Its too bad that Carplay only allows one to use Apple Maps only... this is the deal breaker for me. I'll continue to use my phone as I'm able to display other types of GPS/Map solutions as well.
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New Car Buyers Increasingly Interested in Apple CarPlay
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I bought a new car recently (Audi A4). Was excited to try out Carplay.
Within 3 days I'd turned it off again. The music integration is better on the Audi MMI than Carplay (Carplay doesn't even show the album art). No Google Maps or Waze either (the car has built-in Google Earth).
Hopefully it will improve with time but for now it's disabled.
Within 3 days I'd turned it off again. The music integration is better on the Audi MMI than Carplay (Carplay doesn't even show the album art). No Google Maps or Waze either (the car has built-in Google Earth).
Hopefully it will improve with time but for now it's disabled.
First, a bunch of cars (especially the ones mentioned below) don't have the infotainment system in an easily accessible double-DIN unit. Many new cars have controls on the steering wheel, and all over the entire console, and the infotainment screen is shared with the backup camera and other car features.
Second, getting to and from places is a given and pretty much in the very definition of "car." If it can't do that, it's not a car - it's a trailer. I value the interior of a car pretty much above all else - I spend 95% of the time enjoying my car from the inside, and nearly 100% of the time I am using the car I am sitting and using the inside of it. Hence, comfort, quality, quietness, and interior amenities are important. Thus, I mostly looked at either high-end trims or high-end brands recently when shopping for a car.
I ended up getting a last-gen Q5. There is no way to upgrade it to CarPlay. The stereo controls are all over - to the right of shifter, below the shifter, and on the steering wheel, there are screens on the center console and on the dashboard, and there is a media hookup in the glovebox. There is no double-DIN unit to replace, at all. I knew it wouldn't have CarPlay, obviously. The infotainment system isn't so bad as to be offensive, I added a nice discrete iPhone mount anyway, and the bluetooth is pretty solid.
However, I will be looking very closely at CarPlay and other such systems when selecting my next car in a few years.
I have the kenwood DDX9904s and it work great pretty fast... From what I have been told and seen a little some devices work better that others... if it's slow it mostly due to the app on the receiver
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Agreed... Apple maps just doesn't cut it and it seems the only carplay apps allowed from 3rd parties is music/radio app not ones with any functionally
As someone who rents cars several times a year, CarPlay integration can't happen soon enough for me. Every car has absolutely the worst interface. I usually try to just go in through the AUX jack if at all possible and bypass everything....
After all the bad press, I was worried about Apple Maps so much that I brought my Garmin with me on my first trip out of town. Apple Maps is fine in the areas I have used it. It was more accurate than Garmin with the posted speed limit even though I updated the map on Garmin before I left the house. The new feature to let you know the lanes to be in is especially helpful. It also worked great once we got to our location to find the gas station and a Mexican restaurant.
Right now, most in-car systems don’t come with Google Maps or Waze, so it isn’t really a consideration unless you use Android....which I use iOS for numerous other reasons, so I won’t be switching for that feature.
The ability to have Siri available for music, weather, making calls, finding points of interest, reading email, messages, etc. is better than any other systems I have tried in the past. Much better than Bluetooth Audio in the way it works and the sound quality is better over a direct connection. As a side note, the CarPlay system I use has a Radio button built into the interface, so it will take you right to local radio rather than going back to the main system (apparently that is not always the case?).
Personally, I don’t know if it would be a deciding feature in whether I buy a specific car or not, but if I was having a hard time making a decision, it would be a feature that would push me to buy one car over another.
Right now, most in-car systems don’t come with Google Maps or Waze, so it isn’t really a consideration unless you use Android....which I use iOS for numerous other reasons, so I won’t be switching for that feature.
The ability to have Siri available for music, weather, making calls, finding points of interest, reading email, messages, etc. is better than any other systems I have tried in the past. Much better than Bluetooth Audio in the way it works and the sound quality is better over a direct connection. As a side note, the CarPlay system I use has a Radio button built into the interface, so it will take you right to local radio rather than going back to the main system (apparently that is not always the case?).
Personally, I don’t know if it would be a deciding feature in whether I buy a specific car or not, but if I was having a hard time making a decision, it would be a feature that would push me to buy one car over another.
YES. There's nothing more distracting and irritating than having to use a frickin' touch screen just to access the AC options or something. Give me hard buttons any day, things I can touch and manipulate without really paying attention.
Toyota conspicuously missing from CarPlay list. Have to settle for a 2017 Bentley Bentayga.
There are plenty of apps + Google Maps allows you to download maps offline to navigate without cellular signal. CoPilot GPS is my favorite.
That depends on the model, and most times dealers will throw it in for free. But BMW is one of the few (or only) with wireless CarPlay, which works flawlessly in my two BMWs. Also, with the new iPhones having wireless Qi charging, I can wirelessly charge my phone and wirelessly use CarPlay—pretty awesome.[/QUOTE]
Also a BMW owner here and only the very top models come with HK standard, and they still charge the extra 300 for CarPlay even when its included. Wireless charging is cool others have it as well but that is a 500 charge, even on a M3! Idrive is horrible though. I've never been a fan. After a few generations it is now barely tolerable, but Audi does it much better. The wireless version will be more common now. I really love BMW for the the way it drives and handles, but the associated charges for the tech are out of step and gouged tremendously.
Completely AGREE!!! I could not wait to get CarPlay in my F150. But man, compared to Sync3, Carplay sure leaves you wanting A LOT more!
Apple Maps is not really that bad. I used it for two year in the car and there were only a couple of cases where I needed to turn it off and go to Waze. But, as you said Waze and Google are better.
How up to date is the built-in Google Earth in your car? Is the car online?
Many cars have both CarPlay and Android Auto. I'm not sure why a car maker would choose one over the other and rule out a huge number of customers. I won't buy a new car probably anyway, but if I did I would want it to have both so that my wife and I could both use it.
That list of "I can't do that with my iPhone, but I use iOS" eventually got long enough for me that I switched. You are stuck with Siri instead of Google. You are stuck with Apple Maps instead of Google or Waze.
Every new release of iOS since CarPlay rolled out has updated CarPlay. I guess you don't realize that the head unit runs the version of CarPlay that the phone attached brings with it? Never hard of CarOS, so maybe you are talking about something else.
I've been using Maps in CarPlay for the last ten months, and have found it be highly useful and never inaccurate. Seems to me the usefulness might be dependent on where you drive. All I know for sure is I would never want to go back to an OEM GPS.
You are correct though that without a cell signal it doesn't work. But then neither would Google Maps.
Drones. The UI doesn't follow function. Maybe one day when the user doesn't have to watch the road. I have watched people fumble to tap the buttons they need, by accidentally swiping all over the place leaving finger print oil all over these tiny screens. The fact that the icons are exactly as they are on the iPhone placed next to a vertical status bar and a digital home button astounds me. I hope that the secret efforts of Apple's automotive project have something up their sleeves. CarPlay is lazy as beans.
I actually accounted for that in my head lol. They make replacements as well as steering wheel adapters for many of these things. Maybe you won't have this on a brand newly redesigned model of a specifc car for a year or so, but beyond that, you likely will. I am sure there are exceptions, but I see a lot of people complaining about Toyota. They are decidedly NOT the exception. All of their US models currently have swappable computers. $1000 or less installed gets you rolling with carplay/android auto, your steering wheel controls, etc. Now, if you care about on the second fuel economy, yes, you may have to give that up, depending on what information your dash computer also presents.
But at the end of the day I just find it wild that people are more worried about their entertainment systems than the car themselves, hence my initial response to these threads. Perhaps I am "old fashioned" lol.
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See my above response. There's an incredibly huge market for adapters kits and etc. While it may not be as simply as dropping a double DIN unit in, its absolutely doable. And again, it's only around $1000 on the top end. You may lose some thigns like fuel efficincy recordings over the life of the vehicle (if that matters enough to buy a new car over, sure, I guess). You will not lose backup camera and other such features.
It seems that, unfortunately, many consumers don't know this. And again, this will be a case by case basis. I haven't looked into the accord. I can tell you toyota (a LOT of people are complaining about this) has these options in the aftermarket market.
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The "speed" of CarPlay is going to be heavily dependent on the head unit hardware and software. Apple has no control over that. CarPlay on my Chevy BoltEV is wired. I don't often wish it was wireless because I know that it would indeed be slower, and it would drain the phone battery in flash (though wireless charging could alter that variable).
Any kind of distraction is dangerous. Minimizing head-down time is an important design criterion for any tech designed to be used by the operator of a moving vehicle. I'm not saying they've necessarily achieved the right balance yet, but I completely understand why they haven't simply turned over all the functionality of your phone to CarPlay. I won't even listen to my texts while driving. Just too distracting from my primary task.
I have found Apple Maps is now very good in heavily populated areas. In less populated areas it is less great.
My personal issue with it is just that there is still no way to store maps. If I am out of data in the middle of nowhere and it needs to reroute (or some other such scenario) I am SOL. It's one of those things that isn't an issue until it's an issue.
Carplay is fantastic - neither of my vehicles came with CarPlay (a little too old) so I bought two aftermarket head units so I could have it. It truly brings a modern in-car experience to older vehicles. I'm not surprised to see wide interest, but I'm glad to see it.
And for those talking about lack of speed - it all has to do with the speed of your phone. If you're using an iPhone 6 or older, expect it to be a bit laggy.
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Speed of the phone matters quite a bit too. Since CarPlay is basically just a modified version of AirPlay mirroring, a faster phone = faster carplay
And for those talking about lack of speed - it all has to do with the speed of your phone. If you're using an iPhone 6 or older, expect it to be a bit laggy.
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Speed of the phone matters quite a bit too. Since CarPlay is basically just a modified version of AirPlay mirroring, a faster phone = faster carplay
The notification doesn't need to block my entire screen, stopping what I'm doing. The usual way is to have a non-modal notification at the top. What they have is some Windows-style crap. I expect this to change later.
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Have to agree, I would not want to pay big money on a closed system that I will use for 5 plus years.
The model car I have launched in 2008 and was phased out in 2017. I bought the 2017 model because that model got rave reviews the entire time it was out, so I figured it was a safe bet for a long-term car.
That said, even though the model launched in 2008, there are exactly 0 compatible after-market stereos according to Crutchfield, even after close a decade of production. So it's not a matter of it being brand new.
This isn't unique. It's not exactly an exotic car, and it's not unusual.
Every year, there are fewer and fewer cars with standardized double-DIN infotainment systems, and there are more and more cars with integrated and non-replaceable infotainment systems. Toyota's low-end models might not have this yet, but they surely will soon. If technology flows down from their Lexus brand, where the stereos are not replaceable, then it's only a matter of time.
I get what you mean about people being more worried about the entertainment system than the car themselves, but I don't think this is true. The OP article doesn't say they care more about entertainment than the car itself. It just says they care a lot about the infotainment system being compatible with their smartphones. And also, cars have evolved to the point where comparing traditional car characteristics don't matter. Pretty much any car you buy in 2017 will be fast, reliable, efficient, safe, and good. You're only choices are: size, price, and interior amenities; pick two.