CarPlay + iOS 18: 'There was a problem loading this content' error message

[Pandora]

Pandora Update (11/22/2024):

We appreciate everyone's patience, and understand that these issues around Apple CarPlay have been frustrating and disruptive to your listening experience in the vehicle. Our engineering teams have been working diligently to resolve this for all impacted listeners.

We're happy to announce that Pandora version 2411.1 for iOS should resolve the following issues with CarPlay:

• Listeners who experience trouble with stations loading in the Recent tab.
• Listeners who experience an error message "There was a problem loading this content".
• Listeners who experience loading issues with songs within a playlist.
• Listeners who experience the screen not automatically transitioning to the Now Playing screen.

We recommend manually updating to the latest version (2411.1) of Pandora by visiting the Apple App Store on your iOS device and using the below steps to update.

How to manually update apps on your iPhone:

• Open the App Store.
• Tap the My Account button or your photo at the top of the screen.
• Scroll down to see pending updates and release notes. Tap Update next to an app to update only that app, or tap Update All.

In some cases you may need to refresh the page in order to see the update. After updating to Pandora version 2411.1, please try Pandora with CarPlay again and let us know if you're still having trouble.

Please use your mobile device in your vehicle only when conditions allow and as permitted by applicable law.

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Pandora Update (10.10.24):

This thread has been specifically created for listeners who report receiving the error message "There was a problem loading this content" when connecting to CarPlay on iOS 18.

If you are receiving this error message, please post your comment within this thread. Comments posted here will be reported to an internal ticket investigated by our engineering team.

In the meantime, we ask that all listeners commenting to keep posts relevant to the thread and help us keep community a welcoming environment for all.

Updates will be posted as they are made available to the community team. Thank you for your continued patience. 

Note: This thread as been accepted as the Solution to mark the CURRENT STATUS AND STEPS. Updates will be provided in this thread as they are made available to the Community Team.

We appreciate your continued patience during this time.

[surfnvt]

I’m having this problem 

[sarahacord16]

Still receiving error message

[CurtisP]

Exact same problem as above. Tried solutions mentioned above. Nothing. Suspect this is affecting thousands. 2024 Subaru Outback.

[ionp]

Workaround:

Reply OK to the error message.
Press the triangle on the upper right.

[DesertG8trGal]

Ok, in the vehicle there IS the "ok" that I constantly have to select however I do not see a triangle at all...

[Marchman1963]

in my vehicle, a 2023 Audi it is more like a blue arrow in the upper right hand corner of the screen or a triangle tilted on its side pointing right.

[Jordan8]

What triangle upper right. Is this on carplay? My iphone? Where explain.
Sent from my iPad

[ionp]

Triangle explanation:

2021 Prius Prime, wired carplay connected with iPhone 15 using ios 18.1 (so
I already selected Carplay).

I select Pandora and get a list of my Pandora stations, and select the one
I want.

I get the dreaded error message and select OK.

Above the list of stations, on the upper right of my vehicle screen, I see
a small triangle that points to the right, presumably indicating another
screen will show when it is pressed.

I press it and get a fully functional screen with cover art, thumbs up and
down, skip and I think pause was on there too.

Before I found out about the triangle, I was proceeding as above but
instead of the triangle I would enter the non-graphical control screen that
is used for Bluetooth and my portrait oriented vehicle screen would show
artist, song and skip controls but no thumbs on the bottom of the screen
while the station list was at the top.

[DaveL]

For those considering moving to Spotify, the grass may not be greener there.

I've been with Pandora since their very beginning. I have a "Plus" account for about $50/year. All my listening is done with a single custom station which is a list of a couple of hundred of my favorite recording artists. In the past Pandora has done a great job introducing me to new artists, many of which have become my favorites.

For me, the CarPlay issue isn't a deal-breaker. If I start Pandora from my phone before starting the car, I can use the triangle in the upper right corner of the car's station select screen to get to its "now playing" screen. The only functionality I've lost is the ability to change stations, which I never use.

On the other hand, I've become disenchanted with Pandora's music selections from my station. Even with "deep tracks" selected, it seems that most of the songs played are repeats of songs played in the past few days. Only a very small percentage of songs or artists are new to me, or are songs that haven't been recently played. My frustration with Pandora's song selections inspired me to give Spotify a try.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out a way to use Spotify the way I've been using Pandora. There is no automated way to import my Pandora station to Spotify - the various online import tools only work for individual songs, not for artists. On Spotify I had to manually create a "radio station" for each of my favorite artists, then copy the songs in each station to a single playlist. Using that playlist with "smart shuffle" comes close to the Pandora experience, but the items in my playlist don't automatically refresh like they would in a radio station.

Spotify has some rough edges in its user interface. There are things that can only be done from a web browser, and other things can only be done from the app.

Finally, Spotify Premium is double the price of my Pandora Plus plan (although it is cheaper than Pandora Premium).

Look before you leap!

[bmwM5guy]

You summed up my experience perfectly!  100000% agree with you and that's why I've still with Pandora and not made the jump to Spotify or Apple Music either.

[Marchman1963]

Excellent summation!  

[DaveL]

I updated my iPhone to iOS 18.1.1 which was released yesterday. Unfortunately, it did not solve the problem.

[Omahax5]

Totally agree with you. Just hard for me to understand how this could have been going on for months and Pandora seems to have no sense of urgency to fix.

[Hbodenschatz]

Since getting iOS 18 I get the error message "There was a problem loading this content" when connecting to CarPlay.

[Iamnachonurse]

I  am having the same issue as well and am a paying customer. If this isn’t fixed soon, I could be canceling my subscription and moving to another service. It has been going on for months and still no fix!

[Cbl]

As of November 21, I still cannot load my content in CarPlay. I can see my recents listing, but even when I am listening to music on recents, I cannot see detail on a particular song. I am on iOS 18. I have been a premium customer for years. Please fix this!

[Amricnhunee]

My iPhone 13ProMax still will not play on CarPlay. I have restarted, deleted and redownloaded, checked all my settings. Nothing o have found online will fix what has happened with the 18 update. 

[blair_ensinger]

I had to upgrade my iPhone to iOS 18.1 for work and now receive this same error "'There was a problem loading this content".  Sometimes one of my stations will play the current selection and sometimes not.  I also notice that list of stations might be selectable but is not accurate;  I'll select "Station C" but selections from 'Station B" would start.  Also, my companion display ('24 Chevy Colorado Dashboard Display) shows the correct selections' data (Artist, Title, Graphics).

[KenX]

Yes it is a total mess and this is a wide spread issue. When they will fix it is anybody guess.

KenX

[aarre]

Confirming that upgrading to ios 18.1.1 does not solve this issue.

Aarre Laakso
https://aarrelaakso.com