LOS
ANGELES—I went to the LA Auto Show in search of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay,
Google and Apple’s bids to bring your smartphone’s screen to your car.
CarPlay’s so far appeared only in a Ferrari and a Pioneer aftermarket line,
while Android Auto is still in beta. Still, at a small Hyundai booth in the South Hall, two
separate 2015 Hyundai Sonatas
demonstrated the technologies. No other automakers were showing them.
Apple CarPlay: Siri makes it smoother
In the
CarPlay-equipped Sonata,
the Apple rep plugged in her iPhone 6 Plus and showed me how Hyundai has integrated
CarPlay into the automaker’s own BlueLink infotainment system. A small icon for
"CarPlay" appears at the bottom of the main screen, which you tap to
enter CarPlay.
apple
carplay main screen la auto show 2014 Sarah Jacobsson Purewal
Apple
CarPlay's main screen shows buttons for the CarPlay-specific functions, as well
as a button to get to Hyundai's
own BlueLink infotainment system.
CarPlay
looks a lot like your iPhone's home screen, minus all the extraneous,
not-car-friendly apps, of course. On the left side of the touchscreen there's a
small bar that shows the time, your phone's signal strength, and the Home
button, which looks like the Home buttons of older iPhones. The rest of the
screen is dominated by apps, which appear the same as they do on the iPhone,
just larger. Each screen holds eight apps, and you can swipe to the left to see
more apps.
Apple
has optimized iOS 7.1 (and higher) for CarPlay. When your iPhone is plugged
into the car, phone-based tasks run a little smoother. For example, when you
tap the phone icon, Siri asks you who you want to call right away. "We
figured that you wouldn't be tapping the phone icon unless you wanted to use
the phone," the rep tells me. "So you don't have to go through a
litany of commands every time." To talk to Siri via CarPlay, you can
either tap and hold the Home button on the touchscreen (like you'd do on your
phone), or you can tap the voice button on the Sonata's steering wheel. It
was noticeably easier than other in-car voice systems I’d tried.
Apple
has also optimized its maps program to scour your emails and texts for
important addresses. When you open up the Maps app on CarPlay, you'll see a
list of places you might potentially want to go, such as offices, people's
homes, and restaurants. According to the rep, Apple makes sure to pick out
addresses only from people who are in your contacts list, so you won't end up
with addresses to random stores in promotional mailings, for instance.
While
your iPhone is connected to the car, it won't light up unless you want it to.
The default screen is black, but if you tap the phone accidentally, you'll see
a mirror of what's showing on the touchscreen. You can also bypass this screen
and start using the phone to its full extent, but Apple doesn't recommend that.
Still, the rep tells me that ultimately they figured it was safer not to lock
people out of their phones, lest they get frustrated and stop using CarPlay
altogether.
Android Auto: Closely tied to Google Now
Android
Auto’s still in beta, but the Google rep in the second Sonata showed me
how all you have to do is plug your phone into the car to launch it. There's no
button from the main screen, as with CarPlay.
android
auto beta main screen la auto show 2014 Sarah Jacobsson Purewal
Unlike
CarPlay, Android Auto doesn't look at all like what you have on your phone.
Android Auto hews more closely to Google Now. The main screen has Google Now
cards, which pop up with information or features that Google thinks you want at
any given moment. For example, when I got into the car there was a Google Now
card for a trip to LAX. "I scheduled a flight out of LAX at 3 p.m.,"
the Google rep tells me. "So Google figures that I probably want driving
directions to LAX."
To get
those directions, all he has to do is tap the card, and Google Maps
automatically opens up, full-screen. The rep walks me through a scenario where
he asks Google to tell him the weather in San Diego, and then follows up with a
question about what time the zoo is open. Although he never says "San
Diego Zoo," or "the zoo in San Diego," Google assumes (this
time, correctly) that he's talking about the San Diego Zoo, because of his
previous question.
android
auto beta music la auto show 2014 Sarah Jacobsson Purewal
You can
also pick a main function by tapping on one of the five icons at the bottom of
the screen for maps, phone, home, and music. Android Auto lets you stream music
from various sources, make phone calls, and even text people via voice.
The
fifth icon onscreen looks like a speedometer. Eventually, and tantalizingly,
that icon will take you to the car’s diagnostics systems. With CarPlay, you'd
have to exit out of CarPlay to find the internal diagnostics; with Android
Auto, you can go straight to the source.
Unlike
CarPlay, Android Auto does lock you out of your phone. If you want to use your
phone for non-approved activities (such as playing games or watching videos),
you won't be able to unless you unplug it from the car.
Hyundai wouldn't tell me when
Apple CarPlay or Android Auto will be available in its cars, but it will debut
in the 2015 Sonata
model and be pushed out as an update to current owners. It’s not certain
whether the 2015 Sonata will
be the first car on the road to have both, but it's definitely the first one
we've seen.
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