Thoughts on Apple's CarPlay
If you have been reading this site for any length of time, it is probably evident that I replace my desktops, laptops, iPads, and iPhones a lot more often than I do my car. To illustrate my point, between my last two car purchases I have purchased the following items: three Mac Laptops, four Mac Desktops, eight iPads, and 16 iPhones. I suspect that this is similar to others, but not likely to the same degree.
After more than 18 months of research, and weighing out numerous possibilities (yes, that includes the use of a spreadsheet with various columns), earlier this month I purchased a brand new car. According to a May 15th, 2023 press release from S&P Global Mobility, the national average for the length of time that people are holding onto their cars has increased to 12.5 years, at least in the United States. The length of time between my last two car purchases is more than 15 years, so it is definitely longer than the current average.
When you upgrade from a car that is more than 15 years old, the technology upgrades can be substantial, and that is absolutely the case for me. Just a few examples of things that my new car has, that were not even possible since my last car purchase includes: blind-side monitoring, lane assist, media controls right on the steering wheel, and a rear backup camera, this last one is now required by law now, but it definitely was not an option on my old car.
In terms of more relevant technology to this post, my previous car was sufficiently old that it did have a CD-player, without a tape player, but it did not have Bluetooth nor did it even have an auxiliary jack. This meant that I could not plug in anything into the stereo to listen to audio, except via CD or using the radio. In order to be able to listen to what I wanted, I had to use a variety of different cable configurations to be able to use my iPod, Zune, or iPhone. Common among all of my usages was an FM transmitter, which would allow me to listen to music, audiobooks, or podcasts. Let us look at the various models that I had purchased over the years.
FM Transmitters
In case you are not aware, an FM transmitter works by emitting a signal on a certain FM frequency that you can choose from within a certain range. Once you have set the frequency on the transmitter, you then tune your radio to the same frequency. Once your radio is tuned you should be able to hear the audio from the device connected to the FM transmitter. This configuration should work for any FM receiver, but it the most common use case is within cars. One of the downsides of this was that because it was radio, it would be susceptible to interference from other transmitters. These transmitters could be other cars or even stores that were transmitting on the same frequency.
Over the years I have purchased a few different FM transmitters, the first was the Griffin iTrip 9871-TRP30. I do not exactly recall when I purchased this, but it was likely in 2005 when I got my first iPod mini. This was an FM transmitter that plugged directly into the dock connector, and it was powered from your iPod. You could also use a mini-USB cable to power and charge the iPod. it would not work with the iPhone, if you attempted to use it with an iPhone you would get this screen with a message that states:
This accessory is not made to work with iPhone
Would you like to turn on Airplane Mode to reduce audio interference?
You will not be able to make or receive calls.
Because it would not work with the iPhone, I eventually ended up buying a different FM transmitter. The second one I purchased was the Griffin iTrip 9501-TRIPCB. I purchased this in February of 2007 and it too was designed for devices with the 30-pin connector, and as far as I recall, this one worked with the iPhone as well as with an iPod, but I cannot be certain and none of my online research mentioned compatibility with the iPhone. I used this until it broke a couple of years later when I purchased a third version of the Griffin iTrip.
This model was the "Griffin iTrip Universal FM Transmitter and Charger", specifically the 7259-TRIPUNP. This model was different in that it had a headphone jack as the connector, and not a 30-pin connector. The "Universal" nature was due to the headphone jack connection, which allowed you to use it regardless of devices, provided the device has a headphone jack, or you can connect it to a headphone jack somehow.
I vastly preferred this last Griffin FM transmitter over the others. I bought the Griffin iTrip Universal in 2009, and I ended up purchasing no fewer than 7 of them over the years, after they kept breaking mostly due to wear and tear, or me accidentally breaking them. In fact, the last time I purchased them (in 2015), I actually bought two, one to replace the one that was flaking out, as well as a spare, just in case anything would have happened to the one replacement. I did this because it had been discontinued I was not sure I would be able to replace it again. I still have the spare, and because I had the spare I did not end up needing it. The headphone jack on the latter model made everything a bit more flexible and it did not limit you to a specific connector type like the previous ones.
My final configuration for being able to charge and listen to audio at the same time was to use a Belkin Rockstar Lightning + Charger connected to my iPhone's lightning port, a lightning to headphone adapter to the headphone jack on the iTrip, and a lightning to USB-A cable that would work for charging. This configuration allowed me to both charge my iPhone as well as listen to audio while driving. This configuration is now moot with my new car.
I only had a few requirements for my new car, and one of them was to have CarPlay in it. While other things like a sun/moon roof were negotiable, CarPlay was not. I would prefer to have wireless CarPlay, but even wired CarPlay was acceptable. Ultimately, my car only has wired CarPlay, but I am okay with this. I know I can get Wireless CarPlay dongle, but I doubt that I will be doing that, unless they significantly improve. Before I delve into my thoughts on CarPlay, let us look a brief history of CarPlay.
Brief History of CarPlay
If you were to look back to 2007 at the introduction of the iPhone, you would be hard pressed to guess how the iPhone would change things and what trajectory it would ultimately take. While it took about 3 months to sell 1 million iPhones, it has grown to be one of the most popular devices in the world. Over the last 16 years the capabilities of the iPhone have increased significantly not only to new cameras, machine learning, and millions of apps, but in also being able to provide functionality beyond the phone, like within a car using a feature called CarPlay.
In 2014 Apple announced a whole new way of using your iPhone while in your car, that feature was initially marketed as "iOS in the Car", but ultimately this got renamed to CarPlay. CarPlay effectively projects a version of your iPhone screen onto a display in your car. This can be done via a cable or wirelessly, depending on the capabilities of your car. CarPlay is not a system that just any developer can create for. They must request approval (via an entitlement) from Apple that will allow their app to be used on CarPlay.
CarPlay Capabilities
Given the environment for CarPlay, not every app is suitable for CarPlay, in fact there are really only a handful of different types of apps that can be used with CarPlay. The possible type of applications includes:
- Navigation
- Audio
- Messaging
- Calendar
- Charging Station Locators
My new car is not an electric vehicle, but I did consider purchasing one, so I do not have any experience with any of the charging station locator apps, but let us look at the other categories, starting with Navigation.
Navigation/Maps
Many cars have their own navigation systems and while these are generally good for roads that do not change, they are not easy to keep up to date. There is an adage in Illinois, there are only two season, Winter and construction". This adage is definitely correct, because there is almost always construction happening somewhere. With construction, quite often there can be new route patterns and these can change on a daily basis. Many built-in navigation systems quickly becoming out of date, and even if you are able to update the information, it is often out of date before you update. Conversely, many iOS mapping applications can provide real-time information like traffic, alternate routes, and even red light cameras, or general slowdowns that may be up ahead.
I do not often have a reason to get directions, however there are instances where it is helpful, particularly if you know of a specific location's general area, but not which turn to take to easily get to your destination. I will say that having a display to be able to easily see the route is a significant improvement over having to figure out when it is safe to glance at my phone. Even when I did use navigation I would often rely on my Apple Watch to provide haptic feedback on which direction to turn.
Audio
Right before I start driving I try to figure out what I want to listen to during my drive. Sometimes I listen to an audiobook, other times I listen to a podcast, and yet in other instances I end up listening to music. Sometimes, the distance I am going ends up making the determination of what type of audio I will end up listening to. For shorter rides it may be music, or a podcast, and for longer drives it may be an audiobook or podcast, but it all depends.
For my audio listening I use Apple Music for music, Overcast for podcasts, and Audible for audiobooks. Each of these apps works with CarPlay, so I can use any of these apps to listen to audio. Even though this is possible, I often end up just using the "Now Playing" screen. The Now Playing screen is very similar to that of the "Now Playing" widget on Apple Watch. When this is shown on screen, the current audio that is being played will be shown regardless of the app. I prefer to use this screen since it provides a consistent interface for all types of audio.
Phone/Messages
CarPlay does have the option for being able to answer phone calls or send messages. It is not likely that I will be using these because I do not think it is appropriate to interact with these while driving because they can be too distracting. I have actually disabled the "Announce Messages" and I have not enabled phone calls to be answered while I am driving.
Other Items
There are a couple of other areas that I want to highlight, but they do not fit in the items above, so they will get their own category. These items are Siri and Settings.
Siri
If you ask almost anybody, Siri is not the best voice assistant on the market. Most of the time I do not have any issues with Siri, but part of that may be because I do not use it all that often. However, while in the car Siri plays an important part in maintaining your hands on the wheel and paying attention to the road. When I have used the phrase "Hey Siri" in the car it is absolutely instantaneous, regardless of the ambient noise that may be in the background. When I ask Siri to play a song, it does not hesistate and it plays the actual song. Part of the speed may be that I typically only listen to my downloaded music, so it does not have to stream it from anywhere.
Earlier I mentioned that I have media controls on the steering wheel and one of these is a "Voice" button. If I am using CarPlay I can press the "voice" button on the steering wheel to bring up Siri. If I am not, then it will bring up the car's native voice interface, but I never use this.
Settings/App Order
One of my initial things that I was going to mention for improvement is a way to re-arrange the apps, but this is provided for by going to Settings -> General -> CarPlay on an iPhone that is paired with a vehicle. Here you can add, remove, and re-arrange the order that apps appear. I initially thought that this was not possible because it could not be done on the screen within the car, but then it occurred to me that CarPlay has to work across a variety of screens and systems, so Apple would not be able to expect the screen to be able to support re-arranging, so instead it is done via Settings. Furthermore, one should not be re-arranging apps while driving.
There is a Settings app while you are using CarPlay, and there is one option that is nice to see, Dark Mode. You do have the option of either "Automatically" having the screen show in light mode or dark mode, depending on time of day, or "Always Dark". I am a bit confused as to why "Always Light" is not an option, but this could be due to the fact that at night having a light screen may be too distracting while driving.
On the topic of improvements, let us move to things that I would like to see.
Features I would like to see
Even though I have only been using CarPlay in my car for only a short time, there are a couple of features that I would like to see added. These are additional wallpapers, improved app selection, and additional displayed information.
Wallpapers
While you are within CarPlay, if you navigate to the Settings app, there is an option for selecting a Wallpaper. These Wallpapers are the same as those available on iOS and include both light mode and dark mode variations. You can see what this looks like below.
What I would like to see is additional options, possibly even using photos from one’s Photo library. Even if this had to be done from within Settings on an iPhone would be sufficient. Additionally, it would be a welcome update even if the photo itself ended up being significantly blurred as to not provide a distraction.,Allowing people to choose a custom photo would add a bit of personalization to their CarPlay experience.
Improved App Selection
The CarPlay interface is effectively a grid of icons, and this approach makes sense because you do not want to be using the screen while driving. However, what might be nice is the ability to have your apps along the bottom of the screen, like the Dock on the iPhone, instead of along the left side of the screen. Now that I think about this, it might make more sense to keep it the way it is since the current location is closer to the driver and minimizes the amount of time the driver's hands would have to be off of the wheel.
Additional Information
On the Apple CarPlay website, there is currently a graphic that shows an example of what the Next Generation CarPlay interface may look like. In that graphic, there is a screen that shows the grid of apps, but next to it is the current weather. I would not expect the current CarPlay to be able to display this, particularly given on the size of may screens in cars today. But what might be useful would be have a spot on the screen, or even a widget, that shows the current temperature. Just like the Wallpapers, this would be helpful even if it had to be configured within CarPlay Settings on a paired iPhone.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, I like using CarPlay. My in-car infotainment system is, to put it mildly, basic. It provides Bluetooth connectivity, but that is it. There is no navigation, but I am completely okay with this. The manufacturer of my car has opted to support CarPlay. I actually appreciate the fact that there is nothing else on the system because I would not end up using the features and it would probably just add additional cost.
I would like to see a couple of additional features, like an option for custom wallpapers from one’s photo library, possibly improved app selection with a dock on the bottom, or even an option for such, and additional information like outside temperature. It is possible that we will see these additions in CarPlay in the future, but it is also possible that any additions will be limited to the "Next Generation CarPlay". As I write this we are just a week away from Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference 23 (WWDC), so if there are any improvements they will likely be announced during the keynote.