In this video, I check out the latest iOS 17 and what new features it comes with for Apple CarPlay. iOS 17 has consistently released, each year, alongside Apple’s new suite of iPhone hardware, usually around September or October. Since June, Apple app developers have had early access to iOS 17, and in July Apple released the public beta for non-developers to experience the upcoming iOS update.
We are currently at Beta 5 of iOS 17 at this time of recording, and with just a few months away now until its final release, I thought I’d jump in the car and show you exactly what’s new and also what’s soon to come with Apple’s new CarPlay experience.
So Apple hasn’t visually altered much in iOS 17 for CarPlay’s layout. That’s possibly something we will see towards the end of the year when they are supposedly going to release their All New CarPlay Experience. Which features multi-screen support, direct access to climate controls and car settings through CarPlay, and maybe an extra side weather widget panel on the Home Screen.
I found 11 new features in iOS 17 in this video, since last year’s iOS 16 release. Each one of these is timestamped below.
5 new/updated wallpapers
In iOS 17 we have five new or updated wallpapers. Two of the older wallpapers have been replaced with a new colourful wallpaper for iOS 17, and one extra red coloured background replaces the second. Two of the blue and grey wallpapers have an new updated design, and the older white/black gradient wallpaper is now has a more vintage, off-white sepia tone. As always, each new wallpaper comes with its own light and dark modes too.
Updated ‘Now Playing’ panel and screen
The homepage is much the same as iOS 16, with one slight change I noticed in the Now Playing panel, which now has a slightly thicker progress bar. Unfortunately, Apple still isn’t allowing you to interact with it though. This is also carried over to the full-screen Now Playing Screen, along with a new addition of a SharePlay icon in Apple Music.
SharePlay for Apple Music in CarPlay
SharePlay and AirPlay come to Apple CarPlay, for music apps at least. Currently, only Apple Music displays this option, but I’m sure we will see other apps adopt this feature after launch. SharePlay for CarPlay loosely mirrors how it works for SharePlay in iOS 16 for sharing content over FaceTime.
Selecting the icon will display a QR code, which once scanned on another iPhone, will allow other devices in the car the ability to add and alter tracks to a playlist. So you can have someone else DJ from their own phone without requiring access to one that’s connected to CarPlay. The other connecting devices don’t need an active Music subscription to connect or control the music that’s being played.
New SharePlay and CarPlay buttons in Music
Coinsiding with SharePlay, there is a new CarPlay logo in the Apple Music app, and also the AirPlay icon in the control centre has also changed to the CarPlay logo too.
AirPlay functionality
AirPlay wasn’t functional in the beta, but I can see that this feature could be a way for third-party apps like Spotify and YouTube Music to stream their audio from a secondary device, onto your CarPlay system, which would also be a useful feature for sharing music wirelessly from another device in the car.
Crossfade in Apple Music for CarPlay
Apple Music finally gets Crossfade support to allow you to set a period of time where tracks will blend into each other as if a DJ is mixing them together.
Apple Maps offline maps support
Apple’s own Maps app follows Google Maps with the ability to store offline versions of its maps on your phone devices. For CarPlay that is a welcome addition where data connections can drop and leave you without navigation tiles and even directions.
EV Charging in Apple Maps
Limited to certain EVs, you can still search for ‘EV Chargers’ in Apple Maps to see a custom view of EV charging points in your area, how many stations it has, and what charging type they have. Hopefully, live availability will come as more data and standards soon follow.
Siri trigger word has been updated
‘Hey Siri’ is now ‘Siri’, although this may trigger Siri more frequently, the ability to talk to Siri more naturally makes using it in CarPlay a little smoother.
Send message cards overlay apps
Message cards now overlay on top of screens and apps currently displaying, which makes the use of dictating messages more of a seamless visual experience. Cancel, Change and Send are still here, with updated visual feedback.
Mute message announcements button
The mute conversation button is now present on the preview message card. Tap this to mute future replies or dive into the new settings area for announcements to toggle them all on/off.
Next Generation of Apple CarPlay
Although iOS 17 hasn’t been updated we were all previewed back at WWDC2022. the Next Generation of Apple CarPlay will soon be upon us over the next few months/year, most likely ushered in by new models from manufacturers that will support multi-display, integrated system functions and the ability to display custom widgets and dials across its instrument clusters and displays.
I can’t wait!
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Summary
0:09 – New CarPlay Experience
0:32 – 5 new/updated wallpapers
0:58 – Now Playing panel and screen updated
1:17 – SharePlay for Apple Music in CarPlay
2:06 – New SharePlay and CarPlay buttons in Music
2:20 – AirPlay functionality
2:36 – Crossfade in Apple Music for CarPlay
2:53 – Apple Maps offline maps support
3:29 – EV Charging in Apple Maps
3:55 – Siri trigger word has updated
4:16 – Send message cards overlay apps
4:40 – Mute message announcements button
4:50 – Summary & future CarPlay
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