WhatsApp CarPlay issue?

[kevtoon2905]

As this problem could be either with CarPlay itself, WhatsApp or Lexus itself.

I haven’t read anything similar on apple discuss boards so thought I’d ask here.

When sending a WhatsApp on the road I say “hey siri, send a WhatsApp”

Siri: who would you like to send it to

me: <insert persons name here>
 

Siri: what would you like to…..

the full like should be “what would you like to say”. If I say nothing else, it will try to read my message back “your WhatsApp…..” and breaks off and repeats itself.

if I send the message where I have said nothing it says “what do you want”. So it seems like it listen to itself through the audio system. It makes sending and reviewing a WhatsApp message impossible and even if I send a WhatsApp it will always have “what do you want” at the start.

this something that Lexus could fix or does it lie with CarPlay/whatsapp?

if my random question makes sense?

[Jakes]

Hi Kevin,

Did you ever get this sorted? I have just bought a Lexus 250 and I have exactly this problem. I booked the car in for Lexus technicians to look at and of course for one random day last week (when iOS had just updated overnight to 17.1.1) it worked. I cancelled the booking with Lexus and then the next day went back to exactly how it was as you describe.

It's driving me mad! All I want to do is reply to or send a WhatsApp as I have done on every other vehicle I've owned (with CarPlay enabled).

Any solutions out there?

[LCY]

Hi Kevin and Jakes

I am having exactly the same problems as you with my new Lexus NX 450+ and WhatsApp. The Lexus mechanic has no idea what to do and the garage is contacting Lexus.  I’m really disappointed that this function isn’t working and will be contacting Lexus myself as clearly they need to get the problem sorted.  I thought it was just my car but seeing your posts proves it is not.  I keep trying but it’s the same each time and it’s infuriating.

 

[Jakes]

On 12/19/2023 at 7:15 AM, LCY said:

Hi Kevin and Jakes

I am having exactly the same problems as you with my new Lexus NX 450+ and WhatsApp. The Lexus mechanic has no idea what to do and the garage is contacting Lexus.  I’m really disappointed that this function isn’t working and will be contacting Lexus myself as clearly they need to get the problem sorted.  I thought it was just my car but seeing your posts proves it is not.  I keep trying but it’s the same each time and it’s infuriating.

 

Sorry to hear you have the same issue, LCY. By way of update my car went in to Lexus yesterday for them to supposedly fix the issue. Unsurprisingly they told me it was done but they just hadn't understood the issue or tried out one of their phones to see it for themselves until I went to collect the vehicle when they came to the car to try the remedy which I'd already tried (update iOs to 17.2 which I'd done, delete and re-pair phone). 

The guy who then tried the solution which of course failed, then called a supervisor or senior technician who seemed to know all about the issue, said that apple CarPlay and Siri clash with the current Lexus software, that there is a new update to that software which is being trialled in Spain, France and Germany and once the testing is complete and no issues found, will be rolled out to the UK and other countries. They suggested 2-3 weeks.

I'm not optimistic but of course have no choice other than to now wait. I said I'd give it until end of January and then contact them if there has been no update. 

All very annoying actually as I knew this would happen (although thought they'd blame apple but actually they accepted it was a Lexus issue as well) and that's why I asked to speak to the team before the hassle of taking the car in and why didn't they check with the senior guy to start with? 

Do let me and the rest of us know if you get anywhere with your enquiries.

Jakes.

[MWC]

I've had an NX450h+ since August 2023 which was paired with an Iphone 8.  The reading of whatsapp messages, and responses was working perfectly.  Last month I replaced my phone with an Iphone 13 and have just discovered the problem others are describing.  The car fails to read any messages properly, or send messages.  I assume the fact the problem has started since changing the phone is unlikely to be a coincidence.

[GabbiS]

I am still having issues after two years. apple Car Play is really flaky to say the least and  WhatsApp is completely uselessHas anybody managed to get the problem fixed?

[MWC]

I took delivery of my NX 450h+ in August and the wireless carplay has worked perfectly with my Iphone 8, including WhatsApp messages.  It might be a coincidence, however since upgrading the phone to an Iphone 13, messages and WhatsApps no longer work.  The car voice no longer reads messages properly, and I cannot verbally respond to messages.  I've just made my dealer aware.

[GabbiS]

To be fair I was having slight issues with my Iphone 8 too, and Lexus Service said it was because I had an old phone. So I upgraded to an Iphone 15 and the problem is much, much worse.

WhatsApp doesn't work at all, it will ask me if I want to send a message and then seems to ignore me, listens to itself saying "what do you want to say" and then sends that as a message. This is so frustrating, that unless Lexus get this fixed I will not be renewing this vehicle when the time comes.

 

[kevtoon2905]

Ironically after 6 months away in the states, and upgrading to iOS 17.4 the problem is even worse, and I can’t even compile a WhatsApp message, which is weird considering I was able to when I first got the car last August.

[Jakes]

UPDATE (for what it's worth)

 

My Lexus technicians here in the UK have said they now know of the problem. 50% of customers have this problem and 50% had the problem which was resolved by an update (I am cynical about that info).

Either way, I was asked to go in to the tech's workshop last week where they plugged in their diagnostic laptop, took a load of data from the system and then videoed the error in progress (which, luckily, didn't let me down by being the random time it worked - which does happen very occasionally!)

I was told that Lexus/Toyota are aware of it. They outsourced their software contract to a new company from August last year and the more cases they build up, the sooner it can be resolved. They suggested those who have cars with the pre-August software should be ok but those, like me, who are post-August are reporting the same issues we all have.

I am hoping for an answer some time soon - in a few weeks, I guess.

[GabbiS]

Thanks for keeping us updated. My problem hasn't been resolved and I am sick of them saying "its an apple " issue. No- it isn't- because my previous car, which wasn't a Lexus, WhatsApp worked absolutely fine.

At least your technicians are trying to do something about it. My local dealership is useless - I think I understand more about the problem than they do. Also I am not sure what they are saying about the pre-August software malarky as I have had my car two years and WhatsApp has never worked properly, becoming even worse when I upgraded my phone.

I have wasted countless hours trying to get WhatsApp to working the car and still not much further on. I have found, however, by my own deliberations,  if I ignore Siri when I see I have a WhatsApp message and just press "receive messages" on my screen Siri will actually have a stab and telling me what they are, but if I try to reply, it is a complete waste of time.

I shall await your further news with interest.

[macdoir]

I have found that if I turn the volume down low WhatsApp works as expected, not sure if this points to apple or Lexus. Mine worked initially when I got the car but started having troubles after a IOS upgrade. I thought that it was apple but now not sure where the problem lies. 

[kevtoon2905]

11 hours ago, macdoir said:

I have found that if I turn the volume down low WhatsApp works as expected, not sure if this points to Apple or Lexus. Mine worked initially when I got the car but started having troubles after a IOS upgrade. I thought that it was apple but now not sure where the problem lies. 

I might try turning car volume down.

 

i picked up Lexus up 1st September and WhatsApp worked fine, howevever the issues started before I left for the US in October and issue still persist when I got back end of march. So there have been various iOS updates which haven’t resolved the issue.

[kevtoon2905]

13 hours ago, macdoir said:

I have found that if I turn the volume down low WhatsApp works as expected, not sure if this points to Apple or Lexus. 

Yeah turning volume down worked!!! At least I have a work around. Now to play to find out exactly what level it has to be.

[macdoir]

I do wonder if the mic on the phone is on at the same time are the cars internal mics, the small delay in Bluetooth fools the phone into thinking its getting a command and not recognising that its is itself talking. It may be just down to Bluetooth delays between carplay and the phone. I wonder if it does this with just a USB cable connection with Bluetooth turned off?. 

[kevtoon2905]

3 hours ago, macdoir said:

I do wonder if the mic on the phone is on at the same time are the cars internal mics, the small delay in bluetooth fools the phone into thinking its getting a command and not recognising that its is itself talking. It may be just down to bluetooth delays between carplay and the phone. I wonder if it does this with just a USB cable connection with bluetooth turned off?. 

Tried it with Bluetooth off and wired car play with no change, was one of the first things I tried. Seems the car/carplay is just listening for something sufficiently loud, including Siri itself, being the current observation.

[Jakes]

5 hours ago, kevtoon2905 said:

Yeah turning volume down worked!!! At least I have a work around. Now to play to find out exactly what level it has to be.

Interesting! I tried that at the very beginning. I actually tried turning off the audio from the button by the screen because I couldn't alter the volume once Siri was trying to work out what I was saying or having her episode...and it made no difference. Will give it another go...

[GabbiS]

Re the above suggestions, I have just tried turning the volume down on the Audio and although Siri will relate the incoming message, as soon as I agree to a reply, it reverts back to type, which is, "What do you wa...." over and over again, until it seems to get fed up with that and then starts an entire conversation with itself......

.....back to the drawing board sadly......

[AJW1]

Same issue here, I reported to the local Lexus dealer and the reply was...

"it has been reported to TME (Toyota Motor Europe) they are aware and are in direct talks with apple, the issue is there was no fault until apple issued an update to their iOS devices, so we cannot say that the issue is with our vehicles, but we aren't ruling this out either. At this stage we await updates from both TME and Apple"

[Jakes]

Thanks, AJW1.

Another issue which may or may not be linked and I'm interested if anyone has the same problem: when someone calls me and I answer, there is a delay in them hearing me. I am told that they can hear that the call has been answered but they can't hear me for about 5-10 seconds (as I say hello and it's usually on the third 'hello' that they hear me). Anyone else have that?

[macdoir]

1 hour ago, Jakes said:

Thanks, AJW1.

Another issue which may or may not be linked and I'm interested if anyone has the same problem: when someone calls me and I answer, there is a delay in them hearing me. I am told that they can hear that the call has been answered but they can't hear me for about 5-10 seconds (as I say hello and it's usually on the third 'hello' that they hear me). Anyone else have that?

Yes, I experience the same issue. Has been happening for a while now, thought it was a What's APP issue as I see this when not using CarPlay also.

[Jakes]

8 minutes ago, macdoir said:

Yes, I experience the same issue. Has been happening for a while now, thought it was a What's APP issue as I see this when not using CarPlay also.

I can't see how it's WhatsApp because the calls are regular phone calls, not via WhatsApp...

[macdoir]

8 hours ago, Jakes said:

I can't see how it's WhatsApp because the calls are regular phone calls, not via WhatsApp...

Can't answer that one, as almost all calls I now get are What's App calls.  So not sure about regular calls, will check next time I am on a trip. 

[MWC]

I have an update on my own experience with this issue.

Last week my car went into my local dealer for configuration of the second key.  Since then WhatsApp is working again!  Might be coincidence, however it's the first time it has worked since December.  It was definitely still not working before I went into the dealer last week.

[Jakes]

Hi Mike,

Very odd. I haven't had any work done on mine but today, for the first time, mine worked too. Several times. But this has happened before so I'll see what happens tomorrow...

My software is still shown as version 2050 so not sure there's been an upgrade but maybe there has?

Fingers crossed...cautiously.