2 Expanded Messaging Options
In the interest of safe driving, CarPlay’s hands-free functions are largely supported by Siri. The assistant provides a fairly straightforward way to initiate phone calls as well as send and receive text messages via Siri’s voice-to-text software. As recently as a few months ago, CarPlay users were restricted to using Apple’s native iMessage app for the exchanging messages. That changed in January, with WhatsApp’s 2.18.20 update, which rendered the world’s most popular messaging app compatible with CarPlay. If you have the most recent version of WhatsApp downloaded onto your iPhone, you should see the app’s icon appear when you connect your phone to CarPlay. This means Siri will be able to read your unread WhatsApp texts and help your compose replies. However, you won’t be able to scroll through a list of your conversations due to Apple’s rules governing messaging while driving.