Third-party CarPlay apps like Waze, Simple Radio, GasBuddy, and Weather on the Way all offer helpful alternatives to default apps and capabilities.
Whether you use a car for your regular commute to the office or just for picking up groceries, your best bud for those rides is likely either CarPlay or Android Auto. These in-car platforms let you run some smartphone apps on your vehicle’s infotainment system, use turn-by-turn navigation, send and receive messages and phone calls, listen to music, and even play some games when safely parked. The debate rages on whether Android Auto or Apple CarPlay is better — and in many cases, Android Auto might come out on top — but it often boils down to personal preferences.
CarPlay and Android Auto largely come pre-configured with the apps you can use while your phone is tethered to your vehicle. However, blindly sticking to default apps can be a mistake, especially when there are better alternatives out there. Apple CarPlay especially hosts a treasure of third-party applications that are often better than what’s already available. There are apps for finding open parking spots or EV charging stations, apps for providing you real-time weather information, and apps that can provide you even better directions than the default ones. In this guide, we’ve compiled a list of five underrated CarPlay apps that will make your experience better behind the wheel.
Notably, these aren’t just random picks. Each app has been selected after long term, extensive personal usage during my own road trips. On top of this, each app has been verified and listed based on the positive user ratings on the App Store.Waze
People are so used to Google Maps that they rarely consider alternatives. Yet it’s been my personal experience that Google Maps hasn’t been that accurate on more than one occasion. During a recent road trip in Europe, on multiple occasions, I was left stranded in the middle of nowhere! All thanks to Google Maps. Yet when I switched over to Waze, I found it surprisingly more accurate. The app has a 4.8-star rating on the App Store across 3.1 million user ratings.
Waze’s primary advantage is its crowdsourced reporting. While both Waze and Google Maps can help you avoid accidents and traffic jams, the question is which one does it better and how. Our own look into Waze vs. Google Maps for navigation found Waze superior for finding the fastest route to a location. Google Maps did have the edge when it came to providing more general information about your destination in terms of things like phone numbers, hours of operation, photos of the location, and reviews of places like restaurants.
Some other things which I liked about Waze over Google Maps is how easily you can pair and integrate apps such as Spotify or Apple Music. On top of that, I found the interface fresh, and I enjoyed the selection of voices you could choose from to read off navigation directions. It isn’t perfect, though. Because Waze is ad-supported, you will see them when your vehicle comes to a stop. On top of that, since Waze’s main unique selling point is user reports, you will find the UI cluttered with icons for things like potholes, police, and construction.Simple Radio
Is there a better way to kill time on a road trip than to play your favorite songs? I don’t think so. However, even your carefully curated Spotify or Apple Music playlist can go stale after a while.
