How to Get the Radio Back After a Call with CarPlay
It's not a glitch, it's how CarPlay works. CarPlay takes the audio for the call and keeps it when the call ends. To get the radio back, go to the headunit's own home screen, not the CarPlay one, and open Radio.
9" MK4 Multimedia Headunit for Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series (2009-2026)
View product: 9" MK4 Multimedia Headunit for Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series (2009-2026)How the headunit handles a call
Your headunit runs two systems at once. Apple CarPlay puts your phone on the screen, wired on the USB lead or wireless. The headunit's own Android system runs in the background with its own apps, such as Radio and Equaliser. Each system has its own audio channel.
When a call comes in, CarPlay takes the audio and the radio stops. When the call ends, the audio stays with CarPlay. That's why Spotify in CarPlay plays straight away while the radio waits for you to open it again.
Before you start
- Your phone connected with CarPlay, wired or wireless.
- The radio playing from the headunit's own Radio app before the call.
Step by step
-
Go to the headunit's own home screen
Leave the CarPlay home screen, the one with your phone's apps on it, and go to the headunit's own home screen. That's where the headunit keeps its own apps, Radio among them.
-
Open Radio
Tap Radio. It plays again straight away.
-
Keep using CarPlay as normal
CarPlay stays connected the whole time. Calls, Maps and Spotify keep working through it, and the next call takes the audio the same way.
Two other ways to set it up
Keep everything in CarPlay. Play the radio or digital radio through an app on your phone in CarPlay. The audio never has to leave CarPlay, so there's nothing to switch back after a call.
Use Bluetooth without CarPlay. Pair your phone to the headunit by plain Bluetooth for calls and use the headunit's own apps for everything else. Calls and the radio then run on the same system.
If it does not work
- Switching to another app and back to Radio works too. It brings the headunit's own audio forward, the same as opening Radio from its home screen.
- There's no setting to change and no update for this. It's how CarPlay handles a call, so opening Radio is the way back each time.
- If you'd rather not switch back after every call, use one of the two setups above.
Worth knowing
This applies to PVS Android headunits running CarPlay, including the 9 inch and 12.1 inch MK4. The MK4 radio is AM and FM.
