When it works Apple CarPlay is great. The phone and messages functions are easy to use and Siri is reliable. But there are a few issues or bugs that are not unique to Honda CRV 2017 - everyone is reporting these to Apple.
1) Random disconnects of the CarPlay system resulting in a "Device not found" or "Check USB...".
2) Pandora random playing and taking over.
3) Navigation sounds not lowering music when turning.
4) No instrument panel when using Apple Maps unlike Android Auto.
5) Slow response of the screen.
I talked to Apple and they said they aware of the issues and its not just Honda CR-V but it's across all car makers with CarPlay. Future updates promise to fix these. But they did provide me with some solutions.
1) Random disconnects
Probably the most frustrating problem. They are still trying to pinpoint it but it looks like the car and the phone have issue in handshaking and talking to each other and the iPhone completely resets the signal.
Their solution is to simply turn off disconnect and reconnect with the iPhone in the unlock mode. Restarting an iPhone also fixes it. But eventually the bug comes back.
The ultimate solution is delete the iPhone from Honda and repair it since it builds a new connection.
They also said Resetting the iPhones Network Services also works. These settings contain all your wifi passwords and sometimes (occasionally) they get corrupt. Especially if you have certificates on wifi or use Apple Watch or other wifi devices.
Fix
General - Reset - Reset Network Settings
(Note this erases your stored Wifi passwords)
What's is happening here is iPhone is always looking for best signals. Some wifi' or cell signals confuse the iPhone during driving. If you driving in rural you will find zero disconnects. That's the theory and they are working on a fix. It's good to do this anyway since it's a common bug in Apple iPhone world.
Some say change the lightning cable and use the original but this doesn't always work. I unplug and replug and that sometimes does the trick.
2) Pandora confusion.
This is happening to me as well. It seems the Honda CR-V can do Pandora via Bluetooth and via CarPlay. It seems to default randomly to Bluetooth once in a while. That's a Honda CR-V Bug. Will be exploring this one.
3) Navigation sounds too low.
This works in the 2016 Honda Civic and not on ours. Not sure. When you are using a CarPlay app like Music, NPR One or some others then it DOES turn the music down (at least it does on mine). When you are using other source of audio such as FM or SiriusXM - the music is loud. This is a Honda bug.
4) No instrument cluster maps like Android Auto.
Yes. Apple promised it when they unveiled iOS 10 but so far no cars have it, yet Android Auto has it. So this is Apple's fault. Maybe an update might fix this but probably needs a Honda update give permission to the instrument cluster.
5) Slow CarPlay touchscreen response.
Happens randomly. A quick reset of iPhone usually fixes this. It's probably a memory overload - like when you have too many open apps. Occurs more on iPhone 6 and below since they have less onboard ram (1 gig ram compared to 2). Advice is to restart iPhone weekly.
The next big update iOS 10.3 will introduce a revised new CarPlay screen with 3 recently used icons on the side. Actually 2 icons and the always visible map as seen in the photo.
iOS 11 will probably bring more CarPlay functionality including even better maps.
More map improvements are coming.
I imagine we will probably get a "junction" view or lane view and some collaboration features such as Waze. Currently Apple Maps gets its traffic from a combo of services including but in the future we might have a "report traffic" button. The current Maps has two displays - Overview and Detail map. These are not easy to locate so I'm sure Apple will put some icon to switch between both. Apple sources its maps from Tom Tom so a quick look at their standalone GPS and you can see what might be coming.
As for Waze.
It's not coming to Apple CarPlay unless Apple lets Google take over. Most likely Android Auto will use Waze over its current maps.
I also foresee some kind of Gas Fuel CarPlay app. HondaLink AHA used to have this but it never made it to our 2017 HondaLink version (which is really useless).
1) Random disconnects of the CarPlay system resulting in a "Device not found" or "Check USB...".
2) Pandora random playing and taking over.
3) Navigation sounds not lowering music when turning.
4) No instrument panel when using Apple Maps unlike Android Auto.
5) Slow response of the screen.
I talked to Apple and they said they aware of the issues and its not just Honda CR-V but it's across all car makers with CarPlay. Future updates promise to fix these. But they did provide me with some solutions.
1) Random disconnects
Probably the most frustrating problem. They are still trying to pinpoint it but it looks like the car and the phone have issue in handshaking and talking to each other and the iPhone completely resets the signal.
Their solution is to simply turn off disconnect and reconnect with the iPhone in the unlock mode. Restarting an iPhone also fixes it. But eventually the bug comes back.
The ultimate solution is delete the iPhone from Honda and repair it since it builds a new connection.
They also said Resetting the iPhones Network Services also works. These settings contain all your wifi passwords and sometimes (occasionally) they get corrupt. Especially if you have certificates on wifi or use Apple Watch or other wifi devices.
Fix
General - Reset - Reset Network Settings
(Note this erases your stored Wifi passwords)
What's is happening here is iPhone is always looking for best signals. Some wifi' or cell signals confuse the iPhone during driving. If you driving in rural you will find zero disconnects. That's the theory and they are working on a fix. It's good to do this anyway since it's a common bug in Apple iPhone world.
Some say change the lightning cable and use the original but this doesn't always work. I unplug and replug and that sometimes does the trick.
2) Pandora confusion.
This is happening to me as well. It seems the Honda CR-V can do Pandora via Bluetooth and via CarPlay. It seems to default randomly to Bluetooth once in a while. That's a Honda CR-V Bug. Will be exploring this one.
3) Navigation sounds too low.
This works in the 2016 Honda Civic and not on ours. Not sure. When you are using a CarPlay app like Music, NPR One or some others then it DOES turn the music down (at least it does on mine). When you are using other source of audio such as FM or SiriusXM - the music is loud. This is a Honda bug.
4) No instrument cluster maps like Android Auto.
Yes. Apple promised it when they unveiled iOS 10 but so far no cars have it, yet Android Auto has it. So this is Apple's fault. Maybe an update might fix this but probably needs a Honda update give permission to the instrument cluster.
5) Slow CarPlay touchscreen response.
Happens randomly. A quick reset of iPhone usually fixes this. It's probably a memory overload - like when you have too many open apps. Occurs more on iPhone 6 and below since they have less onboard ram (1 gig ram compared to 2). Advice is to restart iPhone weekly.
The next big update iOS 10.3 will introduce a revised new CarPlay screen with 3 recently used icons on the side. Actually 2 icons and the always visible map as seen in the photo.
iOS 11 will probably bring more CarPlay functionality including even better maps.
More map improvements are coming.
I imagine we will probably get a "junction" view or lane view and some collaboration features such as Waze. Currently Apple Maps gets its traffic from a combo of services including but in the future we might have a "report traffic" button. The current Maps has two displays - Overview and Detail map. These are not easy to locate so I'm sure Apple will put some icon to switch between both. Apple sources its maps from Tom Tom so a quick look at their standalone GPS and you can see what might be coming.
As for Waze.
It's not coming to Apple CarPlay unless Apple lets Google take over. Most likely Android Auto will use Waze over its current maps.
I also foresee some kind of Gas Fuel CarPlay app. HondaLink AHA used to have this but it never made it to our 2017 HondaLink version (which is really useless).
