Did your phone work prior to the update? You may already be doing this but be sure to plug the phone into the USB ports in the dash cubby and not the ones in the arm rest area.

 

The connection worked beautifully before the HU firmware update.

 

Might be worth trying another cable. I've used a cable before that works fine connecting my phone to my computer, but using same cable, my crosstrek wouldn't pick it up (same connection issue, but could charge still).

Replaced the cable, and it works now.

 

I have tried that to no avail :-(

 

I have a 2021 Crosstrek Limited - last year this happened and I replaced the cable with an actual Apple cable and it fixed it. Last month with the OTA update something glitched, car play stopped working, though the phone will charge when plugged in. Bought a new apple cable, still doesn't work. Also, it says update complete when in the garage connected to wifi, but when I leave the house it says update failed would you like to try again? So frustrating! I called the dealer who acted as if they'd never heard of this issue. Does anyone know if you can "undo" an update like you can with a computer?

 

Perhaps you can redo the update with firmware downloaded onto a USB drive? They used to be available on MySubaru.

 

This is currently happening to me now and I have 2021 crosstrek limited. CarPlay literally worked a few days ago. I only use apple cables for my phone and I only ever unplug to replug for the same issue. Did you update your phone? I wonder if that might have something to do with is as I need to update my phone. Keep me posted if you find a solution!

 

Do you have the MySubaruApp installed on your iPhone?

"The StarlinkApp had links to a NavigationApp and a BirdsApp and a few others that were all pretty useless.
The only useful operability that it 'did' have was that CarPlay worked much easier when you had the starlink.app running on your phone before you plugged in your phone to the HU.
That operability seems to have been given to the MySubaruApp now."

 

-

 

My HU has become a continuous source of entertainment that was unintended by the Harmon folks. I practically never know what I'll be listening to! The HU is the main problem I feel with the purchase in my five years of ownership, but frankly the rest of the car is pretty nice so I learned to relax and go with the Harmon flow. Oh yeah, the other thing is that the radio comes back on when you restart the car after leaving with the radio off...don't like that too much.

 

The Harman HU has also been a continuous source of posts here, LOL! I just turn the volume down to zero rather than turning it off.

 

Same issue with my 2023 Ascent. Prior to the last entertainment system upgrade, CarPlay and Bluetooth worked fine. Now CarPlay doesn't work at all (Smartphone Connection Error) and Bluetooth playback "skips" badly most of the time (some kind of time synchronization error, maybe?). Swapping to an Apple cable doesn't help. So now I am without iTunes and Maps from my iPhone. On the bright side, my CD player now remembers where it left off when I turn the vehicle off, when it used to jump back to the beginning of the disc about 4 times out of 5.

 

So everything that interfaces your iPhone with Subaru HU's craters unless you use the proper "certified" cable and you stick out your tongue just right when you plug it in?

And yet we claim to have the technology necessary to receive radio communications and radio telescope images from the edges of the universe ... without a cable.

Pull my finger.

 

I have a 2020 Forester and just experienced this issue for the first time today. Was working fine yesterday. No phone update since then. Not sure why it would just suddenly not work? Have tried a different Apple cable as well. Nothing works. Has anyone found a fix yet? Would really love to get CarPlay working again.

 

I see lots if the same story for different vehicles (mine is a 2020 Forester Touring). My iPhone did nit update and I experienced the issue for the first time yesterday. I was using an apple cable and switched it out for another apple cable. No difference. Does anyone from Subaru read these forums and offer a solution? I don’t know what to do at this point. Can anyone out there help?

 

I had the exact same issue. Powered down my phone, waited a few minutes, turned back on and reconnected. Everything works again

 

Since this thread is actually active I thought I'd chime in that my 2019 Legacy has the exact same issue. I've tried tons of different cables; most of the time I get the "Smartphone connection error" screen when I first plug in, and then if I unplugged and replug it works about 75% of the time. It will also randomly disconnect when driving which is fun. This is with the latest firmware available OTA. Hopefully someone finds a solution eventually although I feel at this point it must be the firmware in the head unit.

 

Same issue for me in my 2022 Crosstrek, which started 1-3 days ago. Bought a new cable this morning and dusted out my phone’s lightning port as well. I don’t mind using Bluetooth and CDs for music, but the lack of maps / directions is really screwing with me. My phone calls are also having trouble connecting through Bluetooth (jumping between phone and car every 10 or so seconds) but that could be a separate issue, I just noticed them both the same day.

UPDATE: I fixed it! In the Subaru’s Settings > general, at the bottom I reset to factory settings. That disconnected my phone’s Bluetooth, so I re-set up the Bluetooth connection and it started working again. Thanks to CRAZYHAWK for the suggestion

 

I had a similar issue with Android Auto. You might look at;
(126) Model Years 2018 to 2023 - Android Auto Rarely Works | Subaru Crosstrek and XV Forums (subaruxvforum.com)
Select return to factory setting on the Trek's screen.
With my phone connected to the USB. I pressed the gear for settings. I scrolled down to Android Auto and pressed it. The screen acted as if I held the power button down for 15 seconds. I then pressed home. All is now OK.

 

Go to page 105
Getting Started Guide Crosstrek 2021

 

 

My service guy has a newer phone and it worked perfectly fine. Mines only a 12 but m thinking i may have to get a new phone.

 

So I powered off the phone and it worked perfectly. 😆

 

Fixed! For me iPhone 7, Subaru Crostrek 2023. I bought a new non-Apple cord from Amazon and started failing with the connection error. Fixed by shutting down and restarting phone followed by factory reset of the Crosstrek system.

 

BTW. For spotty Bluetooth, if you turn off the WiFi it helps

 

I was able to resolve the same issue by restarting iPhone (full power cycle) and resetting to factory settings on the Outback touchscreen