"Updating" to iOS 26 Made Apple CarPlay work poorly. Why?

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Level 5

4,214 points

"Updating" to iOS 26 Made Apple CarPlay work poorly. Why?

I consider Apple CarPlay to be the most important thing in my vehicle. WAY more important than air-conditioning, a steering wheel, or brakes. Seriously, for many years when I would shut my car off, listening to a song on Apple CarPlay, I would get back into my car the next day and the song picked up right where it left off. After installing iOS 26, when I get back in the car, Apple CarPlay starts "from scratch". I have to select a playlist and find a song.

I happen to have my car at the dealership yesterday. I told them about the problem. They said there have been no software updates to my car in about 14 months. Therefore, I think it's iOS 26.

I'm hoping there's a setting to restore the much better CarPlay functionality. I'm gonna get squished messing with Apple CarPlay while going down the road.

iPhone 17

Posted on Dec 19, 2025 1:51 PM

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Answer 1

LD150

Level 10

100,191 points

Dec 19, 2025 3:27 PM in response to Ziatron

If anything with the phone is a dealbreaker, like Carplay, Glucose monitoring, Hearing aids, you really should have tried public beta program in August. You could have reverted to 18 before september.

Now you are stuck with 26.

Pursue the automobile update.

Also check you don't have any security apps, particularly VPN, or VPN based adblockers

As a last resort, backup then erase the phone to factory settings and set up a vanilla phone to try. (risky if you are not fully syncd to iCloud)

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Answer 2

Ziatron Author

Level 5

4,214 points

Dec 19, 2025 4:20 PM in response to LD150

>> Pursue the automobile update. << There is nothing to update. The software on the car has not changed in 14 months. CarPlay works perfectly with my wife's iPhone, who has not yet updated to iOS 26.

I have no security apps. No VPN is running. I have an ad blocker for Safari (just like everyone else), but Safari is not running when this happens. The ONLY app running is iPhone's Music. I have iOS 26.2.

One thing I could do, I have a couple of Click Wheel iPod Classic's that I have "souped up" with solid state storage and a high capacity battery. I could just revert to those for music. They ALWAYS go back to where they're supposed to. Mac OS 26, still synchronizes with them perfectly !

Only problem, you have to look at them while you are driving.

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Answer 3

LD150

Level 10

100,191 points

Dec 20, 2025 2:55 AM in response to Ziatron

"After installing iOS 26, when I get back in the car, Apple CarPlay starts "from scratch". I have to select a playlist and find a song."

Actually, is that the extent of the problem? If so then it is just an unfortunate thing, nothing to be done there.

Report it https://apple.com/feedback

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