the attack on Android Auto

A huge upgrade is in the starting blocks for Apple CarPlay. The counterpart of Android Auto gets a major makeover and gets even better. A preview.

Apple CarPlay gets better

Apple has had an announcement in the past week. Here we saw not only iOS 16, but also a new version of Apple CarPlay. Where Google always introduced some new improvements with Android Auto, Apple remained a bit quiet and comes with the major update for Apple CarPlay.

As with Android Automotive, there is no direct distinction between a system in the car and a system in front of the car. With the new version of Apple CarPlay, users can directly control functions in the car. Think of operating the air conditioning or heating. Furthermore, the necessary content is shown in the screen of the car. Such as the speed, the remaining range, the charge level or the tank capacity and in the background the navigation map, which of course works with Apple Maps.

Apple’s goal is to make as many car functions as possible available through the CarPlay environment. All this with a connected iPhone. As with the latest version of Android Auto, the entire infotainment display can be taken over with CarPlay. We are indeed Android enthusiasts, but this looks very sleek.

Apple has directly entered into partnerships with various car manufacturers. While Google only wanted to steal the show with Android Automotive with one car model, Apple immediately contracted fourteen brands. Apple has a partnership with the following brands;

• Audi
• Renault
• infinity
• Mercedes-Benz
• Nissan
• Ford
• Lincoln
• Jaguar
• Honda
• Volvo / Polestar
• Porsche
• Land Rover

It is striking that Skoda and Volkswagen do not seem to participate, while they belong to the same parent company as Audi and Porsche. It may well be that more brands join Apple later on.