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Alpine to release Carplay aftermarket radio in Fall


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Even when CarPlay lands, it will be a little while before it really comes into its own I think. 3rd party integration is audio-only at this point, so on the nav front you are locked into Apple's mapping, which is online-only and does have POI issues, and the maps are at times behind even TeleAtlas in the US, despite using TeleAtlas as a map source.

 

Since the NEX supports Siri (from my steering wheel no less), and has a quick interface for media, I'll be sticking with it until I see a reason to push for CarPlay. It's got a lot of promise, but good nav is kinda key for me, which leaves CarPlay beat for now. I kinda expect Apple will address it, but it could be a couple years before either Apple actually gets their map data up to date, or allows TomTom/Garmin/etc to integrate with CarPlay. 

 

Now, if you want Spotify access in the car, then it looks like CarPlay is the main player on that front. Which is kinda weird.

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Oh I prefer pioneer over alpine any day. I'm just pointing out how I just spent good money on the 8000NEX under the impression that Carplay won't make it to the aftermarket radios anytime soon, to then read about this only a week later

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Oh I prefer pioneer over alpine any day. I'm just pointing out how I just spent good money on the 8000NEX under the impression that Carplay won't make it to the aftermarket radios anytime soon, to then read about this only a week later

 

I think the question really is: when this head unit is actually available, will the features be worth it? It depends on your use. 

 

Mostly playing Podcasts & Music? Not gonna gain much with CarPlay. It's the 3rd party music apps, and Apple's nav (which at this point is less useful/mature than Pioneer's). Are those things you want?

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I think the question really is: when this head unit is actually available, will the features be worth it? It depends on your use. 

 

Mostly playing Podcasts & Music? Not gonna gain much with CarPlay. It's the 3rd party music apps, and Apple's nav (which at this point is less useful/mature than Pioneer's). Are those things you want?

Man...when you're right you're right!

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Seems like their version of app radio. I'm pretty sure not all apps will show up on screen.

 

Correct. There is a specific API for music apps to export to CarPlay right now (which can only be used with special authorization by Apple). Interestingly, the 3rd parties don't actually have access to generate their own UI, just provide the structure of the media. Beats Audio, Spotify, Stitcher and iHeartRadio are supported for now... and Podcasts are split out. The NEX has a couple bugs around Podcasts since it doesn't quite seem to handle how Apple switches on/off podcasts from being accessible to head units through the iPod protocol due to network availability (no signal means it hides podcasts that aren't already downloaded). So that's one advantage to CarPlay (or Pioneer can make the changes needed to support it better, Kenwood has done it).

 

Since there is no protocol for 3rd party apps beyond media, and Apple currently requires that devs get special permission to even access that, it is clear that Apple is intentionally taking this slowly, and that some functionality some of us want from it (say, access to Waze as a GPS app option) is a good ways out.

 

Also, there's no technical reason that I can see right now that would prevent Pioneer from adding support for CarPlay (for the most part, the devil is in the details). It can play MPEG-4, and the rest is all protocol details of talking over USB and some UI bits to allow the user to select CarPlay vs iPod. There's definitely hurdles in terms of work priorities, resources, licensing from Apple, and so on.

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That kinds sucks since I just recently installed an AVIC-Z150BH.

 

I wonder if they will support Car Play on that model also?

I doubt it. Article says NEX models. I dont see what the deal is if I can play music via USB now and have full control. If Pioneer would learn something from ARUnchain and App Radio Extension would be nice. Give a all the features we want. And this is the case with all companies. They sell you something knowing that new features will be on the next product. SCAM i tell you SCAM....(Pulls hair out of head) lol

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The problem is more regulation and legislation than technical or business. Mirroring the whole thing opens up all sorts of distracted driving liabilities. So Pioneer locks stuff down through certification as a CYA approach. Which means devs need to spend money to get certified, and thus keeps the supported app count low. It's a somewhat vicious cycle. 

 

Apple's doing the same thing here: being as conservative as possible at launch (although they've got Spotify and Beats up and running before most others here, that's interesting), and I suspect they'll add more to it to test the boundaries of what legislators and the like will allow before getting slapped.

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