CarPlay: Pandora won't play when connected

[Smahle]

I have a 2021 Audi Q5 with Apple CarPlay. When I first got it, Pandora worked seamlessly with CarPlay, but for the past 5 weeks, it won't play anything. Pandora will still show up on my Apple CarPlay when it connects, but nothing happens when I click the station. I've tried uninstalling the app and reinstalling the app a few times but nothing helps. The only way to get it to work is to turn off the Bluetooth to the car and operate Pandor from my phone, which is a giant PITA (and also only works sporadically). I've checked all of my settings on Apple CarPlay, my car, and my phone... all look "normal" for this app to work. Does anyone know how to fix this? It's super frustrating because I drive a lot and pay for Pandora. 

Moderator Edit: Changing title for clarity

[TannerPandora]

Hi @Smahle 

Welcome to community!

Thanks for posting about your experience with CarPlay, sorry to hear this is happening. I'm happy to pass this along to our engineering teams.

Can you tell me a little more about your experience:

• When you connect to CarPlay, in your Audi, are you using Bluetooth or USB?
• Are you using Cellular or a Hotspot/WiFi?
• iOS version:
• Pandora version:

Thanks for the additional info!

[Smahle]

Thanks TannerPandora for responding to me! See below:

1. I have connected to CarPlay via Bluetooth and USB and both have the same outcome - it will not work
2. I have to use WiFi in my car for CarPlay to connect so its always on Wifi. I just tried it with y Hotspot and its still not connecting. I did turn off my wifi and it worked but not through the car - I could only manually use it on my phone (which wont work because if I have the wifi off on my phone, I cannot use Waze for driving directions through my car)
3. IOS Version is 17.5.1
4. I cant seem to locate my Pandora version on the app but I have uninstalled and reinstalled Pandora several times trying to fix the issue so I'm assuming this is the latest version. 

[TannerPandora]

Thanks for the follow up, @Smahle. Since you've already tried some troubleshooting steps, I don't believe I have any other steps that I believe would offer an immediate resolution.

I've passed your information and experience along to our engineering team for further review and investigation. Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

[Castanet8o8]

Same problem here.  I've seen this issue listed as far back as 2022 and here we are August 2024 and the best we get back is the information with be passed to engineering.  Pandora worked great for a few months and overnight did not.  They only time it works in my car, if I'm lucky, is when I start the vehicle parked in my drive, plays one song only and then nothing. - One support person says "make sure you're not connected to blue-tooth, another one says "make sure you're connected to bluetooth."  Not reassuring Pandora is taking this seriously.    

[dlarsen07]

I have a 2021 BMW X7 and Pandora has worked since day one, and now for the last few weeks nothing. I can connect Audible, so I tend to believe its Pandora related. Would love some help here.

[TannerPandora]

Hi @dlarsen07 

Welcome to community!

Can you let me know your iOS version and Pandora version? Are you connecting to CarPlay?

[furlong1950]

Same issue here with carplay and my 2020 BMW X3. If I start Pandora away from my car and then go to the car and start it, Pandora will play one song and then locks up. Eventually a message appears saying "can't play station right now, weak network connection." My set up is correct in all ways and carplay works fine for apple podcasts, so I'm pretty much convinced that the problem s a recent bug with the Pandora app. time for Spotify.