What Are Android Auto and Apple CarPlay?
Published Date: 10th Jun 2021
Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are two features of Android and Apple smartphones that car manufacturers have leveraged to provide integration with your phone and the touchscreen in your car.
More and more cars are being kitted it with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay support, and you may even find the feature as standard on some entry-level models.
The reason it is so popular is it provides a viable alternative to high-end car entertainment systems, leveraging the features of your phone. For example, you can use the favourites sat nav app from your phone displayed on the car's touchscreen and take advantage of any additional features you already have, for example, live traffic.
There are two types of integration, wired and wireless; wired is a little less convenient and the type of integration you might find on entry-level models of cars.
Bear in mind, when using the features on your phone, that you may be using data too.
You'll be hard to pushed to find a manufacturer that doesn't offer Android or Apple smartphone integration either as an option or as standard these days, but bear in mind there are caveats, for example, BMW and MINIs only have the option of Apple CarPlay.