Apple CarPlay Requirements

[Firefly Ship Works]

Do I need an iPhone to use CarPlay? I've used Android phones for 15 years, but I also have an iPad. The iPad only has WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, i.e. no LTE. If a cellular connection is necessary to use CarPlay, could I use my Android phone as a hotspot and connect the iPad to it to enable CarPlay? (The reason I'm asking, instead of just trying it for myself is because I'm waiting on delivery of my MME. My current car is a Tesla, which is neither CarPlay nor Android Auto compatible.)

Apple is frustrating for me because I'd like to have an Apple watch, but Apple tells me I must also have an iPhone to get full functionality from their watch. They say having an iPad isn't good enough to enable full watch capability, which makes no sense to me. So I refuse to buy an iPhone just so I can also buy an Apple Watch. And I'm sure as hell not going to buy an iPhone just to use CarPlay.

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[rugedraw]

I don't have the answer to your question because I am team Android myself, but curious: What do you want out of CarPlay that you can't get from Android Auto? Or do you just like it better?

 

[garyd9]

The obvious question is: why not use android auto?

 

[d_k_g]

You can’t use an iPad with CarPlay.

same question though - why not android auto?

 

[Firefly Ship Works]

I've never used CarPlay or Android Auto. Both seem to have their own devoted following. I want to try both so I can see for myself which one I prefer.

 

[garyd9]

I've never used CarPlay or Android Auto. Both seem to have their own devoted following. I want to try both so I can see for myself which one I prefer.

Find a friend that has an iPhone and ask them to demo carplay for you.

Or, find a cell provider that offers a trial period. I think TMobile still does this. Start a new line with them and get a cheap iphone (iphone 16e.) Don't port your number over, just start a new line. Attach it to carplay and tinker for a few days. Then bring the phone back to where you got it and tell them you're unhappy and want to return and cancel.

 

[Firefly Ship Works]

Find a friend that has an iPhone and ask them to demo carplay for you.

Or, find a cell provider that offers a trial period. I think TMobile still does this. Start a new line with them and get a cheap iphone (iphone 16e.) Don't port your number over, just start a new line. Attach it to carplay and tinker for a few days. Then bring the phone back to where you got it and tell them you're unhappy and want to return and cancel.

I'll give that a try when my car is delivered. All I have so far is a build date of June 30.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I don't have any major experience with Android Auto, but I would assume from its faithful following who won't buy a new GM car (or other car that doesn't support AA or CP), its functionality is great. Personally, if I were you I'd just go AA and not monkey around with doing a work-around so you can audition CP since you have an Android phone. ?‍?

 

[d_k_g]

I am an apple fanboy, but if your digital life is android-centric you probably just want to stick with that. I can’t imagine the headaches of using android everywhere EXCEPT in your car.

Also, unless you plan on buying an iPhone you don’t have a choice anyway. As I said, CP won’t work with iPads. From what I’ve seen AA provides the same basic feature set anyway.

 

[garyd9]

The last I looked, AA and CP were pretty much in parity in terms of features. At one time, AA was a bit more flexible in what you could run, but I don't think that's the case anymore.

At one time, carplay had an advantage over AA in that Apple Maps could retrieve the car's state of charge (and use it for routing), but I think Google Maps running on AA can now also do the same (and might even be better.)

Both have a fairly decent voice assistant to accomplish tasks. Both have music, messages, calls, maps, etc.

 

[FitGreek]

Do I need an iPhone to use CarPlay? I've used Android phones for 15 years, but I also have an iPad. The iPad only has WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, i.e. no LTE. If a cellular connection is necessary to use CarPlay, could I use my Android phone as a hotspot and connect the iPad to it to enable CarPlay? (The reason I'm asking, instead of just trying it for myself is because I'm waiting on delivery of my MME. My current car is a Tesla, which is neither CarPlay nor Android Auto compatible.)

Apple is frustrating for me because I'd like to have an Apple watch, but Apple tells me I must also have an iPhone to get full functionality from their watch. They say having an iPad isn't good enough to enable full watch capability, which makes no sense to me. So I refuse to buy an iPhone just so I can also buy an Apple Watch. And I'm sure as hell not going to buy an iPhone just to use CarPlay.

So technically, you can Bluetooth both phones for example, if your work phone is android you can connect one phone and have your iPad. If it has cellular capability you can connect that and use that as CarPlay I believe but when you’re using hotspot, it actually absorbs so much of your data unless if you’re on unlimited plan.
But I can’t really say because I just have CarPlay Apple phone and my Mach 23 right now is playing tug-of-war between sink built-in system and CarPlay. Everything works well up until I get phone calls. Then it starts to wake up and play tug-of-war dropping CarPlay bouncing back-and-forth with sync, but you should be able to connect to your iPad if it does have cellular capabilities And still connect your android phone

 

[FitGreek]

The last I looked, AA and CP were pretty much in parity in terms of features. At one time, AA was a bit more flexible in what you could run, but I don't think that's the case anymore.

At one time, carplay had an advantage over AA in that Apple Maps could retrieve the car's state of charge (and use it for routing), but I think Google Maps running on AA can now also do the same (and might even be better.)

Both have a fairly decent voice assistant to accomplish tasks. Both have music, messages, calls, maps, etc.

So I see you have the 25 Maki is it rear wheel drive and how does it compare if you had one before that year next do you have any problems with your sink system and CarPlay bouncing back-and-forth? Because my 23 Mach e every time there’s a new software update. It just gets dumber lol meaning there’s less features and they’ve been taking away since purchasing it for example CarPlay and sync although they’re both up-to-date. They fight each other even though I’m tethered to CarPlay. Everything works through Siri and when I ask anything from Ford, the sync program doesn’t recognize any of commands when I get telephone calls and I’m on CarPlay it just drops. Are you experiencing any of this with the 25 or have you had any hiccups because I think I’ll be having to do a buyout through Ford because of the firmware capabilities not being able to handle the software updates

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