What CarPlay does, and how it works with cars
This post is adapted from CarPlay for automakers, a Punchkick strategy guide for automotive brands.
What CarPlay does
CarPlay delivers many of the core features of iOS to the car through a special automobile-specific interface. Straight from their dashboards, users can place phone calls, correspond via SMS and iMessage in Messages, get directions in Maps, and listen to their iPhone’s on-board music library in the Music app. What’s more, users can make use of Siri Eyes Free to get information about the weather and direct voice commands to their devices. But CarPlay is more than a greatest-hits view of iOS functions—both automobile manufacturers and app developers have roles to play in the CarPlay experience.
Car interiors are covered in buttons and knobs controlling the vehicle’s various functions, many of which are unique to the on-board entertainment systems—also known as “infotainment” systems. With CarPlay, these physical controls aren’t left on the curb, as volume dials and directional buttons can be used to navigate or interact with the CarPlay interface. Vehicles without touchscreen dashboard displays can offer physical controls in place of touch controls, and vehicles without any type of display can still make use of CarPlay features like Siri Eyes Free and voiceover turn-by-turn navigation. At present, most major car manufacturers have announced intentions to support CarPlay in upcoming 2015 models—including giants like Chrysler, Toyota, Chevrolet, BMW, and Nissan.
For developers, the opportunity for iOS apps on CarPlay is still revealing itself. As it stands, developer access to CarPlay APIs is limited to a select number of partners, and no publicly accessible CarPlay API exists as part of the standard iOS SDK. However, in addition to Apple’s Podcasts app and Beats Music, third-party audio streaming apps like Spotify, Rdio, and Overcast have partnered with Apple to develop CarPlay versions of their applications. These apps make use of straightforward track list and “now playing” views, but represent the first examples of how CarPlay apps could look and feel. Apple promises that more third-party additions are coming soon, and hints that developer access might expand in coming versions of iOS. But despite its secretive nature, there’s still a lot we already know about CarPlay—and a lot we can assume about its future development trajectory.
How CarPlay works with cars
CarPlay is not a car-specific version of the full iOS operating system. In fact, prior to initiating CarPlay by plugging in an iPhone, no Apple-written code exists in the car’s entertainment system. Many auto manufacturers ship entertainment systems running a variant of BlackBerry’s QNX-based operating system, which has become common among recent vehicles. CarPlay works as a virtual machine above this native OS, integrating with certain manufacturers’ native control systems, allowing compatibility with a wide range of cars and dashboard capabilities.
When an iPhone connects to a CarPlay-enabled car through a Lightning cable, the device automatically handshakes with the vehicle and delivers car-specific interface elements. The growing family of apps that support CarPlay aren’t running on the car’s entertainment system, but instead run on the iPhone and display interfaces on the car’s dashboard display. (And, as previously mentioned, CarPlay-compliant vehicles technically don’t even need a display, as users can make use of Siri Eyes Free and other features by way of physical in-car controls.)
Apple’s approach with CarPlay from an iOS perspective is novel in its simplicity—unlike the platform’s relationship with Apple Watch, which uses WatchKit to display wearable-specific views on the Watch OS device—the company didn’t develop an entire new operating system for automobiles. Put simply, car manufacturers won’t need to change much about their entertainment systems to be compatible. But iOS developers need significantly more work to get their apps up to speed with automakers—including contact with the mothership itself.