Hey guys and welcome to the channel! My name is Nick O'Leary!
Now today in this episode episode two we're having a look at some
troubleshooting steps that you can take if you're having problems with Apple CarPlay.
Now in episode one the episode before this, we looked at connecting it for the very first time
but if you know all about Apple CarPlay and you don't have any problems check out
part three which I will be making will be some tips and tricks on Apple CarPlay specifically.
But in this episode today we're having a look at some troubleshooting steps that
you can take if it's not behaving as expected. Let's have a look!
So you've seen Apple CarPlay before in videos and want to make use of it,
however no matter what you try it's just not working.
Now in essence Apple CarPlay is a plug-and-play system so when you plug it in it should just come
up on the screen but sometimes there can be a few factors involved that will stop it in its tracks.
And one of those factors at number one is to make sure you've actually got it.
Sadly Apple CarPlay isn't standard equipment and because even in
Mercedes-Benz alone there are so many models, variations, different years,
specifications for different countries it can vary massively.
So how do you find out if you got it?
Well the easiest thing by far is by getting hold of the spec sheet from your local dealership
and then see if it's got the words Apple CarPlay. But if you don't have
access to that or just want to check yourself you can do that in the car.
And to check in the car yourself this does vary from model to model as it does depend
on the system you have so if your screen looks like this this is NTG 5 or Audio 20 quite simply
press TEL twice, spin the centre wheel round and if you have Apple CarPlay, it will be listed here.
However if your screen looks like this also known as NTG 5.5 or COMAND
press the Home button, spin the wheel around to CONNECT
and then go down to Apple CarPlay in this list and again it'll be there if you have it.
And lastly if your screen looks like this which is MBUX the one with the "Hey Mercedes"
voice assistant, press the HOME button go to APPS and then SMARTPHONE INTEGRATION
and it'll be listed in there if you have it.
These ways shown are a way to also start it manually because sometimes Apple CarPlay
might not start automatically so there is a prompt when you first or when the first
owner potentially plugs it in it'll ask would you like to start automatically?
Sometimes it may require a manual start so you
can go to these locations depending on your car and start it manually.
Now out of all of these systems MBUX just like this one is the latest and greatest.
It actually features ways we can upgrade it remotely as well so say for example you had maybe
a car that didn't have Apple CarPlay you can actually go to the Mercedes me store
and purchase this and upgrade it remotely without even stepping foot in the dealership.
Sadly this is only for MBUX models mainly because the systems before this kind of came
out and were designed before Apple CarPlay kind of had this kind of functionality.
But with MBUX it is a neat feature to have just in case you obtained a car that
didn't have it and you wanted Apple CarPlay you can kind of upgrade it.
So with all that in mind if you are 100% sure that you have it in your car and you can see
it on the screen and you still plug it in and it's not working let's move on to step two.
Well what I would check next is which USB-C port are you using? Now there's only one USB-C port
which is compatible with Apple CarPlay and is usually identified with this symbol just here.
And it's kind of got a picture of a phone with almost like a tablet on it meaning smartphone
integration. Now of course the ones in the rear of the car are going to be for power only
but sometimes you might find that USB-C might be in here but most commonly is located in the centre
next to the cup holders. Now after this at number three double check the USB cable that you're
using. Now not all USB cables are the same so to be sure I use the official Apple cable provided
in the box but if you don't have that because like the end was damaged or you had to replace it, you
may have bought a 3rd party cable. There's nothing wrong with that most of them are a lot cheaper
than the official apple ones but just be aware, some of them only provide power so it looks like
it works but of course when you plug it in to use Apple CarPlay because it requires a bit of data
it might not work. So factor in that that USB cable could be the reason why it's not working so
I personally would swap it out with something else just to kind of eliminate that side of it just to
see if it's that. But also in that chain as well if you're using a USB-C dongle...so with most cars
with MBUX they have USB-C ports. So in this car for example here I've got the lightning cable the
white one (the one that comes with the phone) and then I've also got a dongle that converts
it to USB-C. So factor in that it could be the cable but it could also be the dongle as well.
Some dongles again only provide power so to be sure either get an Apple certified
one or one from the Mercedes-Benz dealership or one that I recommend is actually Syntech.
Syntech is the one I use for any USB-C to USB conversions, I use them all the time for editing
like for videos and most importantly for Apple CarPlay in the car as well
so if you want this one specifically there's a link in the description down below
but just double check it could be the cables.
So after checking the car the cables and any dongles you might be using I would probably
then turn your attention to the iPhone itself now of course with Apple CarPlay
it's not compatible with all iPhones so this could be one of the reasons why it's not working
now Apple CarPlay is compatible with most iPhones
it's roughly iPhone 5 and newer from memory. But you can double check on the Apple website,
but one thing I would definitely check is just make sure you've got the latest iOS updates.
So iOS is the software that runs the iPhone so if you head over to SETTINGS, go down to GENERAL
tap on SOFTWARE UPDATE and then it'll do a quick chat see if you've got the latest version.
Now the version I have on here is correct at the time of recording but of course there will
be new updates that come out over time so be sure you've got the latest version to make
sure you've got all the latest updates for any Apple CarPlay features and that sort of thing.
Now if it's still not working after that what i'd probably then do is just go back
a step and then go into CARPLAY. So if you're from the home screen go SETTINGS then GENERAL
and then CARPLAY and in here you can see a list of cars you may have connected to. So
for example I've got the "MBUX 21131" which is this car here which I was connected to.
If for some reason it's not working you can delete that pairing and start again fresh so if I go in
here you can then FORGET THIS CAR and then tap FORGET and then it'll reset that connection.
So hopefully then when you plug it in again it might restore that connection and get it
going again and while you're here as well also double check the Siri settings so for example
if you have Siri the voice assistant on Apple products, Apple CarPlay uses Siri very heavily.
So it's very well integrated into the CarPlay experience
so if you have Siri off it probably won't even launch so this can be a reason so if you keep
pressing the back button or if you're on the home screen just press the SETTINGS go down
to SIRI & SEARCH and just make sure you've got Siri enabled as I said otherwise it won't work.
Now another thing to try is just literally the process of elimination,
just try a friend or family member's phone if you have access to one plug it in and see if
that comes up because then you know if it's the phone or not because sometimes it could even be
the connectors on the bottom of the phone. I have seen in some cases before where a case
like a third party case is actually stopping the lightning port connectors touching properly,
so they touch enough to charge but it's not pushed in fully enough for it to use Apple CarPlay.
So it can be something as simple as a case sometimes as well.
Also I guess one last thing to try with the phone as well is to just turn the whole thing
off and then turn it all back on. So with the latest iPhones you have to hold the
power button and the top left volume button so if you do this then you can just slide
that off and then turn it back on and see if that restores it.
So if you've tried all of the above and it's still not working what I would then suggest
is to turn your attention back to the car. So if you've used a friend or family member's phone
and it still doesn't work and you know you have apple CarPlay and you've got the right cables
what I would then have a look at is the screen.
So in this instance what I would then try is a software reset just to see if that clears any
Apple CarPlay kind of configuration profiles or something similar so to do that on MBUX press
the HOME button go all the way across to the right hand side to SETTINGS then go into SYSTEM
and then go all the way down to the very very bottom there'll be a RESET button.
Just be aware that when you do this it will restore
everything to factory settings this includes things like Profiles, Ambient Lighting,
Phones so you'll have to obviously connect your phones back up via Bluetooth again,
Sat Nav destinations and of course the Time & Date and maybe even the units as well. So be
sure to do this when you have a bit of time just to set the car up afterwards as it may be showing
the incorrect units like kilometres an hour. Obviously I'm in the UK I need miles per hour.
So just be aware that you might need a few minutes just to quickly set that back up after a reset.
So once that's loaded back up and you plug it in and it's still not doing anything what I
would then do as a last resort is then speak with your local Mercedes-Benz who will be able to book
the car in and just give it a once-over. Now of course this would need to go into a Mercedes-Benz
dealership and they'll kind of plug it in and do some diagnostics in the workshops but hopefully
it doesn't come to that. Hopefully some of the steps that I've gone through today will help
sort it out because I said it can be as simple as a case that's stopping the connector from going in
or sometimes even just the cable or the USB-C cable as well and quite commonly as well as I
said at the very start it's not always on every single car Apple CarPlay because it came out in
I think it was roughly 2014 / 2015. So if you have a car before that then no naturally it won't have
it because that's when Apple CarPlay came out but of course it's not standard equipment. So
it can be any one of these things but hopefully some of the steps they have helped
so hopefully you can then get on to the next video which will be the Tips & Tricks for Apple CarPlay!
And there we go guys that concludes this week's video on troubleshooting Apple CarPlay. As I said
hopefully one of these steps has helped get it going and then you can enjoy the Tips & Tricks
here which I'm currently in the process of making which I will link here when it's done.
But again thanks for watching do hit that like button and do hit
that Subscribe button so you can be notified when I upload a new video.
And again huge shout out to Sandown Mercedes-Benz for providing this
awesome EQC here today which to be honest I wouldn't actually mind myself,
it's on my Christmas list for sure! But again, see you next week guys!