- WhatsApp has just updated its CarPlay functionality
- The app now offers a native in-car experience.
- This makes hands-free calling simpler and more feature-rich.
If you use WhatsApp with your vehicle’s CarPlay system, there’s good news: Meta just updated its messaging app with expanded support for CarPlay and it could make the in-car experience a little more pleasant.
To be clear, WhatsApp has technically worked with CarPlay for years. You could send messages and make calls while driving using your voice, but the previous app relied on Siri for many of its functions. While it worked, it was a basic, non-native solution that left a lot of room for improvement.
Fortunately, that improvement finally arrived. The latest version features a native interface that makes using the app much more user-friendly. There is a new contact menu with profile details for each person; support for your favorite contacts in a dedicated tab; and a call history log that shows whether the calls were incoming or outgoing.
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The update has been in testing for the past week, giving users a hint of what was to come. Now that it’s here, you’ll be able to get the CarPlay improvements by updating WhatsApp in the iOS App Store.
Calling while traveling
The new CarPlay-compatible version of WhatsApp is just the latest improvement to come to Apple’s in-car navigation and entertainment system. In fact, several prominent apps have brought new features to their CarPlay integrations in recent weeks.
Perhaps the most notable of these is ChatGPT. You can now interact with the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot directly inside your car, but it’s worth noting that you’ll only be able to do so in voice mode to avoid distractions while driving. It’s also a bit of a strange experience.
Still, other apps have added new features to CarPlay, including Google Meet. Like WhatsApp, this has added an improved way to make calls on the go and also shows your upcoming agenda if needed.
So if your car is equipped with CarPlay, contacting your friends and family just got a little easier. Hopefully, updates to WhatsApp, ChatGPT, and more will inspire other supported apps to improve their offerings for Apple fans in the not-too-distant future.
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