When CarPlay is working In your car’s infotainment system, there is a small, simple box in the bottom left corner.
Tapping it splits the view across multiple screens. It allows you to view content from multiple CarPlay apps at once, rather than one app dominating the entire screen and forcing you to switch between the ones you’re using. No it’s just saferwith more attention on the road instead of switching between apps, but it has also transformed the way I use CarPlay.
Most of my attention remains on the road, not on app menus.
It means safer driving
My biggest complaint with CarPlay was that I had to choose between keeping my GPS on (a necessity for those born without any sense of direction, like me) or paying attention to what I’m listening to. When Spotify starts a song that resonates with me, I try to add it to my Songs I Like list. That’s not easy to do when I’m driving down the interstate at 80 mph. I have to switch from Google Maps to Spotify, select the Now Playing option to see the current song, tap the plus sign to add it to my playlist, and then go back to Maps.
Sure, that may only take a few seconds in practice, but there is still time for something to happen and result in an accident. With split screen mode I can see the song that is playing and my GPS at the same time. Tapping the Spotify box brings up the Spotify app and allows me to quickly save a song, reducing the number of steps. Is it a perfect solution? No, not at all, but it is much better than the alternative.
Driving experience feels more unified
More like a cabin than an accessory.
When I started driving, cars didn’t have big screens inside. The most advanced technology in my car was satellite radio. When I started using CarPlay in its early versions, it felt disconnected and disjointed: a collection of different systems that almost, but not quite, worked together. With CarPlay in split-screen mode, I don’t feel like I’m jumping between tasks, but can instead monitor different streams of information at the same time. I can look down and see what song is playing, what events are happening later that day, and much more.
Of course, the screen can be customized. I give Google Maps the biggest slice of the pie because it’s what I need to see the most, but users can adjust CarPlay settings by going to Settings > General > CarPlayand then selecting the vehicle they want to customize. Select it from the list, then choose Applications either widgets. Apps let you modify the items you can quickly access from CarPlay, while widgets adjust how things appear on the screen. For example, I don’t need to know what’s next on my calendar while I’m driving, so I remove it from my settings. However, I want to know the temperature, so I leave it visible along with Spotify and Audible.
The downside? Reducing the amount of screen space makes navigation difficult
GPS works better in full screen
When I divide the screen into sections, it allows me to see more streams of information at once, but it also makes it difficult to use any of those streams, especially if it needs a decent amount of screen real estate. Like I said, I rely heavily on Google Maps to make sure I can find my way anywhere.
The split screen version of the app shows quite a bit of information, but not as much as the full screen version. I often revert to just using Google Maps when trying to navigate somewhere unknown, as I prefer a larger map and more directions. On the other hand, I’m also one of those people who turns off the radio when I’m trying to think, so clearly my brain doesn’t handle multitasking well.
CarPlay is great, but there is always room for improvement
carplay (and Android Auto) are two of the best vehicle innovations of recent years, but despite their prevalence, the tools still have plenty of room to grow. I use CarPlay daily and have noticed quite a few small annoyances over time. Giving too many commands too quickly can cause it to lag and behave strangely, and transitioning between apps takes much longer than it should.
CarPlay also makes it difficult to clear notifications, so if I try to see upcoming instructions at the same time a text message arrives, there’s a non-zero chance that it will read the text out loud instead of showing me where to turn.
