Hands-On With CarPlay in iOS 13: Everything That's New

Along with many new features for the iPhone and the iPad, iOS 13 brings updates to CarPlay, overhauling the interface for the first time in years and adding useful new functionality.

In our latest YouTube video, we went hands-on with ‌CarPlay‌ in iOS 13 to give MacRumors readers an idea of what's new with Apple's in-car platform.


‌CarPlay‌ in iOS 13 has a redesigned and revamped Home screen with new table views, rounded corners, and an updated Home button that swaps between a dashboard icon and an app row icon depending on what app you're using.

The new tile-like user interface displays the Maps app, Shortcuts, Siri suggestions, Music Now Playing interface, and upcoming Calendar events all at a glance, which is convenient. Tapping on any of the tiles opens up the relevant app. You can, of course, still access the standard icon list from previous versions of ‌CarPlay‌ with a swipe.

In the new Calendar app, you can see all of your upcoming events for the day, which is useful for when you get in the car in the morning. If a calendar event has a location associated with it, you can tap on the event and get directions to where you need to go.

carplaycalendar
Maps has an updated look and feel, and it takes advantage of all of the features in iOS 13. In supported areas, there's better detail for roads, buildings, parks, and more, and you can use the Favorites and Collections features to route to saved locations. It's also easier to find points of interest along your current route in Maps.

‌Siri‌ in Maps uses more natural language, which is a great update. As an example, instead of hearing "Turn right in 1,000 feet," ‌Siri‌ might instead say "turn right at the next traffic light."

carplaymaps
Updates to the Music app make it easier to navigate through your music library, playlists, radio stations, and more, so you can find just what you want to hear with little effort. The Now Playing UI has also been updated with album art throughout the entire ‌CarPlay‌ interface, which is an improvement over ‌CarPlay‌ in iOS 12.

carplaymusic
There's ‌Siri‌ support for third-party navigation apps, so you can ask ‌Siri‌ to do something like route you home using the Waze app instead of Apple Maps. In the future, ‌Siri‌ support could also come to music apps like Spotify in ‌CarPlay‌ thanks to new SiriKit APIs. You're also now able to use "Hey ‌Siri‌" across all vehicles for easier ‌Siri‌ activation.

For those with HomeKit products like garage door openers, there's a handy ‌Siri‌ suggestions feature that does things like bring up an icon to open up your garage when you approach home. There are multiple ‌Siri‌ suggestions like this that are going to vary based on your ‌CarPlay‌ usage, but it's definitely a neat and useful addition.

‌CarPlay‌ has a Settings app in iOS 13, so you can adjust Do Not Disturb While Driving, turn ‌Siri‌ on and off, turn off album art, and switch the appearance between the default dark mode and a new lighter user interface.

Also new to ‌CarPlay‌ is support for using ‌CarPlay‌ and your ‌iPhone‌ at the same time. In earlier versions of ‌CarPlay‌, if you had Maps up but wanted to do something like change the music on your phone, it would kick you out of Maps on ‌CarPlay‌. That's not the case anymore, so now you can have Maps up while doing other things on your ‌iPhone‌.

All in all, iOS 13 brings some much needed changes to the ‌CarPlay‌ experience, and it should be a welcome update for ‌CarPlay‌ users. Know of an iOS 13 ‌CarPlay‌ feature that we left out? Let us know in the comments.

Related Roundup: CarPlay

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...

Top Rated Comments

PlainEnvelopes Avatar
73 months ago
I love the new apple car play. Made running the beta on my phone worth it.
[doublepost=1565986126][/doublepost]
I have a very old car so bear with me a second because I'm thinking of buying a newer car soon: Do any of these new features mean that they'll work on *current* cars with CarPlay support, or would the manufacturers/dealerships also need to update something on their end?
If the car you are going to purchase has apple car play and a phone running IOS 13 that is all you have to do. No dealership help is needed.

Unless you have a new BMW and they charge you to use apple car play.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleHaterLover Avatar
73 months ago



Also new to CarPlay is support for using CarPlay and your iPhone at the same time. In earlier versions of CarPlay, if you had Maps up but wanted to do something like change the music on your phone, it would kick you out of Maps on CarPlay. That's not the case anymore, so now you can have Maps up while doing other things on your iPhone.
****ING FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you can text at a stop light
[doublepost=1565986514][/doublepost]
I have a very old car so bear with me a second because I'm thinking of buying a newer car soon: Do any of these new features mean that they'll work on *current* cars with CarPlay support, or would the manufacturers/dealerships also need to update something on their end?
The beauty of CarPlay is that it is essentially a video running on your iPhone being streamed to the stereo. Your car's function is solely to provide input (i.e. the touchscreen says such and such area is being pressed), and everything is rendered on the iPhone. So as long as CarPlay does not require additional funcionality (e.g. Multi Touch), which I believe is highly unlikely for the time being and for a long time coming, since brand new 2020 cars are still using the initial CarPlay protocols, it will still work.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PezRadar Avatar
73 months ago
If an automaker does not have smartphone integration, then CarPlay is fantastic, but if you happen to own a car with high quality smartphone integration, like BMW, then CarPlay is total junk.

The list of CarPlay's deficiencies is too long to list when you compare CarPlay to smartphone integration from companies that have been enhancing their smartphone integration for over a decade.
The only deficiency you speak of is not a deficiency at all. It's user error which is what you are running into.

Nightmode on Carplay is reliant on the lights on the instrument dash being turned to a brightness where it isn't at the top level brightness at night. Seeing how you've only tested this in rental cars, most likely the rental cars have their instrument dash lights at the max brightness (or an internal setting in their own UI set to max brightness) which causes Apple to think you want the brightest possible setting.

For example, i turn the dial on my Mazda MX-5 RF's instrument cluster lights down 1 notch from the brightest setting and instantly night mode auto activates on my iPhone (and yes it will auto turn to day when the car believes its bright enough outside). If I leave it on the brightest setting, it will keep day mode on thinking I want the brightest things like my cluster to be blaring at my face.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joshwenke Avatar
73 months ago
Interesting that Dan doesn't use Apple Music
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
name99 Avatar
73 months ago
I'm clearly missing something fundamental with carplay. I was actually disgusted with the original carplay because there wasn't a contacts app - something I would use ALL THE TIME. In the new version it's still missing :-(. I'm totally like WTF. What's the reason for not including it - am I missing something???
The expectation is that WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING, you will say "Hey Siri, call Fred Flintstone", not scroll through an app trying to find contact info...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kabeyun Avatar
73 months ago
If an automaker does not have smartphone integration, then CarPlay is fantastic, but if you happen to own a car with high quality smartphone integration, like BMW, then CarPlay is total junk.
Funny, because, having owned a BMW, “total junk” is how I’d describe iDrive. It’s half the reason I got rid of the car. Maybe BMW Cockpit will be better. I guess there’s something out there for everyone.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)