Apple has made its biggest change to CarPlay and it's coming in iOS 13.
Before you get too excited, iOS 13 won't be released to the general public until around September. You can access the closed beta firmware with a developers account or when Apple releases the open beta in July, you can access it by being a member of Apple's beta program (free). It's something to look forward to because I see this as a major improvement. All that's left is adding compatibility for the native TrueTouch controls in the RDX. One can only dream....
New to CarPlay:
In the photo below, you will see the new CarPlay dashboard. It include a small map (Apple Maps only), quick links for finding places in the area, music controls, and calendar events. Yes calendar events. You can now glance at your calendar using CarPlay in your RDX. Swipe over to the succeeding pages and you will have a familiar layout of app icons as you see now in CarPlay.
Apple has decoupled the infotainment screen from the phone. Meaning that using maps on your infotainment won't open maps on your phone. Same for music or whatever else you use. They are now independent displays.
Siri no longer takes over the entire screen when issuing commands. Great if you are making commands while trying to navigate!
Siri now works with 3rd party music and navigation apps.
Settings app just for CarPlay. I have not messed with this yet but it provides users the ability to manage Do Not Disturb While Driving options.
Light mode and dark mode. Not much more to be said here...
The update gives Acura the ability to utilize the second screen for CarPlay in future firmware updates. No word if Acura will ever do this. I think we all know they should fix many other things first.
Apple Maps has improved tremendously and is closer in detail to Google Maps. This is present on the phone and CarPlay.
Apple Music has been redesigned.
Overall, CarPlay has a more attractive look. I'm very happy with it so far. If my opinions change over time, I'll make sure to leave an update!
