CarPlay music playing as phone call

[iskyhigh25]

When I connect my iPhone to CarPlay and try to play Spotify, the audio comes out as a phone call instead of music. The audio quality is very poor and my phone has a red bar at the top. Spotify is the only app that does this. When I use other audio apps via CarPlay it plays via the normal audio. Does anyone know a fix for this? I’ve already deleted my app and reinstalled. The only thing that works (sometimes) is closing the Spotify app, playing audio from an alternate source, and then reopening Spotify.

I’m using Spotify app version 8.6.8.1211 on an iPhone 8+ using iOS 14.4. CarPlay is being used on a 2019 Chevrolet Traverse.

[Alex]

Hey @iskyhigh25,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

Can you send us a screenshot or a video recording of what you're seeing on your end. You can add it as an attachment or a link to an external video/image sharing platform.

Also, can you check if this happens if you connect another phone to the car's onboard system?

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

[iskyhigh25]

Here’s what my connection looks like by default. 

[iskyhigh25]

Here’s what another phone’s connection looks like (normal). This is an iPhone 8 running Spotify version 8.4.1.772. 

[Ivan]

Hey @iskyhigh25, 

Thanks for getting back to us with the requested info. 

It's also a good idea to try running a clean reinstall of Spotify on your iPhone. Compared to a simple reinstall this step is way more thorough in removing corrupted data that could be causing the issue. Follow these steps on how to perform a clean reinstall depending on the device in use.  

Tip: Make sure no battery optimization settings or data cleaning apps run active on your mobile device. Such features can often prevent the app from operating at full capacity. We also suggest accessing the app settings and making sure all Permissions are enabled for Spotify. 

Hope this helps. Keep us posted. 

[iskyhigh25]

This clean reinstall appears to have worked. I had tried normal deleting and also offloading, but the full clean reinstall process looks like it worked. No issues in the past few days. The new download is version 8.6.12.1032. Thanks much!

[CarlosE]

Hi there @iskyhigh25,

Thanks for keeping us posted.

We're glad to know that it was sorted out!

If you need a hand with anything else, we're always a post away.

Have a good one 🙂