Raise your hand if, in your relationship, you’re the driver.
The missus and I just completed a 14-hour road trip from West Texas to her family home in Tennessee. During this trip, we pass through 100+-mile stretches with not a single gas station in sight. Through various ranch lands and remote areas, my cell phone signal constantly drifts in and out, a reminder that there are still parts of the USA without access to all the tech in the world.
Despite these stretches being desolate, they are still twisty with several turnoffs around where decades-old land deeds deemed necessary. In stretches like those, my favorite Apple CarPlay feature rears its head – offline maps. Whether it’s finding my way to a hunting plot in the wee hours of the morning or meandering through various back country highways with and without cell service, Apple’s offline maps keep me on the straight and narrow.
Navigation with no cellular service
Get anywhere, any time, no matter the conditions
You might not know this, but Apple Maps allows its users to download map regions directly to your iPhone or other Apple device. Then, you can enable turn-by-turn navigation within those regions even if you lose cellular service or Wi-Fi abilities. As the data is already stored on your device’s hard drive, it can give you directions just like if you were on an open stretch of interstate with full service.
This is especially handy in remote rural areas, national parks, mountainous areas, or even traveling abroad. I plan to use offline maps during my honeymoon to Ireland in just a few months to truly test out their international capability. Now if they could just teach me how to drive on the left side of the road. However, they can help reduce stress during large-scale international travel.
Quiz
CarPlay and in-car apps
Trivia challenge
From Siri shortcuts to third-party navigation — how well do you really know CarPlay?
CarPlayNavigationAppleAppsFeatures
In what year did Apple officially launch CarPlay?
Correct! Apple launched CarPlay in 2014, debuting it at the Geneva Motor Show in March of that year. Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo were among the first manufacturers to support it.
Not quite — CarPlay launched in 2014. Apple unveiled it at the Geneva Motor Show, with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo being the first car brands to offer compatibility.
Which navigation app was one of the first third-party options approved for CarPlay?
Correct! Google Maps was one of the first major third-party navigation apps approved for CarPlay, arriving in 2018. Before that, Apple Maps was the only built-in turn-by-turn option available.
The answer is Google Maps. It became one of the first approved third-party navigation apps for CarPlay in 2018, breaking Apple Maps’ monopoly on in-car directions.
What is the name of Apple’s next-generation CarPlay platform, announced at WWDC 2022, which takes over a car’s entire instrument cluster?
Correct! Apple simply calls it ‘next-generation CarPlay.’ Announced at WWDC 2022, it extends the CarPlay experience across multiple screens including the instrument cluster, offering deeper integration with vehicle systems.
Apple actually refers to it simply as ‘next-generation CarPlay.’ Announced at WWDC 2022, it goes far beyond the dashboard screen and can take over the entire instrument cluster and multiple displays throughout the cabin.
What is the minimum iPhone model required to use CarPlay?
Correct! CarPlay requires an iPhone 5 or later. Since the iPhone 5 was the first Apple device to feature the Lightning connector, all CarPlay-capable iPhones use Lightning or USB-C for wired connections.
CarPlay actually requires an iPhone 5 or later. The iPhone 5 introduced the Lightning connector, which is why it marks the starting point for CarPlay compatibility in Apple’s device lineup.
Which music streaming app was among the very first third-party audio apps available on CarPlay at launch?
Correct! Pandora was one of the earliest third-party audio apps supported on CarPlay. It was available at or near launch in 2014, giving drivers a streaming alternative to iTunes before Spotify joined the platform.
Pandora was actually one of the first third-party audio apps on CarPlay. Spotify came later, but Pandora was already there near launch in 2014, giving early adopters a streaming music option beyond iTunes.
Which wireless standard does wireless CarPlay use to stream content from your iPhone to the car’s head unit?
Correct! Wireless CarPlay uses Wi-Fi to stream the screen and audio from your iPhone to the car’s head unit, while Bluetooth is used only for the initial pairing and connection handshake. This allows high-bandwidth, low-latency data transfer.
Wireless CarPlay actually streams over Wi-Fi, not Bluetooth or NFC. Bluetooth handles the initial connection setup, but Wi-Fi does the heavy lifting for transmitting video, audio, and touch input in real time.
Waze, a popular CarPlay navigation app, was acquired by which company?
Correct! Google acquired Waze in 2013 for approximately $1.1 billion. Despite both Waze and Google Maps being Google products, they have been maintained as separate apps with different community-driven approaches.
Waze was acquired by Google in 2013 for around $1.1 billion. Interestingly, Google kept Waze as a standalone app rather than merging it into Google Maps, and both apps remain available on CarPlay today.
Which of these app categories is NOT officially supported on standard CarPlay as defined by Apple’s guidelines?
Correct! Apple does not allow full web browsers on CarPlay, as they would be too distracting for drivers. CarPlay supports carefully vetted categories like audio, messaging, navigation, and parking apps, but open-ended browsing is off the table for safety reasons.
Web browsers are not permitted on standard CarPlay. Apple restricts app types to reduce driver distraction, allowing categories like audio, navigation, messaging, and parking — but unrestricted web browsing doesn’t make the cut.
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Offline maps take the stress out of my international travel
If you travel abroad, then offline maps can be a lifeline
I’ve been to my fair share of countries, and as stated earlier, will be adding a few more in the not-so-distant future, and offline maps are a lifeline for me whenever we’re traveling. Sure, I get international data, but do I know what areas do and don’t get cell service like I do stateside? Absolutely not. That’s where offline maps come in. Whether it’s a night out on the town in Mexico City or a drive through the Canadian countryside, I like to know exactly where I’m going.
The capabilities of offline maps don’t stop there, though. You can still get ETAs and view points of interest without relying on a network connection, and depending on how much storage you have, the map regions can cover nearly a day’s worth of driving at a time. That being said, a clear roadmap isn’t the only benefit that offline maps can bring you.
A quick trick to manage data usage
International roaming can still be expensive
By opting to download your maps ahead of time, you can significantly cut down on your data usage during an international trip. I’ve seen some international data roaming costs soar upwards into the thousands of dollars. If you plan ahead and download the maps for your region, then you can avoid those costs entirely and save some real cash.
Your phone’s maps app works by constantly tracking your location and adjusting your route. That can get pretty hefty when it comes to long trips or being in new areas. As much as I enjoy traveling, I like saving money even more, and this little feature has saved me hundreds in roaming fees over the years. By processing navigational data, or anything else for that matter, locally on downloaded maps and apps, users have a dependable backup whenever network congestion or outages occur, which is bound to happen at some point or another.
Are there other options out there
Anyone can download offline maps these days
When Apple announced that it was bringing offline map downloading to its native platform, it closed a competition gap with Google that had been brewing for some time. Google Maps offered offline navigation for years before Apple, and there were even third-party apps that would offer offline downloads before for things like hiking and off-roading, such as AllTrails. When Apple Maps launched in 2012, it was evident that it was light years behind other offerings in the space in terms of features and accuracy, but in recent years, the platform has made up ground.
Even though we still don’t have a satellite view or smarter economic routing on Apple Maps, we do now have access to features like offline maps and driving focus mode to make Apple Maps a more attractive offer not only for native iPhone users, but for the broader navigational community as well.
