Bluetooth & Apple Carplay

[kipkohl]

I have a 2021 XLT with 502A package and I have a question about hands free control of music. When I try to use voice to play music using bluetooth from my iPhone , sync tells me that voice control is not supported for Bluetooth and also won't let me search my music using the touch screen while driving. On top of that Apple Carplay doesn't show most of the music stored on my phone. So if I want to play music while driving I have to control things from my phone which is what I thought all this tech BS is supposed to eliminate.
Is anyone else having similar issues? I'm not much of a tech person so it could definitely be something I'm doing (or not doing). Any info would be appreciated. I really like the truck but am really starting to hate Sync.

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[Colo_Ranger]

I have a 2021 XLT with 502A package and I have a question about hands free control of music. When I try to use voice to play music using bluetooth from my iPhone , sync tells me that voice control is not supported for Bluetooth and also won't let me search my music using the touch screen while driving. On top of that Apple Carplay doesn't show most of the music stored on my phone. So if I want to play music while driving I have to control things from my phone which is what I thought all this tech BS is supposed to eliminate.
Is anyone else having similar issues? I'm not much of a tech person so it could definitely be something I'm doing (or not doing). Any info would be appreciated. I really like the truck but am really starting to hate Sync.

CarPlay isn't wireless, meaning you need to plug your phone in to the USB port with a lightning cable. You can then see and control your phone through the screen. If you haven't set it up, you will need to approve CarPlay on your phone. The 'voice trigger' button is should work with limited capacity over bluetooth, but you may be asking it to do something that isn't available outside of CarPlay. That being said, I don't have luck with voice commands.

 

[kipkohl]

Thanks for the reply. It's been plugged into the front USB port when I've tried to use Carplay. It works sort of....it just doesn't seem to recognize that I have more than 5 albums stored on my phone. Bluetooth displays all albums/artists, just won't let me pick new albums while I'm driving.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

Thanks for the reply. It's been plugged into the front USB port when I've tried to use Carplay. It works sort of....it just doesn't seem to recognize that I have more than 5 albums stored on my phone. Bluetooth displays all albums/artists, just won't let me pick new albums while I'm driving.

That is a safety limitation of CarPlay. What music app are you using?

 

[kipkohl]

What music app are you using?

Just whatever is on the phone. They're albums I've downloaded from iTunes to my phone.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

Just whatever is on the phone. They're albums I've downloaded from iTunes to my phone.

Is it the red icon with the music note? I ask because I tried using Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music and not of them worked like Apple Music. Say what you will about Apple, but their ecosystem is leaps and bounds above the rest. At this point, without seeing what you're dealing with, I am at a loss. You can try taking a video to show, if you're so inclined.

When you are parked, can you access all the albums? When your phone is not connected to the truck, can you access more albums than are playing on the truck? Please don't be offended by the questions, I am just trying to troubleshoot.

 

[kipkohl]

Yes to both those questions. And also yes, it is the red music icon on my phone.

 

[UofMEngineer]

Voice commands aren’t supported for Bluetooth as next to no phones support indexing. It should index it when it’s connected via USB and then would be available while CarPlay is not active. Another solution is dump the media on a thumb drive.

 

[troutspinner]

Click Library, then Downloaded and then Songs, you’ll see all of your music you’ve downloaded.

 

[LoneRNGR]

Any info would be appreciated.

I don’t use Bluetooth, just the wired Apple CarPlay. At some point they implemented some restrictions that prevent me from using the on-screen interface music controls. I have to use voice commands, especially when driving, and have difficulty playing albums and are pretty much limited to just asking for individual songs.

 

[kipkohl]

Thanks to all who replied, I think I've found a working solution. With the phone plugged in and Apple Carplay turned off, there is a USB option under sources that allows me to use voice control and access my entire music library. Thanks again.

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