Roon Arc works 5% of time, so kind of sucks
Wondering what are Roonlabâs plans for the ARC Carplay. Arc is a great app, but the carplay part of it is basicaly useless.
- Issues with artwork
- Albums and artist are sorted âsomehowâ (likely latest added) with no option to change that
- No search or fast scroll
- No support for bookmarks or tags
- Last added albums do not appear automatically
- etc
And update after uopdate none of these are addressed.
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I have been checking in occasionally to observe ARC advancement.
Not ready to sign up fulltime until issues with Carplay, artwork, connectivity, etc. get addressed.
For me, that is #1 as I am seldom close to server to use wifi.
Also, a MUST is being able to use Zerotier or other VPN software as I can not port forward.
At the moment, I use Plexamp via Zerotier and it just works.
I will continue to check in for updates.
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Actually you can change the sort order in the arc app itself without carplay.
I discovered that the carplay part just takes your latest sort order you chose in arc itselfâŚ
Has Roon given up on ARC CarPlay�?
It hasnât improved since it was launched, I still donât get reliable connection, there is still no search function (what sort of music app doesnât have a search function?!) and the Roon subs increased to pay for thisâŚ
Cannot get the ARC home screen ( the one with Home, Library etc). However I can get the Now Playing screen complete with artwork and the ability to play last and next tracks.
So, why no home screen ?
My Iphone 12 works with ARC as it should. It uses a USB connection to my Audiâs MMI. ARC shows in the Carplay and other Apps such as Google Maps work well.
The phone plays audio well, but this means I have to use the phone for all the search and select type functions, rather than using the carâs MMI system as should be a available. Which is illegal if the engine is running in the UK.
Iâve tried four different USB-Lightning cables but no difference.
ARC is enabled in the IOS Carplay settings.
What am I missing ?
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Honest thoughts? Itâs dangerous to drive and use Roon Arc carplay. You spend all of your time trying to manually find / search what youâre after than actually driving. You are unable to search for what youâre after, artists etc arenât even in alphabetical order - itâs a bit of a disaster. As it is for safety reasons - it probably shouldnât be released.
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Roon ARC is still glitchy with CarPlay with the latest update, album covers still missing most of the time, loads very slowly, and navigating to different tab or page will stop the playback. No issues with other CarPlay music Apps like Tidal or Sirius under same conditions.
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Havenât had any issues myself with the latest build. Itâs been spot on, not even had to restart the app on iOS.
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Same for me 
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Works well for me on iphone 12, wired connection. The bug that I want to report: if listening while using google maps spoken navigation, you only hear the first couple of words from the maps app and the remaining navigation instructions are cut off. I got all navigation instructions when using Qobuz. Admittedly, itâs probably best just not to listen at all when google maps is constantly interrupting the music when giving instructions, but nevertheless, the maps app isnât currently compatible with ARC at least in my Honda CRV (in the US).
Running ARC via CarPlay in my 2022 Audi S3, with an iPhone 14 Pro. Works a treat! 
Martin
Does the artwork display correctly for all downloaded tracks or are you only using ARC online?
Hi Michael,
I donât have any downloaded files/music on my iPhone, and I just use ARC online. The artwork displays fine on CarPlay this way.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Martin. Yes it does for me when online but not for downloaded music. I have a 2023 A3 so just thought I would check your experience. Thx anyway 
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You know I had given up on ARC sometime ago⌠I always got some message about not a good connection or something.
Anyway⌠I saw on the forum and in some release notes that Roonies have been putting some work into ARC and CarPlay.
Well I tried it today out running errands, and guess what?
It works great!
I donât see any of the errors I used to see (no change in my server or network at home). I can only conclude that the good work done by the developers has made ARC a huge value add to my Roon experience.
Super job team. Appreciate it!
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Still a buggy mess. I only play downloaded media as itâs too difficult to search for what youâre after (voice assistant helps a bit, but visual is still better). Even when I do scroll my downloaded media (or scroll anywhere in ARC) it will quit out of that screen and back into the main menu. I often have the main menu flicker.
I use ARC every weekday at work through my phone hooked up to a Schiit stack, and it really is a dream come true. All of my local library and Qobuz favorites at my fingertips. In the car it is usually BT so I donât need to take my phone out of my pocket, but I have started to use CarPlay again after the last update. ARC is the best, Roon. I still use the main Roon app at home often, and the two apps complement each otherâŚnow can we get handoff between the two apps?
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Wife and I drove from NC back home to Atlanta today in our old beater car that we keep up there at the 101 year old MILâs home just to make sure people know someone is home. Anyway, this 2016 Nissan Altima has a pretty nice radio but no CarPlay and no navigation system.
The radio does have USB and auxiliary in. So this is my work around with iPad Mini 6 running Google Maps for navigation and iPhone running Roon ARC with USB connection. Roon ARC worked perfectly for the entire 4 hour trip with zero issues.
Note my homemade device for securing the iPad to the forward cup holder.
I did not want to use a DAC and auxiliary line in with all the road noise, itâs not worth messing with.
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hope your people in NC are safe and dry.
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