Knowing what the best Apple CarPlay navigation apps are, is important to help to guide you to your destination.
We still have fond memories of trying to navigate with a good old physical map.
Fortunately, GPS navigation systems have come to take their place, offering far more than just directions.
If you are looking for the best Apple CarPlay app, we have compiled a complete list.
Table of Contents
Keep reading our list to help you make the most informed decision. Let’s begin by getting more familiar with Apple CarPlay.
What is Apple CarPlay?
Apple CarPlay is a great feature that allows you to use your iOS phone from your infotainment system. You can make phone calls and receive messages. iPhone users can enjoy many of the third-party apps that can be installed on the phone.
Using the touchscreen of your infotainment system makes the journey much safer. It is also better than illegally being grabbing your phone while driving. With certain 2021 cars, you can even unlock your car with your iPhone.
You can connect your iPhone via USB, Bluetooth, or wirelessly if your system allows. It makes listening to music, checking your calendar, and of course navigation easier.
CarPlay is compatible with Audiobooks, Radio Disney, Line. You will also find music apps like Pandora, Amazon Music, and Google Play Music. It even has its own CarPlay Weather App.
In terms of GPS navigation, you can use the Waze app, Google Maps, and many other third-party navigation apps. For iPhone users, Apple CarPlay is the logical choice. You can use your iPhone via your car’s touchscreen, the steering wheel control, or with Siri.
CarPlay interface is clean and user-friendly. You can check to see if your iPhone and car are compatible on the CarPlay Support page. The same link has a full list of the Apple CarPlay apps.
How to use a third-party navigation app with CarPlay
Your iPhone and iPad come with pre-installed apps. Apart from this, you can go into the App Store and download tons of third-party apps that you may need. Once you have downloaded them, they appear on your iPhone menu. Not everyone likes the Apple Map GPS app. If that’s the case, downloading a third-party nav app is the way to go.
When you connect your iPhone to your stereo system, your navigation app appears on your car’s touchscreen. Your car’s head unit becomes your iPhone but with a larger CarPlay display.
It is highly recommended that you connect to a Wireless CarPlay navigation app. Safety is the first propriety. But a GPS navigation app seriously drains your battery life.
Best Apple CarPlay navigation apps
It is difficult to name the best navigation app for Apple CarPlay. So many have their own features that iPhone users love or hate. We have a list of the best Apple CarPlay apps to meet your navigation needs.
Google Maps
Google Maps is a favorite both for an Android smartphone and an iPhone. As well as being an excellent navigation app, you can also use it to find local restaurants and stores. It shows the information on local business opening hours and the option to create important lists. It comes with street view, live view, indoor maps, and offline maps.
The real-time GPS navigation has traffic updates and will reroute the journey, so you aren’t delayed. Apple CarPlay Google Maps app is user-friendly and extremely accurate. Another advantage is that is available in more than 220 countries.
Waze
Waze App is owned by Google, which makes it another reliable and accurate CarPlay app. Waze lets you plan your journey with real-time traffic updates, accidents, and police cameras. This map app will change your route so that you avoid hazards. Furthermore, it will send you alerts about traffic, police, and other possible obstacles.
Handy features with the Apple CarPlay Waze app include arrival times based on live traffic data and alerting you to the cheapest gas stations along your route. For more convenience, you can use Waze to listen to your preferred music app. If you are looking for ways to help the environment, you can look for a similar navigation app, Waze Carpool.
Waze and Apple CarPlay really makes a great combination.
Magic Earth
We liked Magic Earth because of its concern for iOS data privacy. The app doesn’t track you or use your personal data or profile. Real-time traffic updates along with multiple waypoints help to create the fastest route. This GPS app uses OpenStreetMap for optimal routes, updates every minute, and offline maps.
Navigation features include notifications about speed cameras, speed limits. One of the driver assistance features helps with lane changes. You can select 2D, 3D, or satellite maps. You will especially like the head-up display, a feature that projects the most important navigation information onto your windscreen.
It also comes with AI DashCam. This software has more diver assistance notifications and the ability to record the road ahead in case of accidents.
Here WeGo
Here WeGo is an app that focuses on city navigation, as well as route planning, it has public transport information for over 1,300 cities. Live updates help you to find parking and any possible delays. With turn-by-turn voice guidance, you don’t even need to look at your CarPlay display.
This GPS navigation app excels with offline maps. Unlike other mapping apps, Here WeGo lets you download maps of over 100 entire countries. This is great for areas with poor connectivity.
Sygic
For an advanced navigation app, Sygic has all the features you would need and more. Your CarPlay screen shows amazing 3D maps and real view maps with precise navigation and voice guidance.
You can also see offline maps in 3D. Real-time traffic updates are thanks to the data collected for more than 500 million users worldwide. You will receive speed limit warnings, parking information, and gas station prices.
Instead of using the touchscreen, the head-up display shows notifications on your windscreen. You can also take advantage of augmented reality. AR creates real-time views and dashcam recording.
Without having to use the steering wheel control, you can see the real-time performance of your car. If you need to let someone know where you are, just share your current position on a map.
It’s worth noting that for the first 7 days. After that, you will need to upgrade to the paid version of the app.
Navmii
Our next wireless CarPlay navigation app uses OpenStreetMap. 1.5 million contributors add to the accuracy of the navigation. Navmii is available for use in over 185 countries.
It has everything you would hope to see such as multiway planning, traffic and speeding alerts, and automatic smart rerouting. You can use offline maps, store your favorite locations and search Points of Interest.
We particularly liked this app for on and off-road navigation and the different trip analytics you can see. There are various integrations, like Google Street View and there are also in-app purchases. The Navmii app ticks the box for many iPhone users.
Scout
As another OpenStreetMap CarPlay app, Scout comes with real-time traffic updates, live speed warnings, and turn-by-turn voice GPS to keep your eyes on the road and not your touchscreen. There are lots of features that you can personalize. For example, route preferences and departure alerts for home or work.
This app differs slightly because it makes it easier to keep in touch with your friends and family. There are amazing features that help you to stay connected. For example, you can send and receive ETAs with Meet Up using voice chat.
You can also share your route with others and make arrangements. It’s good to see business recommendations from your friends too. Scout is a free app with in-app purchases.
TomTomGo
For many, TomTom is remembered as one of the first GPS navigation solutions. It’s great that it is Apple CarPlay compatible. The TomTomGo app has taking navigation to a new level. TomTomGo will find the most intelligent route for you depending on the latest traffic updates.
What’s more, the maps are updated weekly and contain speed camera alerts. You can customize your maps for 150 different countries as well as cities and attractions.
This third-party navigation app lets you choose your favorite messaging service to send ETAs. With Points of Interest stored in the app, it’s faster and easier to find popular destinations. What really makes TomTomGo stand out from other Apple CarPlay apps is the geotagging.
If you have geotagged a location, the app can remember the name of the place. It will take you there without having to tap the directions into the touchscreen.
TomTomGo comes with free navigation for up to 75km per month. After, there are different in-app purchases available.
2GIS
The 2GIS app will work without wireless Apple CarPlay or Bluetooth. You can download 3D maps from more than 180 cities, put together your route, and include public transport if needed. You can even find places when you are offline and look up company details from your downloaded map.
This navigation system has specific details for over 1.5 million organizations. Indeed, your CarPlay display won’t have quite the same navigation features as others. However, you can connect to Apple Pay to pay for gas without getting out of your car.
Your maps are automatically updated each month. So, it’s one of the more sophisticated Apple CarPlay apps that doesn’t need even a Bluetooth connection.
Apple Maps
It wouldn’t be a complete list of the best Apple CarPlay GPS apps without Apple Maps. Apple Maps has turn-by-turn spoken directions whether you are driving, walking, or cycling. By car, you get real-time traffic updates, speed limits, red-light cameras, lane guidance, and ETA sharing.
Apple is working hard to provide environmentally friendly solutions. This app lets you plan the best route for your electric vehicle and track the current charge. You can find EV charging stations and your ETA accounts for charging time.
Other features of this GPS navigation app include indoor maps, 3D previews of where you are heading, and location suggestions. It’s hard not to love the bird’s eye view of your favorite locations – in HD. Apple also ensures that your privacy is of top concern.
Wrap Up
We have listed 10 of the best Apple CarPlay GPS navigation apps on the market right now. You may not have heard of all of them, but they deserve further investigation. Each has something unique. It could be the appearance on your touchscreen, the quality of the maps, or the accuracy of the navigation.
The Google Maps App is a solid choice for Android phone users and iPhone users but if you are concerned about security, you might prefer Magic Earth. Magic Earth and Sygic are definitely sensible choices if you live in cities with high numbers of accidents. The dashcams can really help you out of a difficult situation if you have an accident.
Don’t forget, that you aren’t restricted to use the Apple CarPlay navigation app. Rather than choosing one GPS app, you can choose two and take advantage of both. Remember, that the point of wireless CarPlay navigation is to go Bluetooth and keep your hands on the steering wheel.
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