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Door staff@engadget.com (Husain Parvez) - 02 Nov 2026
The third advantage became obvious when I was looking for places along a route. In my test, Maps showed me a number of options along with ratings and the additional time each option would take. Picking between a stop that's one minute away and another that adds six shouldn't require detective work.
CarPlay displays a series of results, one at a time, and has Previous and Next controls to scroll through the results. It can still provide valuable information like gas prices and detour times, but it takes more effort to compare several options.
The fourth difference was the interaction with the map. Android Auto kept zoom controls in easy reach, and pinch-to-zoom worked directly in my test. CarPlay made me enter its standalone map-control mode, and pinch-to-zoom didn't work for me.
That isn't to say that CarPlay cannot technically support gestures. Android Auto's navigation framework supports tap, scroll and pinch interactions, while CarPlay features its own map template and controls. In actual use (in my car anyway), Android Auto was less demanding when I needed to see farther down the road or check out another section of the trip.
It's a small difference in theory. But when you're trying to look ahead at an unfamiliar interchange, it starts to matter.
CarPlay displays a series of results, one at a time, and has Previous and Next controls to scroll through the results. It can still provide valuable information like gas prices and detour times, but it takes more effort to compare several options.
The fourth difference was the interaction with the map. Android Auto kept zoom controls in easy reach, and pinch-to-zoom worked directly in my test. CarPlay made me enter its standalone map-control mode, and pinch-to-zoom didn't work for me.
That isn't to say that CarPlay cannot technically support gestures. Android Auto's navigation framework supports tap, scroll and pinch interactions, while CarPlay features its own map template and controls. In actual use (in my car anyway), Android Auto was less demanding when I needed to see farther down the road or check out another section of the trip.
It's a small difference in theory. But when you're trying to look ahead at an unfamiliar interchange, it starts to matter.