Apple’s Latest CarPlay Update Looks Good But Could Become a Major Issue

Apple didn’t announce any CarPlay improvements at WWDC this month, mainly as the company is working around the clock on getting ready the new-generation experience due in 2024, but this doesn’t mean the iPhone maker isn’t preparing more subtle refinements to the existing version.

The debut of iOS 18 in the testing phase provides us with an early look at what’s to come to CarPlay users this year, and one of the most recent discoveries could raise serious safety concerns.If you’ve used Android Auto and CarPlay, you probably know that their role is to reduce distractions behind the wheel, allowing the driver to focus on the road and interact with their apps hands-free. Digital assistants are in charge of powering this hands-free experience, and drivers can speak their requests, while assistants process them and respond accordingly.

Users have discovered that the iOS 18 beta comes with tweaks for the interaction with Siri, as certain commands can also trigger on-screen responses.

Siri no longer speaks weather and sports requests. A screenshot shared on Reddit recently shows that the digital assistant displays the familiar weather widget on top of the CarPlay UI when the user asks for weather information.

There are two major issues with this silent update. First, the widget showing weather data eats up valuable screen space, covering the map or whatever app runs on the screen when asking Siri to tell you the weather conditions. The banner is massive, which makes sense, considering the driver should read the information easily, but I’d rather have everything spoken rather than covering the navigation app.

Second, this feature requires the driver to look at the screen, which is a big no-no if the vehicle is in motion. Apple should restrict this feature to when the car is parked and only allow spoken responses when you drive. Siri’s purpose is to reduce distractions behind the wheel, and allowing this feature when the car is in motion does exactly the opposite.

However, everybody should remember that iOS 18 is still in the early testing phases, and only developers are allowed to try it out for now. Apple will continue to refine the experience with everything new in iOS 18 until September, when this major operating system update is projected to start rolling out to production iPhones.

Apple seems to be looking into ways to improve the experience with Siri on all fronts, including CarPlay, but the hands-free interaction behind the wheel shouldn’t involve features that make drivers take their eyes off the road.

If you’re already on iOS 18 developer builds and want to try out the new design, you can just ask Siri to tell you the weather. The new feature also works for sports results.