CarPlay

New cad models these days are almost expected to have one form of integration with mobile ecosystems or another. That means either letting users hook up to a manufacturer's proprietary system or directly integrating Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Just because it's expected doesn't mean it has to come for free, which is the rather unpopular position BMW made a few months back. Now it's making a U-turn and will not charge owners of 2019 and 2020 models $80 a year just to use CarPlay in their cars.

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Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both getting a big update this year, but if your current car lacks support for either then it's Sony's new supersized touchscreen head-unit that might be more appealing. The new Sony XAV-AX8000 Media Receiver is designed to slot into a single-DIN space on your dashboard, but unfurl, Transformers-style, into something a lot more impressive.

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Apple CarPlay will get some huge changes in iOS 13, and while the new iPhone software has a number of improvements, it's the driving software that may be most important. 90-percent of new cars sold in the US now support CarPlay, a dashboard-specific interface that offers a safer, cleaner UI for drivers.

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It's taken a bizarrely long length of time, but Toyota is finally adding Android Auto to its cars and trucks - assuming you have the right model, that is. The automaker made the quiet announcement alongside the far more brash reveal of the 2020 Toyota Sequoia TRD Pro at the Chicago Auto Show today, with the new utility being among the first to feature Google's smartphone projection interface.

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Apple has just rolled out version 12.1.3 of iOS and while the numbering does suggest it’s just a maintenance update, it’s one that many users might want to apply ASAP. No, it doesn’t add any new feature or activates a hidden one. Instead, it fixes bugs users have been experiencing across almost all of Apple’s products except Macs that have been giving them no small amount of heartache in the past weeks since iOS 12.1.2.

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Mazda has begun offering its long-anticipated Apple CarPlay and Android Auto upgrade for existing cars, offering drivers a straightforward way to bring the smartphone projection tech into their current vehicle. While the automaker began offering both Apple and Google's systems in its most recent models earlier this year, it also bucked auto industry trends by promising an upgrade route that didn't involve buying a whole new car.

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Jaguar Land Rover is adding Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support to its dashboards, starting with the 2019 I-PACE EV but also offering the smartphone interfaces across various other models. The news addresses one of the lingering frustrations among Land Rover, Range Rover, and Jaguar drivers, though they'll have to buy a new car in order to get the updated infotainment.

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Waze for Apple CarPlay has arrived, bringing one of the most frequently requested navigation apps to the iPhone's car infotainment system. The update follows Apple's softening of the limits around third-party apps and CarPlay, which until recently had seen only the Cupertino company's own Apple Maps available for use.

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Google Maps has navigated its way to CarPlay, with Apple's in-car infotainment interface opening up to Google's app with the arrival of iOS 12. One of the most-requested features of CarPlay since it launched, it means no longer being forced to use Apple Maps when you hook your iPhone up to a compatible in-car infotainment system.

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For a time, iOS locked its doors to other web browsers like Firefox unless those used its WebKit web engine. While that is in the past, there are still other parts of Apple’s ecosystem that remain closed off to other players unless they’re to concede some ground to Apple. One of those is CarPlay, which can only use Apple Maps for its navigation. That’s changing in iOS 12 and now Google Maps has a beta that reveals just what it had to do to get in.

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Mazda has announced that an optional update is coming to all new vehicles that are fitted with the MZD Connect multimedia system. The update will allow iPhone users to take advantage of Apple CarPlay integration. That means improved support for making calls, sending messages, and listening to Apple Music.

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If the iPhone's CarPlay had one infuriating limitation, it's been Apple's lock-down on third-party apps, but some of the most frequently-requested are finally making an appearance. Announced at the WWDC 2018 keynote today, the good news is that apps like Google Maps and Waze are coming to the dashboard.

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