QOTD: What Apple CarPlay Features Would You Like?

by Tim Healey

Published: September 17th, 2024

qotd what apple carplay features would you like

We took some time this morning to show you what new Apple CarPlay features await iOS users as iOS 18 launches.

I am wondering, though, what features would you like to see Apple add (or Android Auto, for you Droid users out there)?

I, for one, would love it if I could set things up so that if I am sitting in a drive-thru and decide to scroll social media, the radio doesn't get overtaken by an autoplay video.

I'd also love it if the battery charge icon doesn't get covered by the "Driving" icon, as happens in some cars I test.

Maybe a safety override that would allow my passenger to punch directions into the keyboard when using maps, so I don't get locked out while the car is motion and I end up screaming at Siri.

Beyond that, I am hard-pressed to think of other features I'd like, though I bet I could noodle up a few more if spent an hour or two on it.

What say you?

Sound off below.

[Image: Hadrian, Vladimka production/Shutterstock.com]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#AppleCarPlay #QOTD #AndroidAuto #QuestionOfTheDay #Tech #SmartphoneMirroring

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 32 comments

JMII on Sep 20, 2024
This might be app specific but when clicking on SiriusXM I wish the default was the channel list not the song I'm listening to now. Basically I want it to be easier to scan / flip thru the channels. With iOS18 Apple is finally letting user customize the UI / home screen and this needs to move over to CarPlay ASAP. As is its really locked down display wise. However overall CarPlay is 10X better then the built in nav and voice commands in my Hyundai. Its great to have a list of places I've searched (history) on my iPhone that sync immediately via CarPlay. Just this week I was traveling for work so my hotel, local restaurants and client location (that I had browsed previously) popped up in my rental via CarPlay. No need to search again or look up the addresses using the car's OEM nav. When it was time to return to the airport my calendar already knew that was likely my destination so it was the first choice on the map. Stuff like this is what makes the integration and syncing with your phone so good. Plus Siri has gotten very good at speech to text. I was able to text my wife with my status and estimate arrival time all hands free. I didn't have to learn anything new via different buttons or UI on my rental, it just worked thru CarPlay like being in my personal car at home.

Like Reply
William on Sep 21, 2024
I'd like the weather app to be available.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

KOKing I owned a Paul Bracq-penned BMW E24 some time ago, and I recently started considering getting Sacco's contemporary, the W124 coupe.
Bob The answer is partially that stupid manufacturers stopped producing desirable PHEVs.I bought my older kid a beautiful 2011 Volt, #584 off the assembly line and #000007 for HOV exemption in MD. We love the car. It was clearly an old guy's car, and his kids took away his license.It's a perfect car for a high school kid, really. 35 miles battery range gets her to high school, job, practice, and all her friend's houses with a trickle charge from the 120V outlet. In one year (~7k miles), I have put about 10 gallons of gas in her car, and most of that was for the required VA emissions check minimum engine runtime.But -- most importantly -- that gas tank will let her make the 300-mile trip to college in one shot so that when she is allowed to bring her car on campus, she will actually get there!I'm so impressed with the drivetrain that I have active price alerts for the Cadillac CT6 2.0e PHEV on about 12 different marketplaces to replace my BMW. Would I actually trade in my 3GT for a CT6? Well, it depends on what broke in German that week....
ToolGuy Different vehicle of mine: A truck. 'Example' driving pattern: 3/3/4 miles. 9/12/12/9 miles. 1/1/3/3 miles. 5/5 miles. Call that a 'typical' week. Would I ever replace the ICE powertrain in that truck? No, not now. Would I ever convert that truck to EV? Yes, very possibly. Would I ever convert it to a hybrid or PHEV? No, that would be goofy and pointless. 🙂
ChristianWimmer Took my ‘89 500SL R129 out for a spin in his honor (not a recent photo).Other great Mercedes’ designers were Friedrich Geiger, who styled the 1930s 500K/540K Roadsters and my favorite S-Class - the W116 - among others. Paul Bracq is also a legend.RIP, Bruno.
ToolGuy Currently my drives tend to be either extra short or fairly long. (We'll pick that vehicle over there and figure in the last month, 5 miles round trip 3 times a week, plus 1,000 miles round trip once.) The short trips are torture for the internal combustion powertrain, the long trips are (relative) torture for my wallet. There is no possible way that the math works to justify an 'upgrade' to a more efficient ICE, or an EV, or a hybrid, or a PHEV. Plus my long trips tend to include (very) out of the way places. One day the math will work and the range will work and the infrastructure will work (if the range works) and it will work in favor of a straight EV (purchased used). At that point the short trips won't be torture for the EV components and the long trips shouldn't hurt my wallet. What we will have at that point is the steady drip-drip-drip of long-term battery degradation. (I always pictured myself buying generic modular replacement cells at Harbor Freight or its future equivalent, but who knows if that will be possible). The other option that would almost possibly work math-wise would be to lease a new EV at some future point (but the payment would need to be really right). TL;DR: ICE now, EV later, Hybrid maybe, PHEV probably never.