What Is Apple CarPlay, and Is It Better Than Just Using a Phone in Your Car?

Apple CarPlay: A safer and more convenient iPhone experience for driving

Apple CarPlay provides you with a safer way to use your phone in the car, allowing you to easily access apps and Siri features. While wireless CarPlay is more convenient and does not require a phone connection, wired CarPlay is more common and works well. You can customize your CarPlay experience by changing wallpapers, adding, removing, and rearranging apps, and using Siri for hands-free control.

If you are buying a car that has been built in the past decade, it is likely to be equipped with Apple CarPlay. While many people think CarPlay is just a quality alternative to Bluetooth music streaming, it goes far beyond that. CarPlay offers far more convenience than simply connecting an iPhone to Bluetooth.

What is Apple CarPlay?

Apple CarPlay is an alternative to your car's pre-installed infotainment system. It brings the functionality of the iPhone to your vehicle in a more accessible and secure way.

CarPlay was originally launched as "In-Car iOS" at WWDC in 2013, and its market positioning is to allow you to use Siri hands-free to navigate music, make calls, get routes and listen to iMessages. Since then, this iOS in-car adapter platform has undergone multiple updates and was later renamed "CarPlay".

When using CarPlay, you will find that it is not much different from using an iPhone or other Apple device. The appearance and function of the icon are the same, and the system navigation is also very familiar.

After launching CarPlay, you will see an app home screen. Depending on the number of apps you preinstalled, you can swipe left and right to view multiple pages.

Swipe right to the bottom to display the CarPlay dashboard. There, you can view the features of multiple apps simultaneously, such as controlling music while receiving real-time navigation, and even opening the garage door.

The current time is displayed at the top of the left side of the screen, and the bottom shows the three recently opened apps and a home button. Press and hold the Home button to call Siri, just like before using the physical Home button.

This sidebar is always available no matter where you are in CarPlay. Additionally, you can call Siri anywhere in CarPlay, enabling Apple Intelligence will affect how Siri is rendered.

Why is it better than mounting brackets and connecting Bluetooth?

Apple CarPlay looks like an enhanced version of iOS, and to some extent, it does. However, it is much more useful than installing an iPhone stand, connecting to a Bluetooth system and then continuing.

First of all, CarPlay is safer and has a more intuitive interface than using an iPhone while driving (you shouldn't). It presents a simplified, car-friendly iOS version on a larger display, and can be controlled by touch or voice.

In addition, with CarPlay, your iPhone is more integrated with your car. This can be seen when using Siri, where you can call the smart assistant via the steering wheel. Better yet, in some models, your car automatically lowers the fan power so that the Siri can hear you better.

You will also notice this when you want to change the song, which you can easily do through the music app. You can also answer or refuse to answer calls without looking for your phone. In addition, you can have the system read your message aloud so that you can understand the information without reading it yourself.

While Apple's own apps work well, third-party apps are designed to be easy to navigate. In recent years, more and more applications, such as Panera, have developed their own version of CarPlay, allowing users to quickly reorder recent purchases from their car's infotainment systems.

You can access all these features without unlocking your iPhone, which is better than using your device with just Bluetooth. In this case, you need to unlock it with a Face ID or Touch ID, password, or password, which will distract you.

CarPlay is accessible through the car's infotainment system, so there is no need to enter a password or use the face for authentication.

The difference between wired CarPlay and wireless CarPlay

Most cars come with wired CarPlay, but if you own a newer car or buy a more premium kit, you may have wireless CarPlay. Although the core functions are the same, there are some differences. These are mainly derived from the wireless CarPlay aspect, and it has some extra tweaks compared to the wired version. These differences won't change lives, but they're convenient.

One major difference is that the wireless version does not require you to plug in your iPhone to use CarPlay. This means you can keep your phone in your bag or pocket and still use all of CarPlay's features.

Another difference is that with wireless CarPlay, you can see the iPhone's battery percentage on the left panel. However, it won't tell you the exact percentage; it will only show a visual representation of the battery level. It will also tell you if your phone is charging.

One of the drawbacks of wireless CarPlay is that audio from iPhone to car speakers may be delayed. This is very obvious when watching videos of someone talking (when parking, of course). Sometimes their lips move, but the audio delays by one or two seconds.

Wireless Apple CarPlay may be an advanced feature, but that doesn't mean you have to pay a high price. As long as your car already comes with wired CarPlay, you can buy a wireless CarPlay adapter online to get all the same features.

Wireless CarPlay is excellent, but if you don't mind the extra tweaks, wired CarPlay is enough for your needs too.

Customize CarPlay Home Screen

Your CarPlay home screen is not static, it is customizable. Here are some different ways to customize your CarPlay experience.

Change wallpaper

Just like when the iPhone was first released, the only background you can use is a black screen, and so is CarPlay. Now you can change the wallpaper you see behind the app.

To change the wallpaper for the car, open the Settings app in CarPlay, click Wallpaper, and select the wallpaper you want to set. Once all these steps are done, the wallpaper on the CarPlay home screen will change and you're done.

How to add, delete and rearrange applications

Unlike changing wallpapers, you can only add, delete, and rearrange apps on the CarPlay homepage from your iPhone.

To do this, go to the Settings app on your iPhone, click on General, select CarPlay, if you have multiple cars, click on the car you want to customize and then click on Custom. There you can add, delete, and rearrange applications. Check out some of the best CarPlay apps on the App Store.

The applications included on the CarPlay homepage are located at the top of the screen, and the section below contains applications not included but can be added in CarPlay. When applications become CarPlay compatible applications, they are automatically displayed in the More Applications section, which means you don't need to do anything when they become CarPlay compatible applications.

To add an application, click the Add icon to the left of its name. The application will then be converted to the "Include" section at the top. To delete an app, click the Delete icon to the left of the app name, select the swipe option that displays Delete, and the app will move to the More Apps section.

Apps deleted from CarPlay homepage will not be deleted from iPhone. However, if you remove an app with compatible apps from your iPhone, it will be removed from the CarPlay homepage.

If you want to rearrange the application, tap and hold the three lines to the right of the name and drag it to the desired position. Note that each app will appear below another app to the right of the CarPlay homepage of the previous app.

Siri is your driving partner

While you can use most CarPlay features by touching the screen of your car infotainment system, you can also use voice commands to use them. To do this, you will work with Siri throughout the command process.

Siri can do many of the same things as on your other devices. These include playing music, getting routes, making phone calls, sending text messages, and more.

You can activate Siri in three ways: Press and hold the Home button on the left panel or press the voice control button on the steering wheel. If enabled on your iPhone, you can also say "Hey Siri" or "Siri" and say your commands.

Siri will display familiar spherical animations if Apple Intelligence is not enabled. However, if enabled, Siri will illuminate the edges of the car's infotainment screen, similar to how it looks on iPhone and iPad.

Additionally, if Apple Intelligence is enabled, you can access Siri's enhanced smart features. This includes using ChatGPT while driving to ask your most pressing questions, but you have to turn it on in advance.

The car Siri is very useful, and while – like other smart assistants – it doesn’t always understand you 100% of all, it’s still safer than doing your own while driving.

CarPlay's future prospects

The next version of CarPlay promises significant improvements. This update will expand its capabilities and extend its impact from infotainment screens to dashboards and climate control.

AppleYou can further customize it by expanding it to the dashboard behind the steering wheel. This means changing the style, color and information of the display.

You can also control your car system directly through the CarPlay experience—such as temperature, seat heating levels, and defrost (to name only). You don't need to exit CarPlay like you do to control these features.

In addition, you can add widgets to the CarPlay experience. These widgets, such as calendars and widgets, are based on Apple's preview images. The new CarPlay experience also allows you to view information about the car, including gasoline volume, speed, gear and other details.

AppleThe release date for the next-generation CarPlay has not been announced yet, but Porsche and Aston Martin have previewed their new cars with CarPlay 2.0. The release date was originally scheduled for 2024, but Apple has cancelled the deadline and has not confirmed a new deadline.

In addition, CarPlay 2.0 can only be used by future vehicles if the manufacturer includes CarPlay 2.0. If your car has the current version of CarPlay, you will not be able to receive the updated version unless you purchase a new car that supports it.

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CarPlay is a great feature that allows you to control your phone operation safer and more legally from your car's infotainment display or voice. Since the platform was released more than a decade ago, more and more cars have supported it, but if they don't, you can install it through a third-party method.

As we become increasingly dependent on our phones in our daily lives, CarPlay becomes a security feature that allows us to continue performing operations while maintaining attention to the road. If you own a car that supports CarPlay but is not enabled yet, you should consider doing so.

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