14 DAY TRIAL // It’s happening, folks! After so many years, Google Maps arrives in our cars thanks to Apple CarPlay support, becoming the first third-party app to be offered as an Apple Maps alternative.
The Cupertino-based tech giant announced earlier this year at WWDC that third-party navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze would get CarPlay support with an iOS 12 update.
And it looks like the new version that launched earlier this week already comes with this feature. Coupled with a new Google Maps update released on Monday, this means Apple Maps is no longer the only navigation app that you have to use when driving.
Google Maps comes without Siri support, however, though you can use the integrated voice assistant that Google offers baked in. This means you can still dictate things like streets and addresses, and given Google’s tech is already pretty advanced, there should be no problem in finding your destination.
Furthermore, if you’ve already used Google Maps elsewhere and saved things like addresses in your Google account, they will all be there when launching the app on CarPlay.
Waze support also in the works
As for Waze, which is currently the number one traffic navigation app on both platforms, it’s projected to receive CarPlay support sometime very soon. Waze is one of the most anticipated releases on CarPlay, and earlier this month, beta tests have shown that the support for Apple’s system is already in an advanced stage.
If development is completed as planned, Waze should be released with CarPlay support in the coming weeks.
Both Google Maps and Waze already feature Android Auto support and can be connected to compatible car displays using an Android phone. However, on iPhones CarPlay has limited the navigation options to Apple Maps, which has always been considered less advanced than Google’s solutions.
Apple, however, is working on making Apple Maps more accurate with new data from the largest markets, though it’s likely this will take a lot of time, especially given the mapping coverage offered by Google Maps.