The foreign technology media AppleInsider recently pointed out two major problems that exist in Apple CarPlay: the lack of follow-up by car manufacturers and the poor quality of applications. Apple launched CarPlay in 2014, and then automakers began to follow up and support the system.
Since CarPlay is primarily about projecting an iPhone onto the center console of a car, it is not a very demanding technology and relies heavily on the iPhone to make it happen. Two major issues arose during Apple’s CarPlay update process, which remains unresolved.
Car companies are not interested in following through with new CarPlay features
Although there are many vehicles that support CarPlay, automakers have only supported Apple’s feature, but have not followed up with new features.
The most typical example of this is wireless CarPlay, which Apple introduced as early as 2016, but most car companies are not following through and still require a wired connection. It wasn’t until last year (i.e. 5 years after its release) that support began to trickle in on new models.
Apple also allows CarPlay to display information and navigation on a vehicle’s dashboard, but car companies have largely not followed suit. One reason for this is that automakers prefer their own infotainment operating systems to those controlled by Apple or Google. This gives them a firm grasp on the user experience and allows them to upsell additional services such as navigation.
While Apple has no plans to force this aspect, Apple has promised to make sweeping improvements to the CarPlay experience by the end of 2023, nine years after its release. But it’s not clear what specific improvements will be made.
Poor app quality
A second pain point for CarPlay is the quality of its apps. Apple’s official CarPlay apps are not a good experience, let alone third-party apps. Many of the apps are overly simplified, streamlined experiences that don’t offer the compelling design that their iOS companion apps have.
Of course, to be used in a vehicle, the user interface needs to be streamlined and easy to use on the road. These apps don’t distract the driver and need to take safety into account. Take the Sirius XM app, for example. Its CarPlay experience is poor, presenting uninspiring content in a boring list view.
