Entertainment on the Road

2 min read

Your infotainment is also your media control center. CarPlay and Android Auto support many music and audio apps:

Music Streaming: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora – pick your poison. On the car screen, you can browse playlists, artists, or just use voice (“Play my Road Trip playlist on Spotify”). The interface is simplified with large buttons for play/pause, skip, etc., often showing album art. It’s far safer than trying to grab your phone to change songs. Many cars also let you control via steering wheel buttons, which still work with CarPlay/AA apps[51].
Podcasts & Audiobooks: Apps like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Overcast, and others are available. Long drive or daily commute? You can continue your audiobook right where you left off, using voice commands to play specific podcast episodes or audiobook titles. For example, “Hey Siri, play my audiobook” will resume it.
Radio and Others: If you prefer internet radio or services like iHeartRadio, they’re supported. There are even apps for news, weather, etc. (Some vehicles also still have AM/FM/XM radio accessible outside of CarPlay/AA, which you can always toggle back to.)

What’s great is that you can often multi-task – e.g., run navigation while listening to music. Both CarPlay and Android Auto support a split-screen view on some cars, showing a map on one side and media or other info on the other[52]. This way, you don’t lose your map when changing songs.

And remember, since it’s your phone doing the work, if you have a premium subscription (say, Spotify Premium or Apple Music), all that content is available. The car basically becomes an external touchscreen and audio system for your phone’s entertainment.