Apple CarPlay updates in iOS 14

Its WWDC 2020 week (Worldwide Developers Conference), and some interesting announcements on new car related features built into iOS 14 have been announced.

Check out our guide to the latest news.

CarPlay

• Backgrounds  

Rather than matching your phones display appearance white for light and black for dark. You'll now have a choice of 5 dynamic colour themes which adjust lighter to darker depending on the time of day if auto appearance is selected.

• New Apps

These apps will be added by developers of current iPhone apps.

• EV Charging - See the nearest charging station for your vehicle.
• Parking - See how many available parking spots in the local car parks.
• Quick Food Ordering - pre-order your food whilst on the way to the restaurant.

iOS and CarPlay

These aren't CarPlay specific features, but upgrades to iOS which CarPlay makes use of.

Maps

Major overhaul in iOS14 and Apple have spent a long time improving their map data, with the rollout of the new maps in America first, then coming to UK, Ireland and Canada in Autumn.

• Red Light and Speed Camera locations alerted to the driver. 
• Siri has been given an overhaul too, now only popping up as an icon in the middle of the screen, the ability to send your ETA, and send voice messages.
• Navigation in Electric Vehicles will have EV charging stations displayed, the car will tell maps what type of vehicle you have and only show compatible chargers.
• Green Zones - drivers will be alerted to emission charge or areas where only certain vehicles can enter, you'll have the choice to enter or be diverted around.

CarKey

Digital car keys stored on your phone, to enter the vehicle tap your iPhone on the door handle.

The best part about CarKey is the ability to share the key via iMessage, giving the recipient full or limited access to the vehicles features and a timed short temporary access feature. 

The first reported car to support CarKey will be the 2021 BMW 5 Series.

Current iPhones which support this feature 

• iPhone XR
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2nd gen)