Car Play

CarPlay, at its core, is Apple's way of bringing iOS to in-car infotainment systems and dashboards. It's designed to display information from the iPhone on a car's built-in display, giving drivers a safe way to make phone calls, send text messages, listen to music, and access Maps -- all of the things a driver might want to do with an iPhone in a car.

When connected to an in-dash system via the iPhone's Lightning port, CarPlay gives the user in-car access to information stored on the iPhone, like contacts for phone calls and messages, music playlists in apps, previous Maps searches, calendar events, and more. Because CarPlay draws its information from the iPhone, there's virtually no setup involved.

Many automobile manufacturers are building CarPlay support into cars that are set to be released in late 2015 and 2016, but there's also a way to get CarPlay in existing vehicles -- some aftermarket in-dash systems from companies like Pioneer, Kenwood, and Alpine are compatible with CarPlay and are readily available.

CarPlay is designed to be hands-free, introducing as little driver distraction as possible, and for that reason, it is voice-based and heavily reliant on Siri. Siri, for example, is used to perform a range of actions in the car, such as placing phone calls, getting directions, sending text messages, and more.

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There are also physical controls in the form of buttons and knobs, but these controls vary from vehicle to vehicle. Systems with touch screens are able to accommodate touch-based input as well, and special adapters can enhance in-car integration of aftermarket CarPlay solutions.

iOS already offers a consistent Apple experience across tablets and smartphones, but with CarPlay, that's also extended to the car in an easy-to-use format that people are already familiar with.

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Because CarPlay is a rather ambitious effort that requires the cooperation of automobile makers and third-party hardware companies, it has been slow to get off the ground, but we should see a whole range of new CarPlay-enabled vehicles over the next few years.

 

CarPlay Features

The CarPlay interface is designed to be immediately familiar to anyone who has used iOS on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Connecting an iPhone to CarPlay through a Lightning cable brings up an iOS-style interface on the in-car display that offers a home screen complete with apps like Maps, Phone, Messages, Music, Podcasts, and several third-party offerings.

Apps are accessed via touch screen, through Siri, or through various in-car controls that might be located on the steering wheel or other location depending on the car manufacturer. On aftermarket offerings from companies like Pioneer and Alpine, physical controls are limited to buttons on the in-dash system unless special adapters are installed.

Though apps can be launched through touch-based controls, actions like sending a text message, making a phone call, or changing a music track are largely conducted through Siri. There is no on-screen keyboard, for example, so text messages are transcribed by voice much as they are when using dictation to send messages on an iPhone.