CarPlay

Apple today released iOS 17.4 beta 4 to developers, and it includes a notable new CarPlay feature. According to Apple, Apple Maps in iOS 17.4 will show a “new instrument cluster experience with information about upcoming maneuvers” with supported CarPlay vehicles.

Earlier this month, Honda announced its preliminary plans to offer a CarPlay retrofit to Honda Accord drivers. The company has now shared more details on this plan, revealing that the software update will start at $112 and be available at any authorized Honda dealer.

Honda explains that this software update will enable wireless CarPlay and Android Auto on approximately 631,000 Accord models from the 2018-2022 model years.

CarPlay is a few weeks away from turning 10 … depending on when you celebrate its birthday. Apple has already promised a whole new generation of CarPlay will start taking over cars in 2024. Now assets in iOS 17.4 beta show that CarPlay 2.0 really is getting closer to rolling off the new car lot.

Apple Musical Classical teased the world with an accidental CarPlay app this week, but SoundCloud has the real deal. At least for paid members of SoundCloud’s subscription service.

SoundCloud apparently isn’t just a place for uploading your mixtape. Still, if you land a viral tweet and need something to promote, SoundCloud is the go-to choice (unless you don’t have one).

Honda is planning to make a retrofit available to older model-year Accords to enable wireless CarPlay. The process will begin later this month and will require a trip to the dealer, Honda says.

Courtesy of Reddit user Confident_Tension_64, MyRadar for iPhone has been updated this month to include support for Apple CarPlay. This means drivers with MyRadar for iOS installed can now view weather radar maps from the car’s screen instead of the iPhone display.

While Polestar has taken a lot of steps to deepen its relationship with Google for in-car infotainment, the company says it’s still committed to CarPlay as well. In an interview at CES 2024 this week, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath explained that it doesn’t make sense for the company to limit customers and remove the option of CarPlay.

I don’t need to remind you that GM is ditching CarPlay starting with its 2024 model year EVs. We’ve covered that news extensively over the past year, routinely pointing out that it may not be a very wise decision.

Some of the early real-world reviews of the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV have emerged, and it certainly doesn’t sound like GM’s “Ultifi” infotainment software is ready for prime time.

Apple has officially made good on its long-standing promise. The first cars with support for next-generation CarPlay have been announced. As reported by Cool Hunting and Car and Driver, Porsche and Aston Martin will be the first automakers to support next-generation CarPlay starting in 2024.

Notably, Aston Martin wasn’t on Apple’s original list of automakers that would support next-generation CarPlay.

GM took another swing at justifying its decision to drop CarPlay support in future EVs and failed miserably. Now, in a clear swipe at GM, Ford CEO Jim Farley took to social media on Wednesday to reiterate Ford’s continued commitment to CarPlay.

Update: In a statement to MotorTrend, GM clarified its position:

“We wanted to reach out to clarify that comments about GM’s position on phone projection were misrepresented and to reinforce our valued partnerships with Apple and Google and each company’s commitment to driver safety. GM’s embedded infotainment strategy is driven by the benefits of having a system that allows for greater integration with the larger GM ecosystem and vehicles.”

GM continues to shoot itself in the foot and double down on its decision to ditch CarPlay. In a new interview this week, Tim Babbitt, GM’s head of product for infotainment, attempted to offer some “justification” for the controversial decision.

According to Babbitt, drivers will be “less likely to pick up their phones” if their cars don’t have CarPlay. Yes, you read that right.

Ever drive around and wonder about that home listing you just passed? There’s finally a CarPlay app for that …

CarPlay has been in the news quite a bit this year, ranging from GM’s decision to abandon the platform to Apple’s looming launch of “next-generation” CarPlay.

How important is CarPlay to car buyers? We polled over 6,000 9to5Mac readers to find out…

Sygic is one of the most popular navigation apps, even though you may have never heard of it before. The app offers navigation specially tailored to the specifications of large vehicles like trucks, RVs, campers, and more.

With an update rolling out now, Sygic now offers a dedicated app for CarPlay for the first time.

In a new interview with The Verge, Volvo CEO Jim Rowan called out GM’s decision to abandon CarPlay. Rowan explained that Volvo’s strategy is to give customers the choice to use whatever in-car infotainment system they choose, whether that’s Volvo’s own software, Android Auto, or CarPlay.

General Motors announced back in March that it was ditching CarPlay from future vehicles, in favor of its own infotainment systems.

The company originally partnered with Google on this, but now seems to have decided it needs an Apple touch – by hiring one of the Cupertino company’s former design directors to work on the user interface (UI), along with three more former Apple employees …

You might have forgotten about it, but Apple unveiled what it described as the “next-generation” of CarPlay way back at WWDC 2022. Since that initial announcement, however, Apple hasn’t said a word about next-gen CarPlay, nor have any of its automaker partners.

Despite the silence, Apple still seems adamant that the first vehicles with next-generation CarPlay will be announced this year…

We talk a lot about CarPlay, but new data suggests that what a lot of people do most often in their car is listen to AM/FM radio. Yes, it’s 2023, and you might think AM/FM radio is on the way out, but new data show that to not be the case for a lot of people…

Last month, Ford began notifying dealers that it planned to add Apple Maps EV routing to the F-150 Lightning before the end of the year. That rollout has now commenced, with the first wave of lucky F-150 Lightning drivers now able to tap into Apple Maps for their EV routing needs.

The FCC in the US has officially given Apple, Meta, and Google the go-ahead to tap into the 6GHz band for wireless devices. This comes four years after the companies teamed up to petition the FCC for access to this spectrum, with one of the biggest use cases being for augmented reality and virtual reality devices.

On last week’s episode of 9to5Mac Happy Hour, I complained about an ongoing CarPlay problem I’ve been experiencing on and off for nearly a year. Essentially, the GPS continually bugs out and completely breaks navigation via Apple Maps, Google Maps, or any other navigation app.

Since last week’s Happy Hour episode was released (listen here), I’ve heard from a lot of CarPlay users who are facing similar problems with GPS performance.