A few days ago I was able to buy myself one of those popular external displays for my car off of TikTok Shop. By doing this, it will enable me for the first time ever to have access to Apple CarPlay in my vehicle.
I currently drive a 2016 Hyundai Accent hatchback. It’s a good car, gets good gas mileage, and most importantly, I have it paid off!
One of the things about it though over the years is that the display for it looks like something you’d see out of cars between 2010-2012. In fact, I cannot even use Bluetooth on it because the feature is not available for me to connect my iPhone to it that way. Instead, I have to use either a USB port to connect it or via an aux cable. That is no way to live in 2026.
With that said, now that I have the CarPlay display on the way in the mail, here are the following aspects about it I am most excited about.
- Apple Maps: Most of us have become accustomed to being able to use our iPhones as a way to get directions from Apple Maps, or other sources like Google Maps or Waze. What I look forward to most with my new CarPlay display is that I’ll be able to get have a nice-sized screen and view a clearer map and not have to look down at my iPhone to make sure I know where I’m heading.
- Apple Podcasts: While I do not listen to many podcasts while I’m driving, I like being able to have this feature and, again, see it all from the CarPlay screen.
- Apple Books: Again, I don’t listen to many audiobooks from Apple Books, but the option here is good to have.
- Phone calls: I’m not one for having phone calls going while I’m driving, but you never know when it could come in handy.
- TuneIn: I’m not planning on using this anytime soon since I do not have unlimited data on my cellular plan, but I do like being able to listen to BBC Radio 3 or BBC Radio 3 Unwind (yes, there are differences) from my iPhone, so if the day ever comes where I get that unlimited data package, I’ll be able to use the TuneIn app for that. The same can be said for Global Player’s app too since I like the Classic FM Movies and Classic FM Calm stations too, even if they do have ads.
Apple CarPlay is an Apple feature I have been wanting to have a for a while in my car and I’m glad that I’ll likely be able to start using it by sometime this week.
Stay tuned for my full review on this in the days to come.
