Sick Of CarPlay Auto-Connecting? Here’s How To Shut It Down For Good

For many people, CarPlay is the simplest way to interact with a car’s infotainment system as it means you don’t have to master a new set of software and controls every time you swap cars. Other people, however, hate the system and just want to shut it down for good.

If you fall into the latter camp, then you’re probably sick of your phone auto-connecting and want a simple way of shutting CarPlay off. One over-the-top option is to buy something like a Rivian EV, as the company doesn’t offer the system in its cars, but for a less dramatic approach, you can just switch the system off on you iPhone, thankfully. 

Whether you just love your car’s built-in system or have a suite of phones that all connect to your car when you least expect it, shutting down CarPlay isn’t a tough task. In fact, wireless CarPlay connections can be disabled in a few pretty simple steps.

If you like CarPlay, but don’t want your phone connecting to every vehicle you’ve ever gotten into, then switching off automatic connections and choosing what cars your phone is paired with will be the best bet for you. You can do this on your cell by digging into your settings, as Business Insider explains. 

To make your iPhone forget any car that it’s previously connected with, start by heading to settings and hitting the “general” tab. Once inside, navigate to “CarPlay” and this will bring up a list of every vehicle that your iPhone is paired with.

Then, it’s as simple as locating the car you want to disconnect from, selecting it, and hitting “Forget This Car.” A confirmation window will pop up, and once that’s confirmed, your phone will be free. Bear in mind, however, that any other vehicles that your phone is paired with will need to be “forgotten” individually.

The second way of disengaging CarPlay is to do it through the restrictions in your iPhone’s app settings, explains Car and Driver. If you choose this method, it’ll disconnect your iPhone from every car and will disable the feature altogether. 

Once again, this is done in your phone’s settings, but through the “Screen Time” section. There, you need to go into “Content & Privacy Restrictions” then select “Allowed Apps & Features,” where you can scroll to the CarPlay option. A toggle button there will disable CarPlay, which means it won’t activate in any car from then on. Turning it back on again is as easy as heading back and re-toggling the switch once more.

The other easy way of avoiding ever having to use CarPlay again is to buy your next car from General Motors. The American automaker dropped the feature from its electric vehicles last year after claiming the system still causes people to use their phones while driving.