Lane guidance, a new Apple Maps feature in iOS 11 for iPhone, iPad and CarPlay, has expanded to four additional countries following its debut in iOS 11 last fall and subsequent expansion in November 2017 to countries like Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the UK.
German car maker BMW is contemplating a subscription-based CarPlay in 2019 models. The subscription plan would be free for the first year of ownership on a new BMW.
The Toyota 2019 Avalon was just introduced at the North American International Auto Show up in Detroit, Michigan. It will be the first vehicle in Toyota's lineup to support Apple's CarPlay.
If you are driving a newer Ford vehicle, and are a fan of Waze, you've got something to be excited about. At CES 2018, Waze announced that it will be coming to Sync 3 infotainment systems to use right alongside CarPlay.
Finally AM/FM radio will be controllable through CarPlay's native interface thanks to a new app from music-tagging database Gracenote.
Beleaguered streaming service Tidal has now been updated with support for CarPlay, as well as the new edge-to-edge OLED display on iPhone X.
After being quite the holdout, the popular Sirius XM app for iPhone and iPad was updated recently to include support for Apple's CarPlay platform, bringing a bunch of radio channels to in-car infotainment systems that don't support the app natively.
Learn how to customize the automatic replies that can be sent when the Driving Focus mode is enabled on your iPhone.
iOS 11's CarPlay has gained a multitude of new Maps capabilities for safer driving while bringing slight design changes to some of the stock apps and subtle interface refinements such as notification badges, cellular signal bars replacing the dots, larger app icons and more.
The car audio and navigation systems company Alpine today announced that its first aftermarket CarPlay wireless receiver, dubbed iLX-107, is now available for purchase in the United States, priced a bit on the high side at $900 a pop.
“The award-winning iLX-107 wireless Apple CarPlay system offers even more convenience in accessing Maps, Phone, Messages and Music from the iPhone in-vehicle without ever needing to connect a cable,” the company notes.
The unit packs a seven-inch VGA revolution capacitive touchscreen in a mech-less body. It integrates with rear view camera systems and your car's steering wheel controls.
The conveniently located Volume, Track, Home and Siri hard keys are accessible for quick access and simple control.
Alpine was one of the first firms to offer aftermarket CarPlay receivers for owners of older vehicles than lack CarPlay integration. However, today's new is significant as the iLX-107 represents their first aftermarket CarPlay receiver that supports wireless connections.
This lets you use CarPlay with your iLX-107 without needing to connect an iPhone via a USB cable. To set it up, you just pair your wireless Apple CarPlay unit from your iPhone. Of course, wired connectivity via the standard Lightning cable is supported, too.
Connecting an iPhone to your iLX-107 via a Lightning cable for the first time automatically sets up wireless connectivity, which is great. The accessory uses the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band to optimize wireless connectivity performance, Alpine has said.
While Alpine does not sell the new receiver directly, you can purchase it from a network of authorized dealers who won't just sell you the accessory but install it for you as well.
Check out Alpine's store locator online tool to find a dealer nearest to your location.
Wireless CarPlay requires iOS 8.3 or later.
When using CarPlay, your iPhone naturally displays the screen you see above for several seconds before automatically falling asleep and kicking you out to the Lock screen.
A new free jailbreak tweak called CarPlay Lockout by iOS developer theo78825 prevents your device from locking you out and rather returns you to the Home screen after a brief display of the CarPlay screen.
A real important step for safety in the car was just introduced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference that's currently underway in San Jose: Do Not Disturb mode while driving. Apple's proactive assistant on iOS 11 determines when you're driving and offers to automatically turn on DND mode via CarPlay.
With DND active while driving, CarPlay won't be showing any notifications, similar to DND mode on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. And if someone message you while DND mode is active on CarPlay, the Messages app on your iPhone will auto-respond with a message on your behalf telling the sender that you're currently driving and will be getting back to them soon.
Like with DND on iOS, DND for CarPlay allows you to cherry-pick contacts whose messages will get through while you're driving in DND mode. The Messages app on iOS 11 will permit users to respond with a simple “reply” message if they'd like their muted message delivered to CarPlay, as long as they're on your whitelist.
Those and other CarPlay improvements will launch for everyone when iOS 11 releases for public consumption this fall.