Apple Music keeps buffering on CarPlay on Volkswagen (VW) car? You aren't alone, but there's a workaround

Several Apple users [1, 2, 3, 4] are running into problems when trying to use Apple Music through CarPlay. Apple Music reportedly keeps buffering on Volkswagen CarPlay, among various other issues.

When the issue strikes, the tracks stop playing and a loading/buffering circle appears on the dashboard display. After a pause, the music resumes. This happens even if the network connectivity is totally fine.

I am driving a Volkswagen Golf 8 and had minor issues with Apple Carplay, like glitching. Every song once or twice the music glitched which was pretty annoying, and makes listening to music unenjoyable.
Source

Every week or so the Apple CarPlay in my 2019 VW Jetta stops working due to the phone failing to connect via the USB cable. I get the message “Apple iPhone connection was canceled”.
Source

Some even say that following the iOS 14.7 update, CarPlay no longer works at all. Upon trying to connect the phone, a “Reading USB device” message is thrown for a second following which it vanishes.

Others have noted a similar problem where the VW displays an “Apple iPhone connection was canceled” error message upon failure to connect to the iPhone via a USB cable.

But that’s not all. Several VW owners have also complained that they run into audio glitching when streaming Apple Music through CarPlay. This happens intermittently and ruins the overall music listening experience.

When the glitching does not happen, crashes occur. There have also been a few complaints about Apple Music crashing constantly while being connected to the VW music system.

The buffering problems, glitching, connectivity issues, and crashes all seem to be occurring mostly on Volkswagen vehicles as reports can be traced to owners of VW Passat, Jetta, GTI S, and Golf.

It is unclear as to who is to be blamed for the problems but one owner has stated that a trip to a VW service center has been unhelpful. Moreover, there hasn’t been any official acknowledgment from either Volkswagen or Apple.

There is a workaround, however, that may be of help for the Apple Music buffering issue on Volkswagen CarPlay. All you got to do is disconnect the WeConnect app from the car if you are using it.

WeConnect apparently makes Apple Music behave as if there’s a bad internet connection and leads to errors, as the above user has observed.

PiunikaWeb started purely as an investigative tech journalism website with a main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Fox News, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, MacRumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.