Photo: Apple
The CarPlay dashboard is a truly useful feature, there’s no doubt about this, and the recent addition of Google Maps makes it even better than before.
In essence, the dashboard is supposed to allow CarPlay users to run multiple apps side by side on the same screen, so you can have the navigation app, phone calls, and music playback controls in the same UI. The interface uses cards to display all these different apps, and you can switch between them with a simple tap.
Opening the dashboard is no rocket science, as the button in the bottom left corner on the CarPlay UI allows you to switch from the home screen to the dashboard and the other way around in a second.
But in some cases, the dashboard isn’t actually available, and everybody is wondering why.
Although it probably sounds rather awkward, the CarPlay dashboard is automatically blocked when you disable the Apple Maps app that comes pre-loaded with the iPhone. In other words, while Apple Maps doesn’t necessarily have to be the navigation app that you use on the dashboard, its removal blocks the feature from running altogether.
So what you need to do if the dashboard isn’t there on your CarPlay is just enable Apple Maps once again – you can do this from the App Store if you’re looking for an easy way for the whole thing.
The good news is that once you enable Apple Maps and CarPlay runs correctly, just switch back to Google Maps and you’re done.
In case you’re wondering how come the dashboard can’t run without Apple Maps, this is clearly something that has been supposed to work this way by design. Originally, the dashboard navigation card was locked to Apple Maps, but beginning with iOS 13.4, Apple started allowing other navigation apps to support it. At this point, only Google Maps can run on the dashboard, with Waze projected to get a similar update in the coming weeks.
Opening the dashboard is no rocket science, as the button in the bottom left corner on the CarPlay UI allows you to switch from the home screen to the dashboard and the other way around in a second.
But in some cases, the dashboard isn’t actually available, and everybody is wondering why.
Although it probably sounds rather awkward, the CarPlay dashboard is automatically blocked when you disable the Apple Maps app that comes pre-loaded with the iPhone. In other words, while Apple Maps doesn’t necessarily have to be the navigation app that you use on the dashboard, its removal blocks the feature from running altogether.
So what you need to do if the dashboard isn’t there on your CarPlay is just enable Apple Maps once again – you can do this from the App Store if you’re looking for an easy way for the whole thing.
The good news is that once you enable Apple Maps and CarPlay runs correctly, just switch back to Google Maps and you’re done.
In case you’re wondering how come the dashboard can’t run without Apple Maps, this is clearly something that has been supposed to work this way by design. Originally, the dashboard navigation card was locked to Apple Maps, but beginning with iOS 13.4, Apple started allowing other navigation apps to support it. At this point, only Google Maps can run on the dashboard, with Waze projected to get a similar update in the coming weeks.
Google News