5 Hidden CarPlay Tricks and Secrets

CarPlay has become more than an interface between iPhone users and their car’s infotainment system. Once you’ve used it, it becomes an essential part of your daily driving routine.

It’s easy to use for most people, but if you know some tricks, you can improve your driving experience considerably. For instance, did you know you can view maps in 2D or 3D and even change the Maps app theme color? You’ll be surprised by how much more you can do with the software. Here are five CarPlay tricks and secrets to help you get more out of the system.

1. Make the Most of Siri

Did you know Siri can do more than send text messages or look up places and stuff on Google? Siri can be very helpful to you while driving if you know all it can do. For instance, The virtual assistant can set location-based reminders and use geofencing tech to determine your proximity to the destination. 

Siri can also do other things like control third-party apps, share your estimated time of arrival (ETA) with a contact, or activate different settings on CarPlay.

2. Find Your Car

Find Your Car is a trick that can save you time and energy in the most unexpected way. Imagine trying to find your parked vehicle in a big parking lot? Worse still, a new car parked in the middle of other new cars. 

You can avoid the hassle by activating Find Your Car on CarPlay. Let your iPhone remember where you parked. Go to Settings>Maps>Show Parked Location. Turn on the feature.

3. Avoid Tickets

Turn-by-turn directions are easy to follow, but did you know they can help you avoid a ticket? Yep, that’s right. However, the feature mainly works on highways, CarPlay displays the speed limits of different locations as you drive. You only need to maintain those limits and you won’t get any speed-related tickets. CarPlay can also pinpoint the location of speed cameras along your route (on Maps).

4. Remove Default Apps

By default, CarPlay adds apps that most people use. But you don’t have to stick with the calendar, maps, and the other default apps. You can delete them and add others. Also, you can arrange and rearrange how your apps appear on the CarPlay screen.

To remove, add, or rearrange apps, go to “Settings” on your iPhone and search for CarPlay. Next, click on customize and you will see the app list. Removable apps will have a minus (-) sign on the left side. To rearrange the apps, tap on the three lines on the right side of the app and drag.

5. Take Advantage of Improved Settings

For people using iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.5, there are a ton of improvements in the CarPlay settings to customize. You can choose whom to communicate with while driving (under Drive Focus settings), turn on Siri suggestions, change the color scheme to dark, light, or automatic mode, and change the background. 

To take advantage of the improved settings, open the Settings app on your iPhone, go to the General tab then CarPlay. Select the connected vehicle and customize the settings. Most manufacturers of new cars offer CarPlay, so get a new ride and enhance your driving experience.

Keep Exploring

CarPlay is designed to make driving convenient and enjoyable. But how much you get out of the system depends on how many features and functionalities you use. Don’t stop at the above tricks and secrets, explore further to get more.