Modern cars can be incredibly beautiful and fast, but most of them have a rather mediocre interface of the head multimedia system (Tesla does not count). Apple CarPlay partially solves this problem: when a smartphone is connected, a familiar iOS user and a pleasant-looking picture immediately appears on the standard display. Some car systems still have to be controlled through a standard interface, but most tasks related to music, navigation, and telephone functions will be in a “user-friendly” shell and with control logic as similar as possible to iOS.
Initially, this technology could only be installed in high-end vehicles. Owners of such vehicles, as well as tourists in other countries who hire a car, such as those who take super cars for rent, could benefit from such modern equipment on a limited budget. Everyone can rent a luxury car from a rental company, which is in high demand, and link their smartphone to comfortably move around the destination country. We can now see that such a technology is becoming available not only on high-technology cars but even on mass-produced vehicles.
The business unveiled an improved version of the CarPlay standard at WWDC 2022. This will increase mobile device connectivity to the car dashboard and expand vehicle integration. Users will be able to change out dashboard items.
Apple device owners will be able to enter travel information, manage the climate, watch the weather conditions, read current information about navigation, level of fuel, battery charge, and much more. CarPlay adjusts to multiple screen dimensions and offers a new UI that looks like an iPad.
Another recent update is that this autumn Apple will issue a CarPlay update that will let you purchase fuel.
The new function will only be accessible in the United States. In the initial stage, HF Sinclair refueling will be provided. There are around 1,600 of them in the United States.
Installing the HF Sinclair application is required to buy fuel. The car goes to the filling station, then you have to launch the application on the car screen, pick the column, and pay for fuel.
It is unclear when the capability will be accessible in other destinations or if some other developers will be able to utilize it.
Apple CarPlay was first introduced with the release of iOS 7.1 in 2014 and for quite a long time was quite poor in terms of functionality. In fact, it was mirroring the interface of selected iPhone applications to the screen of the car multimedia device. But the work of these selected applications has also been curtailed. For example, there is no manual typing in messages, only voice dictation, of course, no emojis, no attached photos, and files; there was no “Search” tab in Apple Music. In general, everything was done so as not to disturb the driver as much as possible while driving a vehicle.
This was before the release of iOS 12, when Apple finally allowed, in addition to built-in applications for calling, reading, and sending SMS and iMessages, listening to audiobooks, podcasts, and Apple Music, as well as navigating through its branded maps, to see car radios and other third-party applications on the screen. In addition to standard messages, WhatsApp and Telegram appeared. And besides Apple Music – Spotify, iHeartRadio, and others. The myTuner Pro application allows you to listen to thousands of radio stations over the Internet.
But the iPhone still couldn’t work independently of the head unit of the machine. It was necessary to minimize the application on the smartphone, and it collapsed on the car radio screen, and vice versa.
Everything changed with the release of iOS 13. CarPlay stopped being a direct mirroring of the iPhone. Now you can open one application on the screen of the car multimedia system and simultaneously use a completely different one on your smartphone.
Most likely, the list of applications will expand and if you are thinking whether you need CarPlay and whether it is convenient, then be sure: yes, you need it and yes, it is convenient.
