Is there a good reason for this limitation other than that's just the way they designed the system? I find this limitation very frustrating and wish it weren't there.

 

I think that's the way its designed as only one USB audio device is active. The moment you plug in your iPhone it will disable the USB stick. This happens with or without Carplay.

 

Why are there 2 functioning USB ports?

 

No reason but a limitation, but thank God there is carplay...heck it took lexus 5 years to get on the. How dare you ask for more features Jk

 

Carplay is much better than Lexus Enform. It was so bad that I never used it. Lexus finally caved in and went with CarPlay.

I am guessing that they only allow for one USB port to play music as it was probably quite an involved task to change all their software to allow for two.

 

CarPlay is an all or nothing setup. When corded up you are projecting the phone onto the
screen and microphones and speakers and buttons...only. Turn off ACP on screen or on
your phone, connect the cord to the 12v accessory plug for charging and then the USB stick
will work just as it did pre-CarPlay.

 

No, that's not how it works.

When your iPhone is connected and CarPlay is activated, all of the native Lexus features are available, including AM, FM, SXM, Navigation, etc. Everything EXCEPT the USB stick. In order to listen to your USB stick, you need to unplug your iPhone. In contrast, you can listen to any of the Lexus native audio options while your iPhone is connected and CarPlay activated. However, if you start playing a music app in CarPlay, the Lexus infotainment system will mute any Lexus native audio that's Playing.

So, the issue is that the Lexus infotainment system will only recognize one USB device at a time, not a matter of CarPlay taking over as you stated.

 

Out of curiosity, has anyone tried plugging in two USB sticks at the same time? Can the Lexus system recognize both of them?

 

I hesitate to try it because who knows what might happen?

My guess is that the second stick you insert will override the first one.

 

I have two sticks in my car all the time. They come up on the source screen as USB1 and USB2.

 

That's interesting. So the Lexus infotainment system CAN have 2 simultaneously active USB devices that play music without deactivating each other.

The subject question remains unanswered. Why does activating CarPlay disable the USB stick while leaving all the other Lexus native features fully functional? I understand that's the way it works, but I don't understand why this limitation was designed into the system. It would be nice if this limitation were removed.