Photo: Google
One of the most useful features on CarPlay is the dashboard, which is essentially a multi-card view that allows users to see navigation apps, the music player, the calendar, and phone calls on the same screen.
Originally, Apple locked the navigation app card to Apple Maps, but with iOS 13.4, which was published by the company in April this year, this particular feature also became available for third parties.
The only thing that was required to bring the new feature to users was dashboard support in the apps built by these third parties. As the developer of the most popular navigation apps on CarPlay, Google was expected to update Google Maps and Waze with support for the CarPlay dashboard quite fast.
And yet, here we are today, so many months after Apple unlocked the maps card on CarPlay, announcing a new Google Maps update that finally adds support for the dashboard for everyone using CarPlay in their vehicles.
“In the CarPlay Dashboard you can now switch or pause songs from your favorite media app, rewind or fast forward podcasts or audiobooks, or quickly check calendar appointments without ever leaving turn-by-turn navigation in Google Maps. The information is displayed in a split screen view so you can get the information you need while keeping your focus on the road,” Google explains in an announcement today.
The new Google Maps update is available in the App Store, and you can download it here – note that the new version goes live gradually for users across the world, so it may not show up at this point for some.
While Google Maps finally offers dashboard support, there’s still no word as to when the same update is supposed to come to Waze. The Google-owned app is one of the most popular choices both in Europe and in the United States, especially as it helps users get around the crowded traffic in their cities. Support for the dashboard is also missing from the latest Waze beta builds for iPhones.
The only thing that was required to bring the new feature to users was dashboard support in the apps built by these third parties. As the developer of the most popular navigation apps on CarPlay, Google was expected to update Google Maps and Waze with support for the CarPlay dashboard quite fast.
And yet, here we are today, so many months after Apple unlocked the maps card on CarPlay, announcing a new Google Maps update that finally adds support for the dashboard for everyone using CarPlay in their vehicles.
“In the CarPlay Dashboard you can now switch or pause songs from your favorite media app, rewind or fast forward podcasts or audiobooks, or quickly check calendar appointments without ever leaving turn-by-turn navigation in Google Maps. The information is displayed in a split screen view so you can get the information you need while keeping your focus on the road,” Google explains in an announcement today.
The new Google Maps update is available in the App Store, and you can download it here – note that the new version goes live gradually for users across the world, so it may not show up at this point for some.
While Google Maps finally offers dashboard support, there’s still no word as to when the same update is supposed to come to Waze. The Google-owned app is one of the most popular choices both in Europe and in the United States, especially as it helps users get around the crowded traffic in their cities. Support for the dashboard is also missing from the latest Waze beta builds for iPhones.
Google News