Carplay - 2015 - vaporware

[jmpage2]

I could see CarPlay effective/useful if the car didn't have a well designed infotainment system (Ford), but for systems like MMI and especially iDrive where iPhone integration is pretty damn good, I'd much rather use the native system than have an iOS-like overlay.

The problem with even the somewhat better designed BMW, Mercedes and Audi systems is that there's no way to do simple things like respond to text messages. With BMW you can use SIRI from the steering wheel and muddle through responding (there's no on-screen indication of what's going on).

In demoing Carplay, the coolest thing it could do, by far, was make it very easy and intuitive to have the system read back and respond to text messages. It's also easier at selecting your audio media than either i-drive or COMAND.

 

[Hermes Monster]

Little bump on this

I've spent the last two hours trying to find anything concrete about CarPlay, and it's stupidly difficult to find anything of note. There's an article on MR from a month ago, saying VW will have it on 2016 Golfs and a few others, but that's about it

I'm at the point where I'm starting to consider my next car and CarPlay will be a big deciding factor for me (silly, I know)

Currently looking at an A3 S Line, the new A4 Saloon S Line or the 3 Series M Sport Saloon - both Audi and BMW say they'll support CarPlay and both are releaing refreshed versions of their saloon, but when? I don't want to get a new car and then a month later find out that they're then releasing models with CarPlay installed, as no doubt it won't be available retrospectively

 

[jmpage2]

Little bump on this

I've spent the last two hours trying to find anything concrete about CarPlay, and it's stupidly difficult to find anything of note. There's an article on MR from a month ago, saying VW will have it on 2016 Golfs and a few others, but that's about it

I'm at the point where I'm starting to consider my next car and CarPlay will be a big deciding factor for me (silly, I know)

Currently looking at an A3 S Line, the new A4 Saloon S Line or the 3 Series M Sport Saloon - both Audi and BMW say they'll support CarPlay and both are releaing refreshed versions of their saloon, but when? I don't want to get a new car and then a month later find out that they're then releasing models with CarPlay installed, as no doubt it won't be available retrospectively

You will be SOL with BMW for the foreseeable future as BMW have not announced any 2016 models shipping with Carplay. The new F30 facelift does have a new version of their navigation system that perhaps could eventually be upgraded to do carplay but it is definitely not in the 2016 model year vehicles already shipping.

Your best bet would probably be VW/Audi. Some 2016 VW models are now shipping with Carplay and the majority of the VW cars sold in the US will have a Carplay option by early next year... same for Audi.

 

[jmpage2]

So, two months ago I plunked down a big chunk of change to have a Pioner NEX4100 w/Carplay installed in my wife's 7 year old Acura SUV. Install was complex as her vehicle does not accept a double DIN stereo.... required custom bracket fabrication, custom center console fabrication, rewiring, etc... not cheap either.

So does Carplay live up to the hype? Not really.

Pros:

1. Hands down Carplay has the best music integration with my iPhone that I've ever experienced in a car. Selecting tracks/albums/playlists is a breeze and starting Apple Radio is equally easy. Shuffle your entire 3,000 track music library w/out any glitchy behavior? Covered!

2. Extensibility. While it's not there yet anyone can easily see that Carplay will have lots of room to grow over future versions of iOS. I imagine that at some point there will be an SDK that allows app makers to have their application extended to Carplay.

3. Surprisingly, the above two things are about it today.

Cons:

1. No wireless carplay support. This won't be shipping in OEM radios from Pioneer and others until sometime early next year. Automakers? Who knows... based on the incredibly slow adoption of Carplay it could be 2017 or later before wireless is supported.... and yes, having to plug your phone in all the time is a PITA.

2. Apple Maps are truly awful. Traffic alerts and rerouting is nonexistent and Apple Maps frequently has trouble finding names and addresses (via SIRI of course as that's your only option w/Carplay) that Google Maps and Waze find with ease.

3. Similarly text playback and composing is only marginally better than with other systems that have Siri Assist. Basically you can ask Siri to play back a new text message and you can respond to text messages using Siri. You can see a list of people who have texted you on the screen but you can't read the messages. You must select the conversation (with no idea of the context) and Siri will play the most recent messages. Huge letdown as text integration for Carplay was a huge sell feature for me personally.

4. Lack of apps. Currently there are only a tiny number of Apps. Apple has really fenced it off good, not even allowing Pandora to integrate through Carplay. I find none of the "stock" apps useful beyond the music player.

5. General bugginess. I've had plenty of glitchy things happen with Carplay in a little over one month of ownership. After upgrade to iOS 8.4 my iPhone started frequently losing USB connection with the Pioneer head unit. It would do this at power up time or randomly while listening to music and driving the car. Contacted Apple and they blamed Pioneer. Pioneer blamed Apple and recommended I wipe my iPhone and set it up again from scratch. Tried a few things recommended such as "forgot" the receiver and then re-authenticate it for automatic Carplay unlocking but issue does not seem fully resolved yet. iOS 8.4.1 also didn't fix it.

I've had other glitchy annoying things happen.... For some reason music playback no longer starts automatically when I turn the ignition on and the phone is connected, I have to manually start it... other times "now playing" is wiped, the phone doesn't remember what music was last being played and I have to go and start it up again.

So, is Carplay pretty cool with a lot of future potential? Yes! Is it worth worrying about on a new vehicle purchase? In my newly informed opinion, no it is not. Carplay is very underwhelming in its present form and I would not for example pick an A4 over a 3-series BMW based solely on access to Carplay in one vs the other. I can't even imagine using Carplay w/out a touch screen (as has been implemented by VW and others)... it would be a royal PITA.

 

[Hermes Monster]

Thanks for the update, very timely!

Perhaps I'll downgrade the importance of CarPlay in my decision making of which car to get

As an aside, I am leaning towards the A3 as I prefer a smaller car, to the A4 Saloon I drive now. The 3 series is probably the second choice

 

[jmpage2]

Thanks for the update, very timely!

Perhaps I'll downgrade the importance of CarPlay in my decision making of which car to get

As an aside, I am leaning towards the A3 as I prefer a smaller car, to the A4 Saloon I drive now. The 3 series is probably the second choice

3 series is not really a competitor for A3, you should look to the 2 series. M2 vs S3? I think S3 is better although BMW definitely has some cool stuff available for the M2 such as the 8 speed AT that is phenomenal and the dynamic suspension.

For me personally with the need to fit in a baby seat the 3 series is as small of a car as I want. I currently have a nearly completely loaded 340i on order.

 

[Hermes Monster]

3 series is not really a competitor for A3, you should look to the 2 series. M2 vs S3? I think S3 is better although BMW definitely has some cool stuff available for the M2 such as the 8 speed AT that is phenomenal and the dynamic suspension.

For me personally with the need to fit in a baby seat the 3 series is as small of a car as I want. I currently have a nearly completely loaded 340i on order.

Absolutely, the A4 is the 3 Series competitor, but I've always been a fan of a hatchback hence the A3 Sportback which is quite a large car for what it is. Like you I need to get a baby seat in, so the 2 series is out of the question as I need the rear doors! My son is passed the age where I need to take everything out with us on a daily basis so hopefully I can cope with the smaller size.

Very jealous of your 340i - beyond my price bracket I'm afraid

 

[jmpage2]

Absolutely, the A4 is the 3 Series competitor, but I've always been a fan of a hatchback hence the A3 Sportback which is quite a large car for what it is. Like you I need to get a baby seat in, so the 2 series is out of the question as I need the rear doors! My son is passed the age where I need to take everything out with us on a daily basis so hopefully I can cope with the smaller size.

Very jealous of your 340i - beyond my price bracket I'm afraid

I would definitely be looking at the A3 sportback in your situation. I can fit a stroller easily in the huge trunk of the F30 and like BMW included maintenance and other perks (dealer is 10 minutes from my home) so am sticking with them for another lease... if I was purchasing I might be choosing an S3. Lease payment on fully loaded 340i with x-drive is about $700 a month which is not shabby at all.