It's no secret that automakers have struggled with infotainment interfaces. Because of this, tech-savvy vehicle owners and industry pundits have called on car companies to provide a "dumb" screen in the dash that can connect to a mobile device that already has all of a driver's apps, contacts, and music—and usually provides better (not to mention less expensive) navigation. That hasn't stopped companies from further developing infotainment interfaces of their own, but the truth is that Apple's CarPlay outdoes most of the proprietary systems out there. CarPlay essentially uses your iPhone as your infotainment command center, letting you make calls, listen to music, and get turn-by-turn GPS directions, most of which can be activated by your voice. If you own an iPhone and an CarPlay-compatible vehicle, you won't be disappointed.
Getting Into Gear
We recently tested CarPlay in a 2016 Honda Civic Touring ($28,335.00 at Truecar) , in addition to several other vehicles over the last year. But this is the first time we tested CarPlay and Android Auto side by side. This review is a deep dive into CarPlay; you can find a similar analysis of Android Auto in our separate review of that system.
The Civic is different from other CarPlay-compatible vehicles we've tested in that it has a separate 1.5-volt USB port for the HondaLink smartphone interface that your iOS device needs to be plugged into. Then an icon on the in-dash touch screen can be selected to launch CarPlay, which needs to be enabled on your iPhone.
Once CarPlay is launched, the Honda head unit switches to Projection Mode to show some familiar iOS icons. These include Phone, Music, Maps, and Messages on top, and Now Playing, Podcasts, Audiobooks, and an icon to revert back to Honda's native infotainment interface on the bottom. A clock, signal strength and Wi-Fi indicators, and a Home button are on the left side of the screen. A second screen, for third-party apps, can be accessed by swiping to the right.
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You can find a full list of CarPlay-ready vehicles on Apple's site, which includes a number of 2016 and 2017 models from the likes of Audi, Ford, Kia, Volkswagen, and more. You can also add CarPlay to an older vehicle with a Double-DIN head unit like the $700 Pioneer AVH-4100NEX, which brings a 7-inch WVGA touch screen to your dash.
Leave It to Siri
One significant advantage of CarPlay over most other smartphone integration platforms is that Siri can handle many tasks by voice, and often works better than most other voice recognition systems (VR) we've tested.
Apple CarPlay
The Civic, like many OEM systems, has a Siri Eyes Free feature that allows you to access Apple's voice assistant by pressing and holding the VR button on the steering wheel. And while the Honda Civic we tested has a built-in hands-free text messaging feature, with Apple CarPlay and Siri the process is more straightforward. You can either press and hold the VR button and tell Siri you want to send a message, or just touch the Messages icon on the screen. Then speak the message and Siri will ask if you'd like to hear it played back before sending, and give you the option to change or cancel it. If you receive a reply or a new message, Siri alerts you and can read it after you select so on the touch screen.
Phone call functionality is just as simple and convenient. The interface has the same icons found on an iPhone—Favorites, Recents, Contacts, Keypad, and Voicemail—and the text is large and easy to read. A call can be made using Siri just by saying a contact or number out loud, and, unlike many automaker systems, it usually works.
Musically Inclined
CarPlay also has an advantage over much of the competition when it comes to music. I've tested hundreds of iPhone-integrated systems over the past decade and, although they've gotten better, the layout for CarPlay is far superior. Part of this is because of Apple's familiar Music app format used to enable finding a track by artist, album, song, or other means, without the delays and distractions of other systems.
CarPlay will play content from the music library on your device and iTunes Radio. It also provides additional content from up to 16 third-party apps including Pandora, MLB At Bat, and Audible. We tested the system with Pandora, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio, and had zero issues, which can't be said of many automaker systems, like HondaLink and Subaru StarLink.
You can also use Siri to call up music, but not with streaming apps. Another small nitpick is that CarPlay doesn't allow you to give a song on Pandora a thumbs-up or thumbs-down via voice, as you can with some OEM systems.
Apple CarPlay
Maps and Search
I prefer to use Google Maps over Apple Maps on my iPhone 6 , as I find that Google's app just works better overall (and is our current Editors' Choice). This being CarPlay, however, you're obviously going to be using Apple Maps. That said, the Apple Maps functionality here is still better than most built-in navigation systems for several reasons.
For starters, the Maps app has connected local search instead of a static onboard database like many older stock nav systems, and this allows you to easily search for almost anything. The interface has quick search icons along the top for gas, parking, restaurants, coffee, and groceries. There are also small favorites and search icons at the top right of the screen. And touch screens like the one in the Honda Civic let you use the familiar pinch-to-zoom feature found on the iPhone, which makes map control a snap.
On the far left is a clock symbol that shows destination history as well as locations embedded in emails and text messages sent to your phone. Of course, you can route to addresses in your contact list or enter a destination or search term as well. CarPlay can also find cloud-based points of interest via Siri, which can be done with casual speech commands like, "Find a Starbucks." I did a voice search for barbecue, and after finding the nearest restaurant, Siri also provided a brief review, showed how far away it was, and gave similar options nearby.
If there's one downside to the Maps app it's the graphics. They're super-simple and look dated compared with the better OEM systems on the market. And even though we like the navigation search feature, we've become accustomed to having apps like Yelp in some production cars to also provide user reviews, which are helpful when traveling.
Comparisons and Conclusions
You're likely already an iOS or Android user, and probably won't be switching your allegiance based on car functionality. That said, Android Auto offers Google Maps, as well as more apps in general, and allows for more voice search across the platform. In a head-to-head battle, Android Auto wins by a hair, and is our Editors' Choice.
But that's not to discredit CarPlay. It performs significantly better with messaging, music, phone calls, and navigation than many similar built-in systems on the market. Siri integration makes it safe and simple to control most essential features without looking away from the road or lifting a finger. And when you do need to glance down, Apple's menus are intuitive and easy to navigate. So if you already own an iPhone and a CarPlay-compatible vehicle, it's a win-win situation.
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