New Vehicle Owners Largely Satisfied With Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

[Dimwhit]

I like CarPlay fine. I'd like it a lot better if I didn't have to plug my phone in to use it.

 

[DCJ001]

"Siri", "recognition" and "strong" in the same sentence. I need to buy a car with CarPlay to see how that Siri works.

Or you could just have a CarPlay stereo installed in your existing car!
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This is good news, I do wish Apple would make a standalone OS though - or maybe if wireless CarPlay became more common and didn't suck battery. Plugging in your phone every time you get in the car is a bit inconvenient and user-unfriendly.

Carmakers really have no business writing in-dash software, and neither do the companies they contract to do it - let the pros at Google/Microsoft/Apple do it.

Yeah. It's a real waste of three seconds!
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I do like carplay - just wish there was some way to add a module to an existing vehicle for this. One of the better things Apple has come up with!

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/search...rue&iht=y&usc=All Categories&ks=960&keys=keys
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Had an aftermarket CarPlay/Android Auto unit in my last car. Carplay was great for music and messages. Not much else.
Google still has the best maps app.

My current car did not get CarPlay or Android Auto. Honda decided to wait another year for us CR-V owners.

Apple Maps in CarPlay have been perfect for me.
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Question for you or anyone else who may know. Rentals: Is your CP information persistent after returning the vehicle? I can't tell you how many times I've rented a vehicle and the previous person's BT info is just sitting there. The rental companies don't wipe it. I clear profiles on rentals as a matter of principle. CP/AA work similarly? I would think not since they are just fancy overlays being relayed from the phone, but I dunno.

No. Information from the iPhone is not transferred to CarPlay. CarPlay is basically a control and display for the iPhone.

 

[djlythium]

Wireless?

Wireless?!

Wireless!

WIRELESS!

C'mon, Apple!

 

[DCJ001]

I might try it if it were wireless, but plugging a phone into a car is not something I can be bothered to do this decade.

Yeah. Wasting three seconds to plug in an iPhone just ruins the whole experience.

 

[adnbek]

Wireless?

Wireless?!

Wireless!

WIRELESS!

C'mon, Apple!

Wireless CarPlay exists...

 

[LeahJoFoxtrot]

If CarPlay doesn't work any better than the iPod integration I have in my 2014 Accord then I am not interested. Some how Apple seems to think their music app is the only thing anyone would want to listen to on an iPhone. Want to listen to your Audible books? Nope, first you have to deal with your music app launching and playing. OH and sometimes the phone will just go "YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC APP NAO!" right in the middle of listening to something else.

Ugh.

 

[iReality85]

Bought a brand new Kia Sportage in February which came with CarPlay, and I’ve been loving it!

 

[ghostface147]

I also have a new Honda Accord. We do use CarPlay often, though we do have to plug in the cable to use it. Which makes the wireless charging pad in our Touring completely useless. But I'm glad to have CarPlay. It was pretty much a requirement for us when choosing a new vehicle. That eliminated Toyota from any consideration (though they are finally starting to add it in the newest cars).

CarPlay limits us to Apple Maps, but Apple Maps is steadily improving and works well in our area. I've never been a huge Waze fan but do wish we could use Google Maps. Oh well, I'm sure that will never happen. But CarPlay is 100x better than in-vehicle nav systems of the past. Now, the Garmin-based system in the new Accord is actually quite good (other than the voice recognition part), but I would say the pressure placed on the car industry by CarPlay and Android Auto probably had a lot to do with that.

CarPlay could be better but it's already WAY better than in-car systems we had in older generation vehicles.

Out of curiosity, have you used Apple maps over regular Bluetooth? I have and when Siri tells me where to go, it goes through all speakers. When using CarPlay, I only hear it on the front driver speaker.

 

[cheeseland]

Yeah. Wasting three seconds to plug in an iPhone just ruins the whole experience.

I always thought a long drive was good place to charge the phone. Plus it always seems that GPS drains my battery faster than anything else. With the phone plugged in I end the drive with more battery life than I started. I will plug away.

 

[5aga]

I like CarPlay in my VW.
My only gripe is the lack of google maps and Waze.

 

[sirozha]

I have an LG G5, which has a fast processor and never lags in any situation outside of Android Auto.

I have a Moto G4, and it has no lag. But I have a much cheaper smaller android phone, and Android Auto is unbearable on it. Moto G4 is not the most powerful or newest Android phone by any stretch, and it’s just fine.

 

[extrachrispy]

Lots of positive comments over here, looks like I might be the only one having troubles?
On a Mustang 2017, "Sync3" dash, it worked perfectly fine for my needs. Yes, Google Maps is still better, yes have to plug a cable... but getting better and better, UNTIL iOS11 came out:

Launch Siri, "Get directions to home", between 1 to 5mins later... "I'm sorry, try again later" or similar.
Launch Siri, "Call John Doe".... 30 seconds to 2mins later... nothing, it just goes back to Maps or wherever it was.
Suppose now, we are on Maps, tap the Music icon... 30+ seconds later, it goes to Music, then maybe crashes/springs or maybe crashes when going back to Maps.
But hey, feeling lucky, "Call John Doe", it actually registers it, mutes the music... hey a call is about to happen!... 30seconds later without music guessing what the hell is happening, the call would probably finally trigger.
WHAT THE ACTUAL F...
I guess since iOS 11, CarPlay has to download the whole internet for every tiny action or something... frustrating as hell.

Anybody else having similar issues?

I had a 2017 Mustang GT with Sync 3, and did not have the issues you describe. CarPlay worked quite well.

Traded it in on a 2018 Shelby GT350, also with Sync 3, and CarPlay works just as well (so far as I've explored--I have yet to actually listen to anything other than the engine and exhaust in this car. ).

 

[DrewDaHilp1]

Can you use any aftermarket unit? I think Alpine even has a wireless option.

They do. The ILX-107. I just got it installed last week. So far I like it. Not going to claim any problems with Apple Maps yet. I'll wait until I drive cross country to see just how bad it is.

 

[sirozha]

I always thought a long drive was good place to charge the phone. Plus it always seems that GPS drains my battery faster than anything else. With the phone plugged in I end the drive with more battery life than I started. I will plug away.

Except now new cars have wireless charging. So, it’s not necessary to plug in the phone to charge it.
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I’ve tried both. Android Auto is so clunky... the UI is a complete and utter fail. I wouldn’t recommend AA to my worst enemies

The only thing that goes for CarPlay is a pretty interface. Siri is dumb and incompetent, and Apple Maps is a disaster.

 

[cube]

Except when they want to play a CD and discover they don't have a player.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

I have CarPlay in my Tacoma and I love it. No issues, plug in, and go. I was thinking of wiring the plug to my center console just so my iPhone can be out of the way.

 

[sirozha]

There was an interesting test someone ran a few months ago comparing directions of Waze, Apple Maps and Google Maps and found that Waze, while giving shorter direction times actually ended up being not much faster than Apple Maps. Also, the writer posited the theory that a service like Waze might even want the driver to believe they are getting directions that appear more efficient, only to keep the user exposed to more ads. Not saying Waze isn't a good service, but there's something to be said - follow the money.


This sounds a little ridiculous - unless you've got an autonomous car, some of this is too much for a driver. As for Google Maps - it is indeed better than Apple Maps, but every so often - which in my view is one out of three times, I'll be stuck in a slow traffic, I'll look at Google Maps and wonder why isn't it red, or why didn't it re-route me? This is what sucks about these navigation services - they promise you everything, but when it doesn't pull through you're stuck in traffic, shaking your head in awe.

Edit: You've gotta be kidding me - now THAT looks friggin dangerous.

It doesn’t sound ridiculous when you have a 7-year-old in the back seat who is fluent in French and is interested in other languages as well as has dozens of questions that he wants answers to while I’m driving him to school or back. So, the fact that we can ask Google Assistant all sorts of things and get immediate answers is AWESOME.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Apple Maps is good enough now days that lack of Waze isn’t anything to make me want to not use it. A couple years ago I would have given a different answer, but now all map apps are about 99 percent similar in accuracy.

I don’t get Waze at all. I tried it once and thought it was junk.

 

[sirozha]

I don’t get Waze at all. I tried it once and thought it was junk.

It all depends on where you live. If you don’t use navigation for live traffic, and if you don’t constantly navigate to new places, Apple Maps will be fine for you.

If you need to navigate to new POIs all the time, Google Maps is indispensable. If you try to save a minute here and there, Waze is good, but my experience is that Google Maps on average outperforms Waze. However, Waze is indispensable on long drives to have alerts about hazard on the road in front of you or cops hiding in the side of the road trying to catch you for speeding.

Normally, I have Google Maps running through Android Auto and Waze on my iPhone just for audio alerts of road conditions and cops.

 

[ikramerica]

I set Siri to British woman and she sounds smarter. She hasn’t steered me wrong yet in car play.

I just wish CarPlay:

1. Had a few simple customizable options. After all, the phone is driving the display. So why not let it have things you can turn on and off, like elevationand direction in maps, color schemes, level of map detail

2. On volkswagens, CarPlay leaves the second dial out of the picture, which is a shame. On VW native apps, the second dial does things like tune the radio, zoom the map, scroll playlists and menus (with select by push) etc. But CarPlay ignores this dial which means you need to more by touch, taking eye focus from the road. Maps could zoom, phone contacts could scroll, etc.

3. The text screen makes each line take way too much room. Would it be too much to ask to see the last five people you texted in the list rather 2? Again, less time looking down...

 

[simonsi]

"Siri", "recognition" and "strong" in the same sentence. I need to buy a car with CarPlay to see how that Siri works.

I've used CarPlay in two different vehicles (OEM in a new rental Prado), and via an aftermarket Kenwood in my daily driver. On both the Siri voice-to-SMS recognition was chalk and cheese from my previous non-Carplay head unit connected via BT using the older Made for iPhone BT technology. Like 20% success rates on SMS dictation became 80-90% (success defined as don't need to re-dictate it on the first attempt). Made me think that maybe the CarPlay noise-cancelling on the mic is better (the actual mic was unchanged as I had moved JVC-Kenwood)...or some pre-processing in the head unit was helping the iPhone out....?
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CarPlay is garbage. There are so many aftermarket head units out there running Android that makes CarPlay look and feel amateur. I have this 12 inch head unit running full Android.

Yet you still end up with a crappy cable running up the dash

 

[sirozha]

I've used CarPlay in two different vehicles (OEM in a new rental Prado), and via an aftermarket Kenwood in my daily driver. On both the Siri voice-to-SMS recognition was chalk and cheese from my previous non-Carplay head unit connected via BT using the older Made for iPhone BT technology. Like 20% success rates on SMS dictation became 80-90% (success defined as don't need to re-dictate it on the first attempt). Made me think that maybe the CarPlay noise-cancelling on the mic is better (the actual mic was unchanged as I had moved JVC-Kenwood)...or some pre-processing in the head unit was helping the iPhone out....?

In the head unit, Siri asks Google Assistant for a huge favor, and the latter obliges.

 

[simonsi]

I might try it if it were wireless, but plugging a phone into a car is not something I can be bothered to do this decade.

Only place my 7 charges is in the car so no hardship, you gotta plug it in somewhere...even when wireless charging hits you have to secure it near the charger...
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In the head unit, Siri asks Google Assistant for a huge favor, and the latter obliges.

LOL! Best answer ever!
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Except now new cars have wireless charging. So, it’s not necessary to plug in the phone to charge it.

The phone still has to be secured near the wireless charging point doesn't it? Don't think wireless charging works in your coat pocket on the back seat does it???
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It doesn’t sound ridiculous when you have a 7-year-old in the back seat who is fluent in French and is interested in other languages as well as has dozens of questions that he wants answers to while I’m driving him to school or back. So, the fact that we can ask Google Assistant all sorts of things and get immediate answers is AWESOME.

LOL I couldn't recall Ohm's law the other day (school has been a while), Siri duly obliged in my case

 

[Kabeyun]

“Here’s what I found on the web for ‘Where is the nearest gas station’.”

 

[Scubadiver]

Oh really, does Apple Maps warn you about an object on the road ahead, or that traffic is building up? This is a serious question, as I haven't used Apple Maps for car navigation in a long time.

Apple Maps is good enough now days that lack of Waze isn’t anything to make me want to not use it. A couple years ago I would have given a different answer, but now all map apps are about 99 percent similar in accuracy.