Apple CarPlay Workaround for Tesla Vehicles Now Available to Download

[xraydoc]

Honestly, while CarPlay works on most "normal" sized car displays, it just doesn't fit the whole UI on Tesla. While I miss it a little bit, especially being able to easily add, say, a reminder to my phone with Siri completely hands-free, Tesla kinda does most everything else. It'll even allow you to respond to text messages with voice-to-text.

It'll be less of an issue if & when Tesla opens their own app store.

 

[hansmoleman]

Honestly, while CarPlay works on most "normal" sized car displays, it just doesn't fit the whole UI on Tesla. While I miss it a little bit, especially being able to easily add, say, a reminder to my phone with Siri completely hands-free, Tesla kinda does most everything else. It'll even allow you to respond to text messages with voice-to-text.

It'll be less of an issue if & when Tesla opens their own app store.

Exactly. The only thing I wish I had “natively” would be Apple Music. But frankly, I used an online converter tool that recreated all my playlists in Spotify, so … not a big deal.

The CarPlay interface is just so limited; I truly can’t stand it.

And you can very much still add a reminder via Hey Siri — not sure what value CarPlay would bring there.

 

[lucanaut]

Wonder how many of you in here “skipping” Tesla due to not having Carplay have actually driven or used one for an extended time. I get it. I replaced two head units in my gas cars to have CarPlay because I hated the (old) VW and Mazda infotainment systems. Tesla is the first system that didn’t really make me miss CarPlay. There is room for improvement, absolutely, but even just from a design standpoint I think CarPlay on that big screen with the bright icons would look terrible without adding a significant amount of functionality.

 

[lucanaut]

Exactly. The only thing I wish I had “natively” would be Apple Music. But frankly, I used an online converter tool that recreated all my playlists in Spotify, so … not a big deal.

The CarPlay interface is just so limited; I truly can’t stand it.

And you can very much still add a reminder via Hey Siri — not sure what value CarPlay would bring there.

100% agree. Many car systems are absolutely terrible. While I’m not a fan of some of the latest updates to Tesla’s, I still find it to work great and have all the features I need without missing CarPlay at all.

 

[mattopotamus]

Wonder how many of you in here “skipping” Tesla due to not having Carplay have actually driven or used one for an extended time. I get it. I replaced two head units in my gas cars to have CarPlay because I hated the (old) VW and Mazda infotainment systems. Tesla is the first system that didn’t really make me miss CarPlay. There is room for improvement, absolutely, but even just from a design standpoint I think CarPlay on that big screen with the bright icons would look terrible without adding a significant amount of functionality.

Probably the vast majority. After using the Tesla UI, CarPlay feels childlike if that makes sense. I much prefer the clean look of the Tesla.

 

[goaliemn]

I'd hope that people driving the car are, you know, driving the car. Not playing games or watching a movie.

Regardless of Tesla's rhetoric and tech, self-driving cars are still not ready for primetime. At least several more years.

Games and movies only work while in park

 

[nlkccom]

I’m curious what people are using CarPlay for. I had a 2018 BMW that has wireless CarPlay. I tried it and hated it. The functionality and UI felt super outdated and very limited to me. Didn’t understand what the hype was all about. I currently have a Tesla, and while it doesn’t have CarPlay like most other vehicles, the Tesla system works wonderfully and much better than what I’ve seen in CarPlay.

 

[Stromos]

Tesla apologists are already here but the interface is so much better! Ok play Amazon Music. Oh wait you have to Bluetooth stream from your phone.

Tesla is a no-option for me. Elon plays favorites so you get to choose from what he likes. If you don’t want to put CarPlay support you should have very streaming service available. You know that whole open thing you are giving Apple grief about.

CarPlay works fine because all I want is Apple Maps and Amazon music. Two things that would require me to go back to the old days of messing with a phone while driving in a Tesla.

Next car will very likely be an Ioniq 5. Fully supports Android Auto and CarPlay no fuss. It’s funny everytime I say that Tesla people get annoyed. You got the first to market product that Elon tells you how to use I’ll continue with my Hyundais that always are easily serviceable and support everything.

 

[boyarka]

Installing carplay on Tesla is like installing tetris on a high-end gaming PC

 

[lucanaut]

Tesla apologists are already here but the interface is so much better! Ok play Amazon Music. Oh wait you have to Bluetooth stream from your phone.

Tesla is a no-option for me. Elon plays favorites so you get to choose from what he likes. If you don’t want to put CarPlay support you should have very streaming service available. You know that whole open thing you are giving Apple grief about.

CarPlay works fine because all I want is Apple Maps and Amazon music. Two things that would require me to go back to the old days of messing with a phone while driving in a Tesla.

Next car will very likely be an Ioniq 5. Fully supports Android Auto and CarPlay no fuss. It’s funny everytime I say that Tesla people get annoyed. You got the first to market product that Elon tells you how to use I’ll continue with my Hyundais that always are easily serviceable and support everything.

LOL on the apologist comment. I’m not. But I’m a user of both apple and Tesla (I guess we are all apologists then?). Believe me, plenty of room for improvement on the tesla UI. But unless Apple Maps finds a way to calculate routes based on my current level of charge and how long I need to stop at a charger etc. Apple Maps isn’t that useful to me. As for using music, reminders and pretty much everything else, “hey Siri” works fine and I never need to look at my phone. I like CarPlay on my other vehicles. I just don’t feel that I need it on my tesla.

 

[hansmoleman]

Tesla apologists are already here but the interface is so much better! Ok play Amazon Music. Oh wait you have to Bluetooth stream from your phone.

I'm not apologizing for anything or anyone -- just saying it's a superior interface in my opinion. Carplay is crap in my book. And yes, I've been a user of both, so I have real-world, hands on experience with both. Had CarPlay in my Cadillacs, and now use the Tesla interface. Much prefer Tesla.

If you don't agree, that's fine... but that doesn't make me an apologist. Just calling out what I think is the superior platform.

 

[Nabby]

carplay for tesla, apple users: *reeeeeeeee*
turns out its based on android: *boooooooo*

Aren't all iterations of CarPlay based on an Android headunit? I have a Honda factory headunit and it runs Android. I guess I just assumed all of them did.

 

[TPALTony]

As someone who loves tinkering with technology I just want to say, massive respect for figuring this out. Forget whether it's worth it or should be necessary, this is someone using their skill, time and desire to figure stuff out and making something happen. And that is a good thing.

That said, CarPlay is "so so" and honestly you don't miss _that_ much in a Tesla for not having it (can't comment on Android Auto.). If the Apple Music was better integrated that would solve most of the problems for most people although obviously some people will never be happy.

Car Play in the latest BMWs is, however, really cool. They've properly got the map integrated with the digital dash (not the CarPlay display, the actual digital dash) and it works brilliantly. Much better than the standard BMW map in the digital dash!

 

[hpaulh]

When Tesla shares fall below $100, folks will be pointing to this as an example of Tesla’s hubris clouding good business decisions

Tesla shares may just fall below $100 after the split coming soon. Buy now, enjoy the split, then sail on...of course, I won't buy until CarPlay is available.

 

[GDF]

CarPlay and Android Auto are a dying breed. Vehicle manufacturers want full control of the in-car entertainment experience so it can be monetized, especially once self-driving becomes an actual thing.

They'll have a captive audience which will be huge for revenue. They don't want you to use Google Maps through CarPlay because the built-in GPS can be monetized with location-based advertising. Same with media streaming, apps, games, etc. Want to watch a movie? Buy it through their store so they get a cut.

And Tesla's UI is infinitely better than CarPlay.

Seriously - a dying breed? Boy - are you lost….. I own a Refresh Model S and there is no way its in-car entertainment experience is better than CarPlay. It is a clumsy mess and probably worse of any car I have owned. Elon should at least offer people the alternative to use CarPlay. Hey - I would even pay for it.

Heck - it is not even as close as my other car - a BMW.

 

[sigurros]

This is why I won't consider a Tesla. No CarPlay, no sale!!

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Just buy something else.

Exactly. And after doing so, send a copy of your "other brand car" sales receipt to Elon Musk letting him know that lack of CarPlay was the reason you bought something other than Tesla.

As much as I would love a Tesla, even if I had the money for one, I would not buy a car that didn't have CarPlay.

 

[44267547]

PSA: Do NOT hack your car. If it bricks after a software update, you'll be really sorry.

Seriously, I thought about trying this, but that was my immediate thought as well. And as a new 2022 Model S owner, I don’t want to screw something over that I don’t know how to fix. So I’ll just wait patiently in the background while somebody else becomes the experiment.

 

[ericgtr12]

It's a trade-off for me, I loved CarPlay in my last car but outside of that the the Tesla's driving features outweigh it for me, it's a great car. That said, their messaging system and interface sucks hard and I've essentially quit trying to use it. Wish these selfish billionaires would get it together and start working on cross-compatibility instead of stroking their egos.

 

[soyazul]

I really don't like Teslas... their exterior and interior design is ugly... the interior design it is also impractical

 

[Mazda 3s]

I came from a 2017 Audi A4 Quattro with Apple CarPlay to a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The two things I miss are Waze and native Pandora. Getting Pandora to start automatically via Bluetooth when I get in the car is hit or miss. And sometimes, when a call comes through, it will refuse to resume the music when the call ends -- even if I hit the play button on the car screen. I have to unlock my phone, open the Pandora app, and hit play from there. HIGHLY ANNOYING.

I only use Waze for police activity during long interstate drives. With my Audi, I just had Waze running all the time. However, I find the Tesla map interface to be MUCH cleaner. So I now just use Tesla maps and have Waze running on my iPhone while it's sitting on the wireless charging pad under the display during long trips.

Honestly, I'd be 100% happy if Tesla would just make a native Pandora app. I don't know why they haven't yet.

 

[frostbit3]

Carplay shouldn't replace a manufacturers infotainment, it should be in addition to. I don't want CarPlay taking up the entire Tesla infotainment, Tesla's is far superior to CarPlay. But again, it isn't a competition in my opinion. It should be there to give a developer for an app on my phone ability to have an interaction point in the car. Developers don't want to learn 200 different ways of developing an app on 10 different ecosystems. CarPlay and Android auto give them an easy, familiar platform that they can develop on without having to know anything about that car manufacturers infotainment system.

Anyone saying "CarPlay is dead" or "Tesla's is better so we don't need CarPlay" is missing the point and has clearly never developed software before.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Your first problem is you bought a Tesla.

 

[azentropy]

Love my Teslas and while the UI is better than most it could use some improvement. While CarPlay might be nice, the real missing feature is native Apple Music.

 

[jaytv111]

Aren't all iterations of CarPlay based on an Android headunit? I have a Honda factory headunit and it runs Android. I guess I just assumed all of them did.

Usually car makers base their systems on Linux (Android is also Linux but it’s not a typical Linux distro). There’s also QNX from Blackberry, which might be losing popularity, nonetheless it is a pretty good system. Another newcomer is Android Automotive, not to be confused with Android (which are all Linux systems too!), but Android Automotive is the official Google OS for cars that is running straight up Google Maps and Google Play and Google Assistant on the car system, no phone needed. And it still features CarPlay and Android Auto in case you want to use your phone. Well slight addendum: You can run Android Automotive without Google’s official apps, so basically you have the OS from Google but no Google apps. And it also is a customized UI by each manufacturer.