CarPlay: Pandora won't resume playback after being disconnected and reconnected

[Auslander]

iPhone 12 Pro

iOS 15.4.1

Pandora v 2203.1

This is neither a new issue, nor is it a problem specific to one particular brand of vehicle, nor is it a problem specific to one model of iPhone, this is just an issue I’m sick and tired of dealing with.

You get in your car for the first time that day, plug in your phone, CarPlay starts, you start Pandora and you drive away. you make a stop. You get out of the car, bringing your phone with you. 15, 20, 30 minutes later… Two hours later, you get back in the car, plug in your phone, CarPlay starts, because Pandora was the last thing running it appears on your screen, but it won’t play. The status shows that music is playing, but nothing is audible. If you select a different channel or a different song, still, nothing will work. Now you are forced to defy the entire point of CarPlay and you have opened your phone and start up Pandora up on the phone as well. Still, no music.  You must now disconnect your phone from the cable, terminate Pandora, restart Pandora, and now music is playing on your device locally. You now plug it in to the vehicle, CarPlay starts, your music is playing, and on with your day.

I have experienced this issue on my iPhone 12 pro, my wife’s iPhone 11 Pro, my son’s iPhone SE, my other sons iPhone X, and my mother-in-law’s iPhone 11, all of which are running iOS 15.4.1.  Moreover, I have experienced this issue in several vehicles, several brands of vehicles, and several radio models. Currently, I can easily replicate this on three different modern Volvo Sensus-equipped vehicles, a Pioneer head unit with CarPlay, two different modern Toyota vehicles, a new Subaru, and a new Hyundai vehicle.  Given all of the above, it is safe to assume this is a universal problem, and not one specific to one brand of vehicle, or one model of iPhone.

Despite the fact that I have to run through the gamut of efforts in order to get my Pandora working when I get in and out of the car a half dozen times a day, it is some thing I never ever quite get used to doing. A fix for this would be swell.

[petermichael]

I have the exact same issue with my iPhones and Volkswagens. Tried it with my old SE, my wife's 8, and my new 13 mini. 

Additionally, when I try to play a song by selecting it on CarPlay, most of the time the right song doesn't play. It will do playlists fine, but not songs.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/B8gdervwPXuGCcKE8

[TannerPandora]

Hi @petermichael! Thanks for posting and thanks for the video.

For your version of CarPlay, are you connected by Bluetooth or USB? Also, from your video, it looks like you're playing the track from 'Recent' tab? Does this only happen when playing music from the recent tab?

In the meantime, I'm happy to pass this along to our engineering team. Can you let me know the iOS version and Pandora version you're currently on? Thanks!

Use your mobile device only when conditions allow and as permitted by applicable law.

[petermichael]

Thank you for your response, Tanner. 

This happens if I choose the song from the Recent tab or if I go to Collections, then Songs, and choose the song that way. Something else plays instead. The only way I get get the song I want is to go to Collection, then Albums, then pick the right album, and then pick the song on that Album. 4 steps instead of 1. 

I'm connecting to my car with USB. I have the most recent version of Pandora, 2208.1. I have an iPhone 13 Mini with iOS 15.6.1. 

I feel I should also mention that Pandora is the only app that doesn't work right with CarPlay in my vehicle. Podcasts work fine. I can also use the Music app and play songs I've downloaded to my phone. Strangely, I can even use Siri to play songs with Pandora. If I say, "Hey Siri, play Blinding Lights by The Weekend on Pandora," I will get that song. It's only when I press the buttons that Pandora plays the wrong song. 

[TannerPandora]

Thanks for the details. Definitely some odd behavior. I've passed this along to our engineering team for further investigation.

[MFellersOKC]

I have the same issue. Start my Yukon back it out of the garage, turn it off, and load up the kids a few minutes later. CarPlay works on the first start. Then when I set off to leave after loading up the kids it acts like it is playing but no sound. I have to then open Pandora and press play for it to start playing again. The "play button" on the touchscreen does no good. I then drop the kids off at daycare and have the same issue after re-starting the vehicle. Super annoying to pay all of that money and to have CarPlay not working as its intended purpose. What is the point if I am constantly opening my phone to get Pandora to play. I am hooked up via Bluetooth. 

[Auslander]

Six months since my original post on the matter and still no fix. Actually, there have been some Pandora updates that exacerbated the problem recently.  Lately, I just get error messages after starting up my vehicle a second time indicating Pandora has decided it is just not going to work at all, but meanwhile, every other streaming audio app on my phone works just fine. Good work.

[bobgott]

Well, I thought my issue was fixed .. but not really.  If I pause a song from a station .. then stop my car .. when I come back my iPhone Pandora shows song playing but no sound.  If exit that track start another station .. then come back to that original station .. it picks up where I left off. That work-around is very annoying. enough for me to consider another app while in my car.

[Auslander]

After managing to replicate this problem a dozen times today, and literally cursing Pandora’s name each time, I can give you the error, verbatim: 

-

Unable to play

Pandora encountered a problem that paused the music. If the music won't play, try restarting Pandora or rebooting your iPhone.

-

Perhaps the best part about this error is when it occurs it brings both the phone and CarPlay to a complete stop, and it’s so bad that even rebooting the phone doesn’t resolve the issue. You can create the problem by starting Pandora through CarPlay, but not through the phone itself, then, let’s say you want to replay a song, since Pandora doesn’t allow you to replay a song through CarPlay for some stupid reason, you’re now taking your eyes off the road so you can open up the app to replay a song,  but that’s the point when this error message pops up. At this point, forget about it. You’ll not be listening to Pandora anymore for at least a couple of hours until the app reconciles itself. All the other music apps, though, perfectly fine.