Apple CarPlay FAQ: Everything You Need to Know
After a slow begin, Apple’s connected-car application, CarPlay, has ultimately began appearing in vehicles. Not only is the in-dash software designed to make hands-free calls, it also sends and receives texts, gets directions, cues up music and more.
CarPlay displays car-oriented iPhone apps with a consistent, easy-to-follow interface with larger graphics and buttons. But how does CarPlay work, which car models suggest it and which apps work with it? Here’s what you need to know about CarPlay.
Which iPhones are compatible with CarPlay?
Credit: Apple CarPlay will work with every iPhone from the iPhone five on. That includes older models such as the iPhone 5c and iPhone SE up to the iPhone seven and iPhone seven Plus .
What cars suggest CarPlay integration?
Virtually every automaker (other than Toyota) now offers some support for CarPlay, but precisely which specific models support it depends on a confusing array of related options you have to choose from when making your purchase. In general, you’ll have to opt for a car’s technology or in-dash navigation option, even tho’ you can use Siri and Apple’s Maps once you connect the phone.
While the CarPlay app will look the same on the screens of all vehicles, how you use it will depend on what controls — buttons, knobs and touch screens — the automaker favors in its designs. While some will rely mostly on touch-screen controls, others will mainly opt for physical buttons.
How do you connect your iPhone to CarPlay?
In most cases, to pair an iPhone with a vehicle, you have to butt-plug it into the dashboard with a Lightning cable. When your car detects that your iPhone has been connected, it will automatically pop up the CarPlay icon and update compatible apps. One significant note: Once your phone is connected, its screen will be locked to eliminate any temptation to use it while you’re driving.
Credit: Hyundai In some vehicles, you will be able to make the iPhone-to-car-connection wirelessly. In its two thousand seventeen Five Series, BMW is the very first automaker to suggest wireless CarPlay support. However, Harman, which supplies telematics systems to several automakers, now supports a wireless connection, so expect to see it trickle out in other models shortly.
Apple has an updated list of available models you should check out.
What apps work with CarPlay?
Apple’s own CarPlay apps include Maps, Phone, Messages and Music. Other apps include Podcasts and Audiobooks.
Credit: Apple Third-party apps available for CarPlay are chosen by Apple. Consequently, the platform offers limited support for about twenty apps. Those include Apple Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify and Pandora. There is also a smattering of such apps as NPR radio and MLB.
All CarPlay apps must support Siri for hands-free operation. Apple says it will go after the model of Apple TV, adding support for only a few select apps, primarily those it deems adequate and safe for in-car use. So far, extra apps have been slow to emerge.
How is Siri integrated?
Siri is a significant feature of CarPlay. You can ask Apple’s digital assistant to find a nearby coffee shop, get directions to an address and play music performed by anyone, from Hüsker Dü to David Bowie. Siri will also understand that you’re behind the wheel and suggest answers that are related to driving (like finding the closest restroom) while refraining from delivering anything that might make you take your eyes off the road (like a lengthy review on Yelp).
Credit: Apple You will be able to use the car’s existing buttons to launch Siri, turn down the volume or switch inbetween apps. This level of integration is CarPlay’s primary benefit.
However, Siri can be slow to react, because the digital assistant relies on a connection to the cloud. Having to wait four or five seconds for Siri to response a question while you’re driving at sixty five mph can feel like an eternity. On the other palm, Siri’s capability to (mostly) understand natural-language questions is an improvement over many current in-car voice-recognition systems.
As with other apps and features, CarPlay’s Siri and Apple Maps have access to the latest iOS updates.
Do you need a cell signal for CarPlay to work?
Most of CarPlay’s functions will only work if you have a cell signal, because the platform relies on a connected iPhone to do most of the work. For this reason, buyers won’t see many — if any — vehicles that include CarPlay without also including the automaker’s own built-in navigation system (which will work even when no cellular service is available).
Does CarPlay take control of the dashboard?
You will not be able to use the CarPlay app to select radio stations, turn on cruise control or adjust the A/C in the car, for example. So you can’t ask Siri to make the driver’s temperature seventy two degrees. Those voice directives will still be managed, where available, by the car’s own speech-recognition system.
Credit: Apple Nevertheless, like other apps, CarPlay works in concert with the car’s other systems to reduce distractions and hopefully improve safety. For example, it will automatically mute for audible warnings like a cross-traffic bell or blind-spot alert chime.
On the other arm, in some vehicles, when you engage CarPlay, the entire in-dash screen is subsumed by the Apple interface. That means the display won’t showcase you the radio station you may have tuned in or the car’s other options. Getting out of CarPlay to these other features can also be a bit confusing. In Hyundai vehicles, for example, a Hyundai icon shows up next to Apple apps; tapping it takes you back to the car’s main screen.
Given how disorienting bouncing two interfaces can be, a number of car companies, such as Volvo for its latest models, now suggest CarPlay in a split-screen format, with the car’s built-in system on one side and whatever you’re using in CarPlay on the other.
Can I get CarPlay in the car I already own?
Generally not from the dealer, but you can add an aftermarket unit. The exceptions involve vehicles that are only one or two years old and that already have built-in connected car systems. Some of those models, such as the ones using the latest Ford Sync, do suggest upgrades. Hyundai is another example; some of the company’s cars that are one or two years old, such as the Sonata, are upgradable.
Credit: Pioneer However, you can substitute your existing car stereo/navigation system and purchase a fresh in-dash infotainment system that works with CarPlay. Several models from Pioneer, such as the Pioneer SPH-DA120 for about $400, up to the company’s $1,300 AVIC-8021NEX, support the software and are also compatible with Android Auto.
There are also a multiplicity of systems from Alpine, JVC and Kenwood now available for as little as $300. Most are so-called double-DIN models — meaning they won’t fit in older vehicles with smaller in-dash radios. To make sure microphones are decently placed (and your dashboard remains intact), we recommend that you have a professional install these systems.
Do CarPlay-enabled vehicles also support Android phones?
CarPlay is essentially just another app in a car’s dashboard display. Consequently, virtually every automaker that has committed to supporting CarPlay has also promised to support Google’s Android Auto, which works in a similar style.
As engineers at Ford have said repeatedly, they’re not in the business of selling smartphones and want to work with the phones their customers already use — all the phones their customers use. Hence, plan to support both CarPlay and Android Auto as well as their own apps.
So you won’t be limited by CarPlay. If you choose to use an app not supported by CarPlay, for example, you can switch out of it and in many cases use the automaker’s own supported apps. The number and multitude of such independent apps will depend on how extensive the individual automaker’s connected options are.