Apple CarPlay navigation-Do you like it?
 

I just found out that Toyota has just decided to retrofit (at no cost) their 2018 Camry cars with Apple CarPlay navigation. I've never been in a car with CarPlay.
Does it work as well as built-in navigation systems?

I've been using my Garmin dashboard unit for GPS. It has free quarterly updates, but I would think that CarPlay would have more frequent updates.

In order to use CarPlay, I would also have to convert my cell phone plan to an unlimited plan, which is somewhat expensive for one or two lines. Any other disadvantages?

Our Chevy truck has CarPlay. I'm not a fan, but I know many who love it. The nav portion of CarPlay is fine, not really any better than the factory nav, but the rest I can do without. Any texts that come through and the car is talking to you asking if you want them read out. I'm the type that when I'm driving, I'm driving, and I don't want the distractions, in my opinion CarPlay is a massive distraction when texts keep coming through.

I have unlimited on my mobile already, so it's not a huge deal for me. CarPlay works as long as the phone has service so if you leave a service area you get nothing, we've had issues with lack of coverage around us, and while traveling.

We like it in the Honda CR-V. This is what Consumer Reports had to say about it vs. stock for our car: Apple’s CarPlay: Brings the familiar functionality of smartphones to the car’s screen, so there’s no need to bother with a clunky automaker’s system. Plug in your Apple and a modified version of your smartphone screen with bigger icons and edited-down menus appears on your dash monitor. CarPlay works well for phone calls and reading back text messages, and provides voice-activated navigation that’s easier to use than most car systems. CarPlay’s Cloud-based maps and points of interest are always up to date. And the most current software is just a download away, as automakers can have difficulties keeping their native software current.

We have it on the new CX-5 but we haven't had time to play with it.

Since it's free, it doesn't really matter, but each auto manufacturer seems to be able to tailor their screens and systems to allow the functionality they want you to have. Point being, it may be as good on your car as it is on your phone. Or maybe not.

I like it in my SUV and wish my SLK had it, I normally use the Pioneer map/GPS, but when I get into cities, I like the Apple or Google maps for better traffic information or updated restaurants and new areas that the Pioneer doesn’t have

I use Android Auto which I believe is the sister/brother to Apple Car Play. I love it. It's a bit quirky at times, but for the most part it works very well and is always up to date. I would assume Apple Car Play is very much the same.

I have apple car play in my 2019 accord. It’s pretty great. The weird thing is the phone uses the cell phone to display the step by step directions and the screen to show the directional route(for Waze in particular). It’s functional but has some subtle nuances. For free I’d definitely take the Camry in for the retrofit. Things like pandora and text are seamlessly integrated.

I use Apple CarPlay in my Ridgeline and really like it. I like being able to use Google Maps or Waze for navigation. I also like having easy access to my song collection on my phone or alternatively Pandora, Tunein or I HeartbRadio.

If you get a lot of text messages they can be annoying but even if not using CarPlay having the phone blinging a lot would annoy me too.

I don't see a downside in getting the retrofit. Our last two rental vehicles had carplay and I found it quite useful. It's so much faster entering destinations through my phone than through the GPS on our Lexus. That being said, our Lexus is now 8 years old and perhaps the newer vehicles have better/faster/easier inputting methods.

The only thing I didn't like about carplay was that Google Maps didn't work over bluetooth and I had to plug in the cable for it to work (don't like having the phone charged so frequently).