Best third-party CarPlay apps
By Joseph Keller Monday, Mar 6, two thousand seventeen at 9:00 am EST
What CarPlay apps can you get to keep you entertained while you’re on the road? Here are the best!
CarPlay is a fine way to interact with your apps while you’re on the road. While Apple has brought a number of core apps over to the infotainment system, a select few third-party developers have been able to add support as well.
Because using apps in the car is a entirely different ballgame compared to using them elsewhere, CarPlay apps are judged a bit differently from standard apps. The mark of a solid CarPlay practice is how little time you spend actually interacting with it. Because you don’t want to be dispelled while driving, these apps need to get you in and listening to your desired content in the shortest amount of time possible.
With that in mind, here are the top third-party CarPlay apps.
Audible
Whether you’re stuck in traffic or heading out on a road tour, an audiobook can be a good way to pass the time, and Audible is one of the top destinations for audiobooks. Quickly access your audiobook library and embark listening in just a duo of taps. Note that you’ll want to have anything you plan to listen to already downloaded to your iPhone before you head out.
Audiobooks.com
Like Audible, the Audiobooks.com app lets you listen to audiobooks purchased through the service in your car with a duo of taps. Unlike Audible, however, this app gives you a few more options when it comes to listening. In addition to My Library, the Audiobooks.com app has other sections available, including one for downloaded audiobooks, a selection of free books to listen to, and the Featured Samples section.
Overcast
Like audiobooks, podcasts are a superb way to pass the time on long drives, with shows out there on every topic under the sun. In the car, Overcast offers you access to all of your shows, both those downloaded to your device, as well as scenes still waiting in the cloud. Two tabs at the top of the screen let you budge inbetween your playlist or a list of the shows that you have gigs for, and after that, you can lightly check out your library of waiting scenes.
Castro
Like I’ve said before, the mark of a good CarPlay app is that it gets you in and out quickly, and Castro is good for that. Like Overcast, Castro has two tabs to choose from: Queue and Inbox. If you’re unacquainted with Castro, the Inbox is where fresh scenes of your shows sit until you embark listening to them. After that, they head over to the Queue until they’re done. Your Queue, meantime, is a list of podcast gigs in the order that you want to play them, much like Apple Music’s Up Next feature. While playing a podcast will automatically add it to the queue, you can also by hand add scenes from Castro on the iPhone.
NPR One
NPR One offers on-demand NPR content when you’re ready to listen. Get the latest news, tune into your beloved NPR shows and more. NPR One is divided into four sections. Catch Up offers a playback of NPR’s latest national news broadcast so you’re kept abreast with the events of the day. Up Next offers options for what you should listen to after your current program. If you go after any shows, Followed Shows is where you’ll find them. Eventually, Recommended shows you NPR programs that it thinks you’ll like based on your listening history.
MLB At Bat
With Spring training games well underway, and Opening Day prompt approaching, MLB At Bat’s CarPlay app is the flawless companion for baseball-loving road warriors. While it doesn’t suggest movie (you’re driving!), you can listen in to any available games with MLB At Bat’s radio feature. Open the app to get a list of games that you could listen to, including a notation about the game’s current inning. Then just tap on the game you want to listen to and pick which side’s radio station you want and you’re good to go.
In order to listen to games with MLB At Bat, you will need to subscribe for $Two.99 or $Nineteen.99 per year.
Spotify
If Apple Music isn’t your thing, or you’re a long-time, die-hard Spotify user, the world’s most popular streaming music service has you covered. While you don’t get the benefits of Siri on your drive with Spotify, you still have the service’s vast library with you wherever you drive. The app is divided into Your Library, Browse, and Radio sections. Your Library, as you might imagine, gives you access to the music that you’ve added to your individual collection, from albums to playlists. With Browse, you can check out and listen to fresh releases, Spotify’s top lists, or find what to listen to among the many available genres. Eventually, Radio gives you your latest stations, recommended stations, and stations based on genres.
Pandora
Of all of the apps on this list, it’s perhaps Pandora that indeed bangs what a CarPlay app should be about. Open up Pandora, tap a radio station, and you’re done. Pandora will just embark playing. You don’t need to switch inbetween any menus or find the ideal playlist with that song you just love. The trade-off for this plainness, is, obviously, a lack of choice, but if you’re using Pandora, you likely know that this is part of the deal with the service, anyway. And you don’t care because you’re already listening to a cool fresh track you’ve never heard before in your Lord Huron radio station.
Your favorites?
Do you have a beloved CarPlay app that didn’t make this list? Let us know in the comments.