks for any ideas!

Hi there! Can you send us a private message with your VIN and Ford dealership name? I’ll look into this on my end. Thanks!

 

[j_anderson]

Sometimes, forgetting the vehicle from your phone (settings/general/caplay/Sync4/choose "forget this car") and deleting the connection in the vehicle infotainment, restarting the phone then reconnecting it all fresh is necessary. I've had to do this but only once.

 

[Daktari]

TL/DR version: dealer checked, reset everything to factory, worked while there and once more, then back to not working. If your iphone does connect automatically as it should, does it stay on blutooth AND wifi or goes blutooth first then immediately to wifi only? More detail below.

==

well, took it to the dealer, first went through all the settings and all that, no go, so dropped it off yesterday for more investigations. Tech did all kinds of tests and reboots and reset the entire system, got it to work with his phone. When I went to pick it up it worked fine with my phone too. Twice. Since then nothing, have to connect by hand, either by going into blutooth on the phone or forcing a connection from the CarPlay menu on screen.

My phone then connects via blutooth for a short moment, then WiFi and drops the blutooth immediately. Is that normal? Or should both connections remain?

Also, maybe somebody can check, if I look at my phone list on the Bronco screen, it seems like there's a non named phone listed above mine, an empty line only with the > arrow on the right to go into phone settings. Is that normal? No way to delete that unnamed phone.
And if I go to my phone settings, all options are greyed out, like make it my favorite phone etc. None of the options are accessible.

I'll play some more with it this weekend, trying our other iphones too to make sure it's not just my phone that's being stupid.

I don't need CarPlay most days, but I paid for it, so want it to work. Dealer is doing some more investigations too.

Anybody know if there's a Sync4 manual anywhere online? I can't find one that would explain how the system works. Like that blutooth+WiFi or first blutooth handshake then switch to WiFi question, which is correct? So many variables in this stuff, not easy to find what's wrong.

It worked great for the first couple of weeks of ownership, I made no changes at all, but of course Bronco and phone update themselves, so who knows if something went wrong there. Rebooted the phone several times now.

 

[j_anderson]

My phone then connects via blutooth for a short moment, then WiFi and drops the blutooth immediately. Is that normal? Or should both connections remain?

This is normal. Wireless CarPlay does its initial handshake over bluetooth then hands the connection over to WiFi. Once WiFi connection is established, Bluetooth drops.

I cant speak to the rest of your issues. I had a connection issue once about 2 weeks after delivery. I had to forget the connection in my phone's CarPlay menu and in Sync's phone menu then re-pair the two. Its been rock solid since.

 

[Daktari]

This is normal. Wireless CarPlay does its initial handshake over bluetooth then hands the connection over to WiFi. Once WiFi connection is established, Bluetooth drops.

great, thank you for confirming that. I'll try some more this weekend also with other iphones form the family, make sure it's not an issue with my phone, dealer is investigating some more too.

 

[alexryer]

for quite a while now my iphone doesn't automatically connect to the Bronco anymore, I have to go to the apps and select car play and select to connect the phone, system then asks me to connect with usb cable but connects wireless after a bit and works fine.

I've removed the phone from the Bronco and the Bronco from the phone several times to see if that works, reset the radio, but none of those do anything.

Service manager says one of her techs is a sync guru and to just come by sometime but maybe someone here as an idea I could try first before wasting their and my time.

And once it works again, is there a way from stopping the Bronco automatically switching from Sirius to spottify on the phone? For short drives I don't care what music plays and am fine with Sirius. While it still worked to autoconnect the system switched away from sirius while I was backing down our long driveway and music went away, spottify I had to hit play first. Just a minor irritation while the screen shows the backup camera view.

Thanks for any ideas!

I've had the same issues.
1) If I start the car but then leave for a minute with my phone, it won't reconnect. I think the initial handshake with Bluetooth switches to WiFi, but if you interrupt that by walking away it won't reconnect. In the Bronco Connection menu I find that Bluetooth is off. Turning it back on makes it reconnect. Weird.

2) I hardly ever listen to media on my phone, but I must have listened to iHeart Radio at some point because CarPlay randomly switches from Sirius XM (which I listen to almost exclusively) to my phone media. Actually, I shouldn't say "randomly" because it only happens when I start the car initially. I haven't had it switch when backing up or anything like you experienced.

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