Why I only buy cars with CarPlay

When I bought my first car, I wanted support for CarPlay anyway. Now I never want a car without it.

Why CarPlay in my cars?

A year ago I finally bought my first car. The choice was enormous. You have to think about a lot. Today, one of the important choices is the digital element: Is there a screen in the car? Which infotainment system is used? Can you connect your smartphone? I chose a car with CarPlay built in.

Before I bought my car, I did not drive for at least ten years for various reasons and circumstances. After a trial lesson and refresher course, I turned out to be no danger on the road and I was confident enough to get behind the wheel.

I am convinced that if I had not had CarPlay, it would not have been so smooth. For example, I was perfectly able to navigate to unfamiliar places and listen to my own music, podcasts and audiobooks through my car’s audio system. It immediately felt familiar and I could fully focus on the driving itself.

Built-in software vs CarPlay

If you buy a modern car with a screen, it has its own software. For example, my car has its own navigation and radio software. I could also turn on Spotify and make phone calls via Bluetooth. However, it is not ideal. Most of these infotainment solutions are a lot less user-friendly than Apple’s software. It is slow and illogical.

CarPlay works by mirroring your iPhone with a simplified interface, but with the familiar ease of use of Apple’s software.

An important difference between CarPlay and built-in infotainment systems is that CarPlay is connected to the internet via your iPhone, so you always have the most recent information. With the built-in systems you often have to pay extra to stay up to date and the software usually only gets an update during a service of your car. Provided the car manufacturer makes an effort to update the software and you are not left with bugs and old information. CarPlay updates simultaneously with iOS, several times a year.

But what about a container?

Now I hear you say that you can also attach a holder to the dashboard of your car, to hang your iPhone on it. Indeed you can. If your car doesn’t support CarPlay, that’s a great solution. But it is absolutely not the same.

The main argument is that CarPlay is much more secure. CarPlay has a simplified interface specially made for cars, which ensures that you keep your focus on the road and not on your iPhone. For example, you will receive a notification of a received message, but the text of that message will not be displayed. That way you will not be tempted to read the message in between. Siri can of course read the message while you continue to focus on the road.

In addition, the larger screen ensures that what you need to know is shown more clearly. Just what you need in the car. Of course I understand that not everyone can afford a car with built-in CarPlay, but then you can always consider connecting an external screen. In any case, I know that as soon as I exchange my current car for another model, there will be CarPlay in it anyway.

More about CarPlay

Do you not understand how to use CarPlay? We explain how installing CarPlay works. We also tell you about the differences between CarPlay and Android Auto.