Rarely use it but connected it earlier and it performed well until it began repeatedly reverting to the same song regardless of the command. Finally deleted and reinstalled the Lexus + Alexa app, completed the setup and that seemed to resolve the issue.

However after a few minutes of performing flawlessly through a series of requests the sound suddenly stopped coming through the car speakers and was audible (barely) only through my iPhone speaker. I think and hope I’ve made a simple mistake/omission but I can’t figure out what is causing it. Suggestions? Thanks.

 

The problem occurs when switching from Amazon Alexa to Apple CarPlay and then back to Alexa. When eventually transitioning back to Alexa the audio starts coming through the phone speaker only. I have found one solution: Open the Control Center (scrolling up on my iPhone 8 Plus screen), clicking on the AirPlay icon and then choosing the option “ES” (instead of iPhone) for the sound. That redirects the audio properly through the car speaker.

I’m still having a problem with Alexa and Amazon Music reverting to the same song regardless of the music request. It acknowledges the command for another song but won’t execute it. (Requests for weather info, directions, etc. are properly executed, but not requests for different music.). It’s as if Amazon Music becomes frozen during this process along with my Enform app. This may require deleting and re-pairing the phone and deleting and reinstalling the Lexus + Alexa and Lexus apps. But that’s just a guess.

 

Lexus+Alexa uses Bluetooth. On page 41 of the [pdf version] 2021 LEXUS ES300H, ES350 Navigation and Multimedia Owner's Manual:

To paraphrase an all too common software industry response, your "problem" is a documented feature of the system. CarPlay connection, no Bluetooth functionality; thus no Lexus+Alexa functionality to the Lexus multimedia unit.

From what I can gather, the iOS Amazon Music app "works" as an Apple CarPlay app. Works in quotes because of troubles of it working with iOS 15. Commentary on the issue suggests it is something that Amazon app developers need to fix in the Amazon Music app. (Perhaps troubles exist in more Amazon related apps than just the Amazon Music app.)

 

Thanks for the info. At this point the sound is the lesser issue since I’ve at least figured out how to get the audio through the car speaker. But Alexa being stuck on the same song regardless of what I do - even if CarPlay hadn’t been connected - is exasperating. If it’s an iOS 15 compatibility issue, I’ll just have to wait for a fix.

 

According to the App Store info, the developer for Lexus+Alexa is Lexus and the the link for app support takes you to the Contact Lexus web page. At the bottom of that page there's a "SEND MESSAGE" button which when selected will lead you to a form where you can submit a problem report on Multimedia -> Alexa. If Lexus doesn't know there's a problem with the app, there'll never be a fix made.

Not saying you'll get a speedy fix but at least Lexus will have an "official" complaint for entry into their customer support system. You do get a response from Lexus - first, an automated one with a case number and then a follow up one from a human. While it may not always be the greatest of responses, I've found the human response shows some human has actually read and comprehended the message and tailored the reply accordingly and not replied with some boilerplate BS that has little or no correlation to your original message.

 

Thanks again. I’ll do that. Also, sometime soon will visit the tech guy at the dealership. I’m certainly not ruling out user error.