What is CarPlay?
CarPlay is a vehicle entertainment information system developed by Apple, designed to allow drivers to safely use their iPhone in the car, bringing features like maps, music, and calls into the vehicle. The benefits of CarPlay include enhancing driver safety, increasing convenience, and providing a better user experience.
What are the functions of CarPlay?
You can control CarPlay's functions and operations through a touchscreen or voice commands, choosing from various apps such as maps, calls, music, messages, and more. Additionally, you can use the Siri voice assistant to perform operations like setting destinations, finding locations, playing music, sending messages, and making calls.
Why use CarPlay?
CarPlay is suitable for those who frequently need navigation, calling, music playback, and other functions. Specifically, CarPlay is ideal for tech-savvy individuals interested in convenient living and multimedia entertainment enthusiasts. CarPlay also supports Siri, the world's most advanced voice recognition system backed by powerful big data support, enhancing your driving experience.
Siri is a crucial part of the CarPlay system as it allows you to control things happening with voice commands. This keeps your hands on the steering wheel and prevents blindly tapping on the touchscreen.
Siri can read received messages aloud, allowing drivers to know their messages without needing to look at the screen. However, CarPlay does not support typing to avoid dangerous distractions while driving.
In simple terms, CarPlay transfers phone apps to the car's infotainment display, with hands-free control and a driver-friendly interface. This means you can navigate, make calls or send messages, control music, and more, reducing distractions while driving without posing a danger to others on the road.
In addition to built-in phone and messaging features, CarPlay assists drivers in reading messages, voice-dictating replies on messaging apps like LINE or WhatsApp using Siri, and answering or making voice calls by directing Siri. Voice calls made or received while connected to CarPlay sound through the car's audio system, using the car's microphone for input.
Depending on the car model, you can hold the voice command button on the steering wheel or the CarPlay main screen button to command Siri or ask questions. If your car model supports 'Hey Siri', ensure this feature is enabled and say 'Hey Siri' to request or ask questions to Siri. Drivers should not use the touchscreen while driving for safety reasons.
You can search for places on your phone, use a map app on your phone to find addresses, and then click the same map app on the car's touchscreen to navigate to the designated location through search records and let CarPlay guide you there." 🗺️
In recent years, there have been frequent accidents caused by using mobile phones. The real danger lies not in using the phone itself, but in being distracted.
Past and Present of CarPlay
The concept of CarPlay was first unveiled at WWDC in 2013, formally introduced in 2014, and the in-car iOS service was renamed CarPlay.
You don't need to download a separate CarPlay app; the car's touchscreen will automatically display the apps available on your phone, making it user-friendly with minimal differences in use experience.
It's challenging to find a car manufacturer that doesn't support CarPlay in some form, with very few modern cars without it. Currently, over 800 car models support CarPlay, with almost all major automakers providing support. Apple maintains a comprehensive list of CarPlay-supported vehicles, showing which manufacturers support CarPlay and which cars. However, it's worth carefully checking for CarPlay support in any car you are interested in purchasing.
The only exception is Tesla, which doesn't support CarPlay or Android Auto. Instead, this all-electric car manufacturer offers its advanced connectivity package, including navigation, streaming, and certain remote control functions, at a monthly cost. CarPlay, on the other hand, is free and dependent on your existing data plan. 🚗
The Future and Necessity of CarPlay
CarPlay has future expandability. By using CarPlay, you can view phone contacts, call records, messages, and more directly on the car's central display screen, just like on your phone. Moreover, CarPlay supports using the phone's built-in navigation maps, saving you the cost of installing a navigation system.
If you require the use of third-party navigation, installing CarPlay is necessary.
The stability of Mirror Link's screen mirroring feature is far inferior to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Certain situations arise, such as the need to keep the phone unlocked while using screen mirroring, limited touchscreen control on some systems, and iOS compatibility issues with some mirror output functions.
Alternatively, if you don't mind the size of your phone screen, opting for a phone mount may be a solution. However, this approach can present challenges, such as obstructing visibility when using a suction cup phone mount on the windshield, or causing damage to the air vent if fixed there. In regions with consistently high temperatures, the plastic of the suction cup may melt due to the heat, leaving difficult-to-remove marks on the windshield.These factors may be concerning for car enthusiasts. 🚘
In the future, the integration of CarPlay with vehicle hardware will further advance, deeply integrating with the car's systems. Information such as speed, air conditioning, fuel gauge, etc., will be systematically displayed on a digital dashboard behind the steering wheel. The next generation of CarPlay will adapt to various screen shapes, not only replacing the traditional dashboard but also allowing car owners to personalize their screen display with greater freedom in layout.
In conclusion, CarPlay is a highly practical in-car system. It not only helps you access various phone applications in your car but also supports voice control and navigation functions. If you haven't tried CarPlay yet, we recommend giving it a go; we believe you'll appreciate its convenience and utility. 😉
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