Apple CarPlay is an incredibly useful tool available to most new cars that can perform several functions from finding destinations to playing media.
It is one of the two leading smartphone mirroring apps alongside Android Auto, with the main differentiator obviously being the phones and brands you can use them with.
As its name implies, CarPlay is exclusive to Apple and its in-house operating software known as iOS, so if you have an iPhone, you may want to check out a few of these useful apps next time you are browsing the App Store.
Tools of the trade
First and foremost, you’ll want to ensure you have a navigation app on your phone, for which there are three popular options – Apple Maps, Google Maps, and Waze.
All three operate similarly but have slightly different strengths and weaknesses, so your choice will likely come down to personal preference.
Apple Maps is installed as a default on most iOS devices, and both Apple Maps and Waze are often described as having easier-to-read user interfaces (UI).
Google Maps, meanwhile, provides more route options and is usually the most up-to-date while Apple’s service can sometimes be missing new destinations.
All of these apps use real-time data to help the driver avoid congestion and can warn of upcoming speed traps or recent accidents.
More apps to make use of on your car is some form of messaging tool, bearing in mind of course that this doesn’t mean texting while driving.
Again this will mostly come down to your preferred communication app, but a few options include iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, or Telegram.
New cars don’t give you the option to text on the move, for obvious reasons, but they are able to use text-to-speech to play any messages that you receive, and, should you wish to reply, you can use voice commands to dictate a message.
Next up is a type of audio player, and note that this is not just limited to music with apps such as Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube Music, and Audible providing a selection of songs and podcasts.
These apps are free to download, but you’ll need a subscription to get rid of interrupting ads and to download tracks so that you aren’t re-streaming them every time you listen, which can burn through a lot of data over the long run.
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