Can’t use your iPhone to navigate since it’s reporting the wrong GPS location when using Apple CarPlay?

Apple Carplay comes standard on almost every modern car. It’s a convenient feature that allows you to use your car’s head unit to access certain apps on your phone, including Maps or Waze. 

However, users have been complaining that their iPhones are reporting the wrong GPS location when using Apple CarPlay. 

Since Navigation is one of CarPlay’s key features, this problem renders the feature useless. 

To help out, we’ve decided to make a guide for fixing GPS issues on Apple CarPlay. 

Let’s begin!

1. Restart Your iPhone. 

Before proceeding to advanced solutions, try restarting your iPhone first. 

A temporary bug or error may have occurred on your iPhone that caused it to report the wrong location. 

Restarting your iPhone should ensure that your system resources are initialized properly. This should also clear corrupted data from the system memory. 

If you are using an iPhone X, 11, 12, 13, 14, or later, here’s what you need to do: 

1. Hold the Volume Down and Side buttons until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt appears. 
2. Now, drag the slider to the right and wait for 30 seconds. 
3. Press the Side button afterward to turn on your device. 

For older models, follow the steps below: 

1. Locate the Power button on your device. 
2. Hold the button until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt appears.
3. Drag the slider to the right and wait 30 seconds before turning on your device. 

Once done, try using CarPlay again to check if the problem is solved. 

2. Restart Your Car’s Head Unit. 

Besides restarting your iPhone, you should restart your car’s head unit if you still encounter GPS problems with CarPlay. 

Restarting the head unit should refresh the connection with your iPhone, ensuring that they are in sync. 

Here’s how you can restart your head unit: 

• Hold the ‘Power button’ until the head unit turns off. 
• Turn off your car’s ignition to cut off power from the head unit.

Turn on your car’s head unit after 5 to 10 seconds and check if the problem is solved. 

3. Launch Navigation App First. 

One workaround that we’ve found for CarPlay’s GPS problem is to launch the navigation app that you are using first before connecting your iPhone to the head unit. 

If you haven’t done this, try it on your end. 

A bug or glitch is likely present within CarPlay that causes it to report the wrong location when you launch the navigation app when connected to the head unit. 

4. Use Genuine Lightning Cable (Wired CarPlay Only). 

There are tons of third-party lightning cables available in the market. While they might serve their purpose to charge your iPhone, not all cables support data transfer. 

If you encounter GPS problems with CarPlay, see if you are using a genuine lightning cable from Apple. 

We suggest using the lightning cable that came with your iPhone if you are connecting it to your head unit to avoid issues. 

5. Forget Your Car. 

If you still encounter problems with CarPlay, we suggest forgetting your car and pairing it again. 

This should re-establish the connection between your devices, ensuring no issues with their pairing. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

1. Open Settings on your iPhone. 
2. Now, go to General > CarPlay. 

3. Under My Car, tap on your head unit.
4. Tap on Forget This Car and follow the prompts. 

5. Restart both the head unit and your iPhone. 

Use CarPlay again and see if you’ll still experience the GPS issue.

6. Try Other Navigation Apps. 

Your current navigation app might have an underlying problem that causes it to report the wrong location. 

To confirm this, we suggest trying other navigation apps. If you use Maps, try Waze or Google Maps on CarPlay. 

If other apps work properly, proceed to the next step. 

7. Update Your Apps. 

If you encounter a GPS issue with a specific navigation app, we suggest updating that app. 

This ensures no compatibility issues with CarPlay, your head unit, and the navigation app. 

Updating your app should also patch bugs and errors that cause it to give inaccurate locations. 

Here’s how you can update your apps: 

1. Go to your home screen and launch the App Store. 
2. Now, tap on your Profile in the upper right corner. 
3. Scroll down and see if there’s an update for your navigation app. 
4. Tap the Update button beside it to download the latest version. 

Use the app with CarPlay again to check if the problem is solved. 

8. Update Your iPhone. 

If updating your applications did not solve the issue, try updating your iPhone. The version of iOS you’re using might have a problem with GPS or CarPlay. 

Check out the steps below to update your iPhone: 

1. Open Settings on your iPhone. 
2. Navigate to General > Software Update. 
3. If there’s a new iOS version available, tap Download and Install. 
4. Once the new software is ready, follow the prompts to install the update. 

To avoid missing out on updates, enable automatic updates: 

1. Go to Settings on your iPhone. 
2. Now, navigate to General > Software Update > Automatic Updates. 
3. Enable Download iOS Updates and Install iOS Updates. 

Connect your iPhone to your car afterward and check if it’s still reporting the wrong GPS location. 

9. Reset Your Settings. 

At this point, you can try resetting your iPhone’s settings if you still encounter the wrong GPS location with Apple CarPlay. 

This should ensure that there are no conflicts with your configurations that cause your iPhone to report the wrong location. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

1. On your iPhone, go to the main menu and open Settings. 
2. Now, tap on General. 
3. Look for Transfer or Reset iPhone and tap on it. 
4. Tap the Reset option and select Reset All Settings. 
5. Follow the prompts to continue. 

Set up CarPlay again and check if the problem is solved. 

That ends our guide for fixing Apple CarPlay if it’s reporting the wrong GPS location when using navigation apps. 

If you have other concerns, leave a comment below, and we’ll be glad to help you out. 

If this guide helped you, please share it.

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