Paying $300 for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in 2018 seems a little egregious, but it’s better than the thousands of dollars Ferrari charges for CarPlay alone, I guess.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
We’ve harped on several late-model Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles lately for lacking Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, two very good methods to reduce driver distraction. Thanks to a new update, we’ll never have to rag on them again.
Jaguar Land Rover announced today that it’s finally time to bring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to its new vehicles. Both smartphone-mirroring systems will be part of an optional Smartphone Pack, which will cost about $300. It’s standard on the 2019 I-Pace electric SUV, and optional on select 2019 model year vehicles, which will include all vehicles equipped with either JLR’s InControl Touch Pro or Touch Pro Duo infotainment systems with navigation and Wi-Fi.
JLR also updated the InControl Touch Pro system for the 2019 model year in other ways. Select models can use now voice commands for navigation. The home screen underwent a visual refresh, and there are additional shortcut buttons on the home screen for reduced distraction.
Sadly, there doesn’t appear to be any backward compatibility, so even if you have a 2018 model with one of the aforementioned telematics systems, you’re out of luck.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are slowly becoming either standard or optional on a hefty majority of new cars available today, as they’re an efficient way to bring a phone’s features into the car without introducing additional distraction potential. Apple CarPlay used to be limited to Apple’s own Maps app, but the introduction of the iOS 12 update finally lets it work with Google Maps and Waze, too.