Apple Maps is a useful part of Carplay that allows you to easily use your iPhone as SAT NAV, but it’s not perfect. For those times when you prefer to use Google Maps on Carplay, here’s everything you need to know about how to set it up and work.
Your iPhone must be running iOS 12 to support third-party navigation apps in Carplay, which means your iPhone must be an iPhone 5s, iPhone SE, iPhone 6 model, iPhone 7 model, iPhone 8 model, iPhone X model, or higher.
How to add Google Maps to Carplay
It’s usually easy to install and add new apps to Carplay. Here’s what you need to do.
- Install Google Maps on your iPhone through the App Store.
- Connect your iPhone to your car’s Carplay system.
- Open Carplay on your car Dash and Google Maps should now be available as an icon.
In rare cases, Google Maps is manually added. From your phone, go to Settings > General > Carplay. Tap your car’s name, then tap the + button next to Google Maps in the list to add it.
How to use Google Maps on Carplay
Google Maps on Carplay works very similarly to regular Google Maps, but there are some key differences. Here’s an overview of the main parts of the app.
Map screen
The first time you open Google Maps, you can see where you are currently. Click on the e in the top left corner and you can enter a destination or access other settings. You can also pinch to zoom in or go to different areas of the map .
satellite view
Google Maps offers a satellite view feature that Apple Maps lacks. You can see the road and area you are driving on from above, which can be useful in certain situations.
Add destination screen
Click Add to Destination and you can view gas stations, restaurants, supermarkets, cafes or search for a specific destination. It is also possible to view your recent Google Maps searches.
Download offline maps
If you know that you are traveling somewhere that has a patchy signal, you can download the map for offline viewing through the Google Maps IOS app.
Have you saved your listings to Google Maps? You can import them into Carplay.
Settings Screen
Here you can change what tells Google Maps to inform you about traffic problems in your area, change the color scheme, choose to avoid the freeway by route parameters, and change the amount of instructions.