CarPlay audio problem and fix for Corjan…

Tom Grzelinski

Hi Corjan, if you have seen my other posts, I am travelling across the Alps, learning and testing MyRoute-app on the way.

I am sending this to you as it needs someone who is programming the software to look into this.

Let me explain…

Last year I did a similar trip in the same car. I used my same iPhone 14 Pro with Waze running on the Sony head unit for navigation, a Saphe Drive Mini for extra road warnings and the Saphe Link app running on my iPhone screen.

Throughout the trip we had a problem where navigation alerts / prompts / instructions would change the music volume being played by Music on CarPlay.

When a speed alert sounded, or a navigation instruction was spoken, the music volume would decrease correctly, but afterwards the music volume went up very loud. We also noticed that sometimes the music volume was slightly less than before the alert, but most of the time it became VERY LOUD!!!

We tried all settings but nothing stopped this.

So now, this year, I had forgotten about this problem until I started this trip and it has been happening every day.

I am using MyRoute-app displayed on my iPhone doing the navigation of my routes. I have Waze running on the Sony head unit to show extra road information and warnings, but no navigation. I also have the Saphe Drive Mini on the dashboard.

I have been trying lots of things to stop this. Eventually I found this Reddit post. Although it is for Android Auto, it gave me the answer:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidAuto/comments/9ytnh0/google_play_music_volume_changing_constantly_when/

So, I went to iPhone Settings > Waze > Notifications and switch off ‘Allow Notifications’. I did the same for Saphe Link.

But MyRoute-app does not have a Notifications section in Settings.

Then on my drive today, I had MyRoute-app, Waze and Saphe Link all working and the audio problem was still there.

I then quit MyRoute-app and only used Waze and Saphe Link and the audio problem was fixed. I drove a long way like this and the audio was prefect.

I then quit Waze and Saphe link and only used MyRoute-app and the audio problem came back.

Does this explain the problem and possible fix? Can you find out what the Notifications option controls and see if you can find out why MyRoute-app is causing this CarPlay Music audio problem?

Many thanks,
Tom

Con Hennekens

@Tom-Grzelinski, Interesting find. What was the source of your music in this scenario?

Tom Grzelinski

@Con-Hennekens Just playing music in the standard Apple Music App on the iPhone. If you meant type of music, everything from Julie Andrews (Sound of Music), to Radiohead

Tom Grzelinski

@Tom-Grzelinski but, using CarPlay to play the music.

Con Hennekens

@Tom-Grzelinski said in CarPlay audio problem and fix for Corjan…:

everything from Julie Andrews (Sound of Music), to Radiohead

just to rule out your car audio as the source of the music (and probably the cause of the problem).

Corjan Meijerink

@Tom-Grzelinski Thanks so much for sharing! I'll make sure we'll investigate this.

Tom Grzelinski

@Corjan-Meijerink Two extra pieces of information for you:

This loud volume problem occurs after any alert - navigation command, speed warning, etc.
When the problem happens and the music gets LOUD, this is a ‘false’ volume level. If the head unit is playing at volume 11, an alert happens and the volume gets LOUD, the head unit still thinks it is playing at 11. If you turn the volume down one button press it changes to 10, a lot quieter. If you press the volume up one press, it changes to 12 - still a lot quieter than the ‘false’ loudness.

Con Hennekens

@Tom-Grzelinski said in CarPlay audio problem and fix for Corjan…:

When the problem happens and the music gets LOUD, this is a ‘false’ volume level. If the head unit is playing at volume 11, an alert happens and the volume gets LOUD, the head unit still thinks it is playing at 11. If you turn the volume down one button press it changes to 10, a lot quieter. If you press the volume up one press, it changes to 12 - still a lot quieter than the ‘false’ loudness.

Hmmm, So the problem seems to originate from your headend then... Maybe updating its firmware?