CarPlay at WWDC: Rearrange or Hide Apps, Apple Music Makeover, Alternate Routing, and More

[spinedoc77]

Carplay doesn't seem well thought out, I actually like Android Auto more. AA just seems more organized and nicer to use. My car has both and I've tried them both. But I won't use either because Waze support isn't in yet. I see a lot of others also clamoring for Waze, that's a testament to just how much of a better navi/travel companion it is than either Google maps or apple maps. I'm also waiting for wireless carplay/AA, I dream of the day I can just keep my phone in my pocket every time I get into my car.

 

[mattopotamus]

Carplay doesn't seem well thought out, I actually like Android Auto more. AA just seems more organized and nicer to use. My car has both and I've tried them both. But I won't use either because Waze support isn't in yet. I see a lot of others also clamoring for Waze, that's a testament to just how much of a better navi/travel companion it is than either Google maps or apple maps. I'm also waiting for wireless carplay/AA, I dream of the day I can just keep my phone in my pocket every time I get into my car.

I will say I actually like having the phone physically connected. It means I never have to charge my phone at night, and it pretty much always has juice.

It is probably b.c I live in a major city, but I have not had issues with apple maps in nearly a year. I really am looking forward to live traffic with navigation enabled. Right now I have to choose between turn by turn or traffic updates.

Carplay actually works without being connected, but apple has not enabled the ability for some reason. Volkswagen was actually demoing it working without being connected and apple made them stop.

 

[oddprime]

Does anyone know if they changed the Now Playing screen. The muddled album art behind the control buttons and text for artist / track is really really bland imho. I want that same richness, full album art visible that they showed for the now playing in the music app, to be the same when I have the song playing though car play.

 

[ascii42]

Does anyone know if they changed the Now Playing screen. The muddled album art behind the control buttons and text for artist / track is really really bland imho. I want that same richness, full album art visible that they showed for the now playing in the music app, to be the same when I have the song playing though car play.

I hope so. I have a Cadillac ATS. Sometimes I wind up switching back to CUE because I'd rather be able to see the album art.

 

[NightStorm]

The former.

Care to share your source?

 

[Braindome]

Still no radios support wireless carplay

Wireless CarPlay won't really come into its own until iPhones come with wireless charging.

 

[polbit]

While I really like the concept of CarPlay, the interface and the occasional hiccups can drive me crazy sometimes.

The funny and sad part is, I have my car's Nav AND Apple Maps via CarPlay, and I still use Google Maps when I actually have to get somewhere...

 

[gbc204]

I was really excited when my car got the CarPlay update last month. but after a few days of using it, i realized that it mostly sucks. Besides the Maps implementation, everything else is worse/harder to use than the native system that came with the car. I thought at least music would be better, and that the music app would work pretty much like the app on the iphone, where if a song comes up on a shuffle, i can click on the album and choose a different song from the album. Nope. I can't even press on different spots on the timeline to skip ahead on a track, which i can do in the regular non-Carplay version. And I for the life of me don't understand why they make the album artwork barely visible, as an extremely blurred and darkened and zoomed image in the background.
Also, the only clock on my car is on my in-dash screen, and the actual time display on the Carplay window is just too small. Not sure if this is just how it works on Hyundai's version of CarPlay, but i pretty much turn it off unless i need to use the navigation. and even then, sometimes it just turns on by itself and literally scrambles my screen. Was hoping they'd update it WWDC, but it doesn't sound like they updates address any of the issues that make it kind of suck.

 

[spinedoc77]

I will say I actually like having the phone physically connected. It means I never have to charge my phone at night, and it pretty much always has juice.

It is probably b.c I live in a major city, but I have not had issues with apple maps in nearly a year. I really am looking forward to live traffic with navigation enabled. Right now I have to choose between turn by turn or traffic updates.

Carplay actually works without being connected, but apple has not enabled the ability for some reason. Volkswagen was actually demoing it working without being connected and apple made them stop.

Yeah I can see that. I have my phone setup on a fast wireless car charger that has magnets, so when I get in the car I just plop the phone onto the charger and voila it's charging, so the cable is useless to me and just more work to connect every time I get in and out of the car.

I would still use the wireless charger for longer trips, but just a little cross town trip, or a day I know I'm not going to stress the battery the option to just leave it in my pocket would be phenomenal.

 

[Michael Goff]

Until Apple let Waze onto CarPlay, I'm not interested. Apple Maps sucks in the UK. London is a disaster.

Agreed. London is a disaster. But that's not the fault of Apple Maps, I'd blame the people of London.

 

[thedommer]

CarPlay, at least on my 2016 civic, is so buggy. And the user flow is just weird at times. Makes it more dangerous to use than just mounting your phone. I use carplay for hours a day.

1. On the civic there are no sounds for if you received a new message.
2. While fairly rare, podcasts will sometimes just stop playing. They are ones that are downloaded locally. I have to then leave apple maps, go back to the podcast app and hit play.
3. The car sometimes simply doesn't recognize carplay and I have to unplug and replug. One time, restarting the car was the only way to do it.
4. Sometimes carplay randomly just disconnects and needs to be unplugged and replugged in. This is a problem when ou are on the highway. Ive had to get off the highway just to fix the damn thing.
5. If I am in podcasts I can see the maps icon in the top right corner to go quickly back to maps. But once I get back to maps, I cant get back to podcasts without hitting the home button.
6. Apple music stations and recommends are useless on carplay. I seem to be only recommended one playlist from quebec. The interface is complete different then the one on the phone. buggy and not intuitive.
7. Siri volume - Seems to be separate from the music app volume, which is separate from the radio volume. I can be listening to the radio super low and suddenly a phone call comes in and distorts my speakers. or other times I have no idea what siri is saying because its to quiet. I always seem to have to readjust siri volume.
8. When a song is playing on a playlist through apple music, on the dash in-between my steering while it will say the number of the song "08" and the name of the song. NEVER the artist. Very strange. Why would I care what the number of a song is in a random playlist i found on apple music.
9. There should be an app that shows what is playing on the car radio. So that I can seamlessly switch back and forth. Right now you have to leave carplay to see anything. then go back to carplay and back to an app. Not intuitive.
10. Siri only works if I hold the talk button down for a while. If I press it quick I get the Honda voice system. All i have to say to that system is LOL. It's beyond a joke. it doesn't actually do anything. Why cant I have Siri on click and the Honda one on hold.
11. Maps is a whole other story. SO MUCH wrong there. A basic quick one is that it has no idea about streets where you cant left turn during certain times of the day. I have been screwed over many times by that. Also Ive had it take me on a "30 minute" route that was actually 1.5 hours because it sent me down a road that was jam packed with cars. No accident. Its just a regular day on that road. Everyone ever should avoid that road. Yet maps sent me down it. Also for ETA they don't look ahead like google does. They look at the now. But if now is 3:30 and by the time I am halfway home Ill be in the dead of rush hour, then obviously its not going to be 30 minutes. I am rarely every able to give accurate ETAs. With google I can.
12. The spotify app doesn't work. What is that about? I don't understand. It hasn't been working in the past 3 months that I have had the car. This must be more than just an update. Something is very wrong with a process if in 3 months the app still doesn't work. Like at all. no sound.

Anyways. Not sure why I took the time to write the above, other than I am frustrated with how buggy carplay is. Some of the issues might be the fault of Honda. I don't know. All i know is, I feel using the phone instead of carplay often feels a lot safer and less cumbersome.

 

[Rocco83]

I must be in the minority as I have absolutely zero issues with CarPlay.

I'm not sure where you are all driving, but I still haven't driven anywhere that Apple Maps couldn't find the location I needed to get to.

 

[maknik]

We've been using Google Maps with our phones in our laps for 6 months now, not quite accepting that Apple Maps in CarPlay is so bad we should just put a suction cup on the screen to hold the phone there. I actually bought a $50 Android phone just so I could use Android Auto, but alas we still have to take the car to the dealer to get AA installed. So we keep careening around with our phones in our laps like it's 2008.

 

[mattopotamus]

IOS 10 is already better with carplay. Everything feels much more responsive and having traffic with navigation is a major plus. You can actually use your finger to look ahead now when you have turn by turn on instead of being "locked" in or choosing "overview"

 

[mattopotamus]

So I went into CarPlay settings on my phone and there was this

 

[yourmomismysidepiece]

CarPlay, at least on my 2016 civic, is so buggy. And the user flow is just weird at times. Makes it more dangerous to use than just mounting your phone. I use carplay for hours a day.

1. On the civic there are no sounds for if you received a new message.
2. While fairly rare, podcasts will sometimes just stop playing. They are ones that are downloaded locally. I have to then leave apple maps, go back to the podcast app and hit play.
3. The car sometimes simply doesn't recognize carplay and I have to unplug and replug. One time, restarting the car was the only way to do it.
4. Sometimes carplay randomly just disconnects and needs to be unplugged and replugged in. This is a problem when ou are on the highway. Ive had to get off the highway just to fix the damn thing.
5. If I am in podcasts I can see the maps icon in the top right corner to go quickly back to maps. But once I get back to maps, I cant get back to podcasts without hitting the home button.
6. Apple music stations and recommends are useless on carplay. I seem to be only recommended one playlist from quebec. The interface is complete different then the one on the phone. buggy and not intuitive.
7. Siri volume - Seems to be separate from the music app volume, which is separate from the radio volume. I can be listening to the radio super low and suddenly a phone call comes in and distorts my speakers. or other times I have no idea what siri is saying because its to quiet. I always seem to have to readjust siri volume.
8. When a song is playing on a playlist through apple music, on the dash in-between my steering while it will say the number of the song "08" and the name of the song. NEVER the artist. Very strange. Why would I care what the number of a song is in a random playlist i found on apple music.
9. There should be an app that shows what is playing on the car radio. So that I can seamlessly switch back and forth. Right now you have to leave carplay to see anything. then go back to carplay and back to an app. Not intuitive.
10. Siri only works if I hold the talk button down for a while. If I press it quick I get the Honda voice system. All i have to say to that system is LOL. It's beyond a joke. it doesn't actually do anything. Why cant I have Siri on click and the Honda one on hold.
11. Maps is a whole other story. SO MUCH wrong there. A basic quick one is that it has no idea about streets where you cant left turn during certain times of the day. I have been screwed over many times by that. Also Ive had it take me on a "30 minute" route that was actually 1.5 hours because it sent me down a road that was jam packed with cars. No accident. Its just a regular day on that road. Everyone ever should avoid that road. Yet maps sent me down it. Also for ETA they don't look ahead like google does. They look at the now. But if now is 3:30 and by the time I am halfway home Ill be in the dead of rush hour, then obviously its not going to be 30 minutes. I am rarely every able to give accurate ETAs. With google I can.
12. The spotify app doesn't work. What is that about? I don't understand. It hasn't been working in the past 3 months that I have had the car. This must be more than just an update. Something is very wrong with a process if in 3 months the app still doesn't work. Like at all. no sound.

Anyways. Not sure why I took the time to write the above, other than I am frustrated with how buggy carplay is. Some of the issues might be the fault of Honda. I don't know. All i know is, I feel using the phone instead of carplay often feels a lot safer and less cumbersome.

I am having a lot of the same issues as you. 2016 VW GLI.


3) The car doesn’t recognize car play. I have this issue about 30-40% of the time. The only thing that works is restarting my head unit by holding the power down for ten seconds. Not sure if this is a VW issue or a car play issue. Issue still appears in iOS10


7) Siri volume. This is correct, the navigation voice volume seems to be independent from the music volume/car radio volume. Sometimes it gets stuck in adjusting only navigation volume and I have to restart my head unit. Seems to be a car play issue.


9) I have the same issue, very annoying – however if you switch to Sirius or regular radio and then go to car play, those audio sources still continue working in the background.


10) I also have to hold the voice button down to get siri, pressing it opens the VW voice command. I do not think VW will open up Siri as a priority over there existing voice command but maybe I am wrong. this may need an update directly by VW


12) I have this issue as well. You have to go in to Spotify from your phone, play a song and then choose your car as the source. Very weird but this is how I got it to work!


**ALSO**

Beta 1 does not allow my VW to utilize the instrument cluster for turn-by-turn directions. As someone mentioned earlier (the person with the 2016 VW Golf R) I doubt this will be possible without an update from VW.

 

[mcfrazieriv]

Simple UI = easy to read in moving vehicles. Do you really need to stare at fancy fonts and icons while driving?

When you pay for additional options in a car wouldn't you like something with fancy fonts and icons or something with a dressier graphical interface other than list items and chevrons?

 

[mattopotamus]

I am having a lot of the same issues as you. 2016 VW GLI.


3) The car doesn’t recognize car play. I have this issue about 30-40% of the time. The only thing that works is restarting my head unit by holding the power down for ten seconds. Not sure if this is a VW issue or a car play issue. Issue still appears in iOS10


7) Siri volume. This is correct, the navigation voice volume seems to be independent from the music volume/car radio volume. Sometimes it gets stuck in adjusting only navigation volume and I have to restart my head unit. Seems to be a car play issue.


9) I have the same issue, very annoying – however if you switch to Sirius or regular radio and then go to car play, those audio sources still continue working in the background.


10) I also have to hold the voice button down to get siri, pressing it opens the VW voice command. I do not think VW will open up Siri as a priority over there existing voice command but maybe I am wrong. this may need an update directly by VW


12) I have this issue as well. You have to go in to Spotify from your phone, play a song and then choose your car as the source. Very weird but this is how I got it to work!


**ALSO**

Beta 1 does not allow my VW to utilize the instrument cluster for turn-by-turn directions. As someone mentioned earlier (the person with the 2016 VW Golf R) I doubt this will be possible without an update from VW.

I bypass the radio issues by changing the instrument cluster to the radio. It shows what is playing. It will be nice when XM has a carplay app.

pretty much everything the person you quoted has issues with has been there from the get go, and it has nothing to do with IOS 10. IOS 10 actually made some things better haha...maps being 1 of them.

 

[davpel24]

The biggest benefit is that is basically puts your phone in "car mode", which is not an option on the iPhone. I use the microphone button on my steering wheel to send messages, change songs, etc. Incoming text can be read without having to reach for a screen. It is much nicer than a phone clipped to a "dock". I don't know if I would upgrade a head unit for it, but my car came with it and I love it.
[doublepost=1465992624][/doublepost]

I am going to download it today and test it. I will let you know if it works.

I see from your other posts that you installed the beta. Any luck with the instrument cluster display and Carplay? What type of vehicle are you using it with?

Thanks.

 

[tumtumtum]

A grid of icons. What a creative way to design a car UI.

 

[yourmomismysidepiece]

I bypass the radio issues by changing the instrument cluster to the radio. It shows what is playing. It will be nice when XM has a carplay app.

pretty much everything the person you quoted has issues with has been there from the get go, and it has nothing to do with IOS 10. IOS 10 actually made some things better haha...maps being 1 of them.

what do you mean change the instrument cluster to radio?

I did not mean these issues are from iOS10. I have had car play with iOS9 and these issues were there. I was just discussing the issues that exist and this update did not seem to really make any of those issues better lol
[doublepost=1466097374][/doublepost]

I see from your other posts that you installed the beta. Any luck with the instrument cluster display and Carplay? What type of vehicle are you using it with?

Thanks.

I have a 2016 VW GLI. iPhone is running iOS10 and I can confirm the instrument cluster does NOT show turn by turn nav from car play. I doubt this will be possible without an update done by VW at the dealership.

 

[Mr D]

A grid of icons. What a creative way to design a car UI.

When driving - what would be the easiest way of displaying a UI for easy user access and selection?

 

[tumtumtum]

When driving - what would be the easiest way of displaying a UI for easy user access and selection?

Certainly not a grid of icons where there is DEAD SPACE in-between the icons. You want the targets to be LARGE and easy to press without much accuracy.

 

[mattopotamus]

I see from your other posts that you installed the beta. Any luck with the instrument cluster display and Carplay? What type of vehicle are you using it with?

Thanks.

It doesn't work as of now. As others mentioned, I think it would require an update from the car manufacture, so it will likely be 2018 vehicles that have that feature.
[doublepost=1466169194][/doublepost]

what do you mean change the instrument cluster to radio?

On my VW, I can toggle what displays in the instrument cluster: what song is playing, fuel information, settings, etc. I make it display the song on the radio so I do not have to leave carplay when listening to XM or the radio. I change what the cluster displays and use the steering wheel controls.

 

[Godzirra]

So I went into CarPlay settings on my phone and there was this

Do you have the Wireless Lan option with your car?
I've got the 2016 Passat Business and can connect to my car using the wifi hotspot feature on my iPhone to use the Car-Net setup, and am wondering if I loaded the public beta (when available), would it connect wirelessly?
I know that VW had it going and were or did demo it, but Apple stopped them for some reason?