We will be looking for a replacement car soon , I’m wondering if anyone started a list of recent cars that are known to have a good implementation of CarPlay.
Isn’t CarPlay implemented by Apple? If the car has it, the experience should be the same.
My understanding is that different car models have differing screen sizes (of varying image quality) with differing panel responsiveness. Some are multitouch and some aren’t. You can see some of the differences in aftermarket CarPlay units.
For OEM CarPlay, it’s hard to say. Tech changes from year to year, and sometimes between models inside a given year.
A Chevy Bolt has a decent implementation of CarPlay. Single point touch and drag. No scroll wheels. Bigger screen showing more icons than all the rental cars I have used CarPlay in (Kia Soul and Hyundai Kona among others).
I have a 2017 Honda Civic and the CarPlay implementation is okay but not wonderful. It’s all touch based, which I think is not great in a car. I would much prefer a knob and button type control, especially for scrolling through lists of things.
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My 2007 Honda CR-V has great CarPlay, fully integrated into all controls, and a full screen backup camera. Cost about $1000 with installation for a Sony head unit but i’d bet that it’s less than the option in a lot of new vehicles.
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Apple keeps a complete list of car models that include CarPlay compatibility https://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/available-models/
My father-in-law just bought the latest GMC Sierra, and it’s baked-in infotainment system is the best I’ve seen of any CarPlay enabled vehicle. CarPlay looks basically the same everywhere, but if I were buying a new car I’d want to make sure the built-in option looked & functioned okay as well.
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I just purchased a 2019 Acura TLX with CarPlay. In the Acura I have the normal screen for the audio function and a second screen above that for CarPlay. If I’m not using CarPlay the second screen will show various vehicle functions. In the Acura the CarPlay is controlled by a knob that you use to select actions to use the different apps that are part of CarPlay. You can turn the knob left and right of you can move the knob like a joystick so you can move through a list faster. When you are at the selection you want you just push in on the knob. I like the knob as a control device because you can just glance at the screen and the knob provides tactile feedback. In contrast my wife’s car has a 7 inch touch screen that is hard to select functions on the move because you have to hit a tiny target which in a moving car can be difficult.
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CarPlay works perfectly in 19 out of 20 times I connect my iPhone 8 to my 2018 Audi A3. When it does not connect, I usually switch to the other USB port and it fixes the problem. When it does not, I have to wait ~20 minutes for it to do whatever it does (OTA updates?) and then it comes on. I don’t have the Audi navigation system in it, relying on Apple Maps and Google Maps instead and have not had any problems when the unit works.
I agree with Barry’s comments - I had 2 rental cars with touch interfaces and they are painful. Mine has a knob and buttons and it works fine.
After upgrading to iOS 13.1.2, I have occasional CarPlay problems when playing podcasts in the PodCast and Overcast apps, but I attribute these to the bugginess of iOS 13 and hope they will get fixed soon.
Yes, it should be but it isn’t.
I got stuck with a Mistsubish SUV, CarPlay was horrible
it may look the same, but it certainly may not function as good in some cars as others.
This is why I’ve posted the message.
Compatibility isn’t the question. How GOOD does it wrk is the question?
Every car has their own FW bugs. CP works better on some cars than others.
This is why I posted the question.
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I somewhat agree, however the current display I have is touched based, but it’s a primitive one. I don’t have Carplay in my Prius, and i definitely prefer the in-car GPS system to the stupid mapping apps on the iphone.
It looks like many cars are not even including the GPS any more, because they expect that people will use their phones. With buggy Carplay impelentations and buggy mapping apps on the phone, I’d rather have a native GPS in the car.
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Opel Astra… 3 years Old.
Works perfect including Siri, Apple and Google map, podcast, Music…
Screen is the car screen but all funktions is in the Phone so every time iOS is upgradede i get new funktionality.
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My experience with carplay across a number of vehicles is that it’s been the same, and the only difference is the size of screen and type of screen (capacitive vs touch). There are a handful of cars that have wireless carplay but I haven’t seen good reviews of those so far. Carplay is the same across all the platforms since it’s driven from your iPhone rather than baked into the firmware of the car.
I have a Subaru Impreza with CarPlay. It’s phenomenal. Works well. They have a Siri invoke button on the steering wheel. Adding in iOS 13’s update to CarPlay and it’s even better. I’ll never buy a car without it.
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I’m one of the (seemingly few) ones who prefers the in-car navigation system to the phone supplied ones too. My car has nav and CarPlay and I always use the car’s system. For navigational purposes, they’re all pretty good, but the in-car system integrates with the car better: I get next turn info in the instrument cluster, for example.
That being said, I absolutely love CarPlay for other functions. It’s so wonderful to have my podcast and audiobook apps be able to display controls on my car’s touchscreen. I wouldn’t get a car without CarPlay again.
I have a Honda CR-V (2019 model) with in-built CarPlay. Works very well - the navigation is far superior (my opinion) to Honda’s own.
About once in every 20 journeys, the connection doesn’t work first time - unplug and replug the phone and it’s OK again
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Our past 2 cars which had built in navigation suffered from not getting timely updates to the road network in our area. Once we paid hundreds of dollars for an upgrade disk that we were told would have our new highway on it. In fact the disk only had half of the highway so the nav still would not route via that highway. With a phone based nav system, the maps are continuously updated.
Going back to dials and buttons vs touch, again our other vehicles’ built in nav system has a dial and it’s the worst thing ever. With the Bolt’s CarpLay touch display, there’s single touch and drag although no pinch to zoom. I have noted in another thread that the touch targets on the podcast player are too small in split view, with the result that you put the podcast app into full screen mode if you miss the button. This is a small issue in v1 of split view, and it can easily be fixed by Apple if enough people bring it to their notice. There is no simple fix for ourother car’s awful rotate, overshoot, rotate back again built in nav system control. That system is so unusable that I prefer to navigate with my phone on a vent clip in front of the built in nav.