iPhone Hotspot Won't Connect? Try This!

[breeves002]

I got the streaming update and of course wanted to try it out while I was DCFC for free at my local Chevrolet dealer (thanks guys!). I attempted to connect my iPhone hotspot to the car but it just said failed to connect. Frustrated by this I reached out to the early access team to let them know. I had a call with a few Ford employees and in the call we were able to figure out what the issue is. Hopefully this helps them inform people/find a work around for the problem thats permanent but in the mean time here is the temporary work around.

The problem is wireless CarPlay. Wireless CarPlay uses wifi. Your hotspot also uses wifi (obviously). CarPlay is a bully. A big mean bully that ALWAYS wants to be connected. It appears iPhones do not have the ability to have the hotspot and wireless CarPlay connected at the same time.

WORKAROUND:
-Open command center by swiping down from the top right or up from the bottom (phones with home button)
-Disable bluetooth by tapping the blue icon once (if you don't do this wireless CarPlay will immediately auto reconnect)
-Enable wifi by tapping the white icon then hitting "Disconnect" when the prompt appears to disconnect from wireless carplay
-Enable your phones hotspot and stay on that page
-Connect to your phones hotspot in Sync.
-Reenable bluetooth if desired once your hotspot is connected
-Use USB for CarPlay if desired

To reconnect wireless CarPlay you must first disable the phone hotspot. Otherwise it will not reconnect. Wait a minute after disconnecting before trying to re-connect it to sync.

I'm not sure if this is something they can fix with Sync or if it is more of an Apple issue/issue with explaining the limitations of the hardware to people.

@benk016 Tried this with his S20 Ultra Android and had no problems so it seems to be limited to Apple CarPlay as of now...though other Android phones possibly have the same issue. I am using an iPhone 14 Pro.

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[Logal727]

I got the streaming update and of course wanted to try it out while I was DCFC for free at my local Chevrolet dealer (thanks guys!). I attempted to connect my iPhone hotspot to the car but it just said failed to connect. Frustrated by this I reached out to the early access team to let them know. I had a call with a few Ford employees and in the call we were able to figure out what the issue is. Hopefully this helps them inform people/find a work around for the problem thats permanent but in the mean time here is the temporary work around.

The problem is wireless CarPlay. Wireless CarPlay uses wifi. Your hotspot also uses wifi (obviously). CarPlay is a bully. A big mean bully that ALWAYS wants to be connected. It appears iPhones do not have the ability to have the hotspot and wireless CarPlay connected at the same time.

WORKAROUND:
-Open command center by swiping down from the top right or up from the bottom (phones with home button)
-Disable bluetooth by tapping the blue icon once (if you don't do this wireless CarPlay will immediately auto reconnect)
-Enable wifi by tapping the white icon then hitting "Disconnect" when the prompt appears to disconnect from wireless carplay
-Enable your phones hotspot and stay on that page
-Connect to your phones hotspot in Sync.
-Reenable bluetooth if desired once your hotspot is connected
-Use USB for CarPlay if desired

To reconnect wireless CarPlay you must first disable the phone hotspot. Otherwise it will not reconnect. Wait a minute after disconnecting before trying to re-connect it to sync.

I'm not sure if this is something they can fix with Sync or if it is more of an Apple issue/issue with explaining the limitations of the hardware to people.

@benk016 Tried this with his S20 Ultra Android and had no problems so it seems to be limited to Apple CarPlay as of now...though other Android phones possibly have the same issue. I am using an iPhone 14 Pro.

Yeah this has always been a thing with wireless CarPlay. It sucks in my garage cause the cell service is so bad and I can't connect my phone to my wifi router in there due to CarPlay using WiFi connection either so if I gotta put in directions when I'm in the car in the garage, I usually have to pull out into the street to get LTE signal.

 

[benk016]

In my testing on android, with Android Auto connected, hotspot works fine on the phone, and the car connects to the hotspot fine and works. The ONLY issue I've seen is that on a reboot of sync, it won't auto connect back to the phone when the hotspot is active. But telling sync to connect, it will connect fine and work as expected.


My phone will not allow me to be connected to android auto and another wifi connection though.

But I can be connected to wifi with my hotspot on, and it will share the wifi connection i'm on with other wifi guests. (comes in handy at a hotel with more than one device and not paying for each device to have the wifi)

 

[breeves002]

Yeah this has always been a thing with wireless CarPlay. It sucks in my garage cause the cell service is so bad and I can't connect my phone to my wifi router in there due to CarPlay using WiFi connection either so if I gotta put in directions when I'm in the car in the garage, I usually have to pull out into the street to get LTE signal.

I have the same issue. I'll want to get on wifi because the cell service is horrible in my garage and Wireless CarPlay is a pain. It's frustrating too because it will immediately reconnect for me if I don't also disable bluetooth.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

Interesting disconnecting Bluetooth first! I had tried just disconnecting Wi-Fi last week and then CarPlay wouldn’t connect again until I removed the phone and re-paired it. I’ll have to give this a try.

I also had the issue of the car would not connect to my hotspot on my iphone or iPad. I saw the work around of changing the keyboard layout for that though.

 

[breeves002]

Interesting disconnecting Bluetooth first! I had tried just disconnecting Wi-Fi last week and then CarPlay wouldn’t connect again until I removed the phone and re-paired it. I’ll have to give this a try.

I also had the issue of the car would not connect to my hotspot on my iphone or iPad. I saw the work around of changing the keyboard layout for that though.

There seems to be multiple wifi bugs but mine seems to be working pretty consistently now using the Wireless CarPlay workaround.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

There seems to be multiple wifi bugs but mine seems to be working pretty consistently now using the Wireless CarPlay workaround.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to give that a try next time.

 

[generaltso]

I have the same issue when trying to connect to my OBDII adapter or dash cam over WiFi since CarPlay keeps taking over the phone’s WiFi radio. To get around it, I just go to Settings->General->CarPlay and turn it off temporarily. Then when I’m done, I turn it back on.

 

[breeves002]

I have the same issue when trying to connect to my OBDII adapter or dash cam over WiFi since CarPlay keeps taking over the phone’s WiFi radio. To get around it, I just go to Settings->General->CarPlay and turn it off temporarily. Then when I’m done, I turn it back on.

That works too I generally just disable bluetooth as I find it to be much quicker than disabling and re-enabling CarPlay.

 

[scoopman]

We ensured this would work for Android Auto... I suspect there are technical limitations in the CarPlay protocol or iOS that prohibit sharing the wifi radio in this way.

 

[benk016]

We ensured this would work for Android Auto... I suspect there are technical limitations in the CarPlay protocol or iOS that prohibit sharing the wifi radio in this way.

I'm going to lean towards Apple just not allowing it. That's pretty standard for them it seems.

 

[scoopman]

I'm going to lean towards Apple just not allowing it. That's pretty standard for them it seems.

There's a lot of complexity with interactions with the protocol, the OS, and also the wifi and cellular radio in the phone that need to be considered, so it might not be as simple as Apple saying no for no's sake.

 

[Ravensfan1996]

Wouldnt be easier to just disc car play from the cars screen under your profile? Then connect your hotspot? Its weird i always have carplay connected but the 3 times ive tried streaming it has connected to my hotspot without doing this work around. (once was in the garage so was probably using my home wifi then)

 

[breeves002]

Wouldnt be easier to just disc car play from the cars screen under your profile? Then connect your hotspot? Its weird i always have carplay connected but the 3 times ive tried streaming it has connected to my hotspot without doing this work around. (once was in the garage so was probably using my home wifi then)

If the phone is plugged into USB it will do it wired. So that is a consideration.

I find it much faster to turn BT off then hit the wifi icon to disconnect CarPlay. I have to go enable the hotspot anyways so I'm already on my phone. Plus it loves to just manually reconnect for no reason it seems without you hitting anything. Then it won't connect when you want it to of course.

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