Over the past decade, we’ve seen some pretty amazing advances in phone technology come along such as smart apps, device integration, and as we’ll discuss in this article, smartphone integration with your car.

What are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?

If you’ve ever fumbled around with your phone while in your car (hopefully not while driving!) and had a strong intuition that there must be a better, safer and smarter way to use a phone in your car, then you were predicting the arrival of smartphone integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. These two respective applications take your handy smartphone and turn it into a bona fide smart car feature that integrates all of your apps, voice technology, and other useful smartphone features right into your vehicle’s electronics system. When you connect, a very familiar smartphone screen pops up on your car’s display with all of your apps ready to go. One of the biggest incentives behind this technology is to give you a reason to put your phone down (if safety wasn’t enough of a reason!) and be able to access all its features using steering wheel buttons and voice activation. The hands-off accessibility of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are being hailed as a revolutionary achievement in both car and phone technology which seamlessly integrates to give drivers a safer, more-accessible and technology-friendly driving experience.

Taking Full Advantage of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

Just like on your phone, you can navigate across a list of apps while making a selection using the steering wheel buttons, your touchscreen display, or voice assistance using your phone’s respective voice command program (such as Siri or OK Google). With impressive voice control features, smartphone and car integration makes it possible to make phone calls, pull up voice-activated GPS and directions, change radio stations and much more without ever taking your eyes off the road. Need directions as you’re driving and looking out for street signs? Just use voice activation to launch Google Maps or Apple Maps and plot a turn-by-turn course or ask Siri or OK Google where you are and where to go. This can be really handy in case you don’t have a GPS system installed in your car or prefer real-time voice commands over manual input. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto also integrate seamlessly with your car’s radio features, allowing you to connect your phone to your radio display and control everything from your steering wheel just as you would with your radio. Another great feature is you can easily pair your respective app with your car’s Bluetooth-enabled radio to play music on your car’s audio system. This means you can play any audio output from your phone over your car’s sound system, including OK Google, Siri, and GPS voice response. You’ll also be able to customize most of your integrated app features well beyond the default settings, and can use your favorite GPS apps such as Waze instead of Google Maps and music apps such as Pandora, Spotify and podcast applications with the same seamless integration. Perfect for driving, this technology also includes built-in weather cards integrated with your phone’s GPS, and communication apps such as Skype and your phone’s texts can be read out loud by the system. All of these combined features and more bring a new level of interactive technology to your car and ultimately make it possible to use your phone while driving without ever picking it up.

Are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Compatible with My Car?

If your car was built in the last several years, chances are that it’s perfectly compatible with both of these apps and you’ll benefit greatly from integrating your phone into your car’s electronic systems. Most of the world’s popular car manufacturers offer this feature as the list quickly grows to include pretty much all of them. You also have the liberty of integrating Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with plenty of advanced aftermarket radio and stereo systems that can be installed in your vehicle. As this technology evolves, you’ll see it becoming commonplace if not universal as it assimilates countless car features and simplifies electronic software by simply building upon already advanced smartphone apps and digital automation. In the very near future, you can expect integration with more advanced features such as auto Co-Pilot and next-generation apps and technology.