Products · Product
CarPlay
Raised as a usability problem by 96 people on Hacker News over 13 years (2014–2026), in 69 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Touch screens near the driver encourage interaction while drivingUnreviewed
20142026- Touchscreen apps front and centre distract drivers while driving2026-07-03
- Awkwardly positioned screen with confusing UI demands more attention while driving2025-09-20
- Automakers cram controls onto one screen, making them harder to use while driving2024-03-17
Google Maps can't be used with CarPlay in the carUnreviewed
20142026- Can't enable CarPlay for only Google Maps; it's all or nothing2024-07-27
- Cannot use Google Maps with CarPlay in the car2018-05-24
- Google Maps is missing from CarPlay, forcing a two-app workaround for routing2016-10-12
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Pairing to an unfamiliar car is a cumbersome multi-step process, and the car UI has broken menus and volume changes2026-08-17
- CarPlay sometimes fails to work or randomly freezes while driving2026-07-30
- Car console controls are more distracting to use while driving than CarPlay2026-07-04
- CarPlay feels sluggish and regressive compared to Tesla's infotainment2026-07-03
- Frequently has trouble switching which phone it uses for Bluetooth2026-07-03
- Freezes, drops to Bluetooth, loses volume, and hangs when plugged in2026-07-03
- Side camera view takes over screen when signalling, hiding directions at key moments2026-07-03
- Driver must look down at the center dashboard screen, which is less convenient2026-07-03
- Siri wrongly activates mid-conversation and interrupts audio, and text replies resume the wrong song2026-07-03
- Can't switch between music apps without exiting the entire system2026-07-03
- Touchscreen targets are hard to hit while the vehicle is moving2026-07-03
- Car's Home, back and Nav buttons go to inconsistent screens depending on car2026-07-03
- Touchscreen apps front and centre distract drivers while driving2026-07-03
- Song takes about 4 seconds to start after selecting it, and track skips lag behind2026-07-03
- Searching for destinations is terrible compared to Tesla's system2026-07-03
- Destination search is worse than Tesla; zoom requires hunting for on-screen buttons instead of pinch gestures2026-07-03
- Can't switch between music apps without exiting the entire system2026-07-03
- Knob navigation requires watching the screen to land on the right control2026-07-03
- No pause button, only mute, so playback can't be paused2026-07-03
- Map can't be pinch-zoomed and must be panned with tiny buttons2026-07-03
- Spotify in CarPlay is hard to use; playing the wanted song is unpredictable2026-07-03
- Keyboard input is unavailable while moving, forcing reliance on Siri, even for passengers2026-05-19
- Pressing the accelerator while tapping a list item truncates the list and scrolls to top2026-05-19
- Passengers must keep track of whose phone is connected to CarPlay2026-05-14
- CarPlay constantly conflicts with the car's own OS, making it incoherent2026-02-11
- Large caller avatar covers navigation screen when a call arrives, risking driver distraction2026-01-26
- Incoming call screen covers the whole map, blocking navigation while driving2025-12-28
- Notifications pop up over the map, hiding the driving directions by default2025-12-09
- CarPlay UX is a failed-experiment mess that is actively dangerous to use while driving2025-12-02
- Selected items look unselected and focus jumps to the back button2025-11-16
- CarPlay is clunky, and Android Auto users have to put up with a messy screen2025-11-04
- Wireless connection often fails, forcing driver to fiddle with it while driving2025-11-03
- Music interrupted for navigation and takes many seconds to resume2025-11-03
- CarPlay on a car's touch screen feels clunky and hard to use2025-10-26
- Aftermarket CarPlay device is slow and annoying to use compared to phone2025-10-23
- Compass shows only compass letters, making heading harder to read at a glance than a spinning indicator2025-10-02
- Awkwardly positioned screen with confusing UI demands more attention while driving2025-09-20
- Interface lags noticeably when using CarPlay wirelessly2025-05-15
- Scrolling and zooming maps takes a convoluted multi-step process, more distracting than pinch-to-zoom2025-05-15
- Dongle won't pair with multiple phones, and phone drops audio when plugged into car USB2025-03-29
- Incoming call takes over the whole screen, hiding the navigation map2025-03-03
- Can't disable Siri without breaking CarPlay; it activates randomly from the power button2025-02-11
- Interface is not good enough and distracts from safe driving2024-10-25
- CarPlay is much harder to use than Android Auto2024-08-31
- Map view gets blocked when answering a call, hard to use while driving2024-08-31
- Frequent UI changes force older users to relearn how to do tasks2024-08-20
- Can't enable CarPlay for only Google Maps; it's all or nothing2024-07-27
- Using a phone through CarPlay in a daily car is too distracting to the driver2024-04-24
- Commenter avoids car infotainment systems because they are bad to use2024-04-24
- Silence directions toggle shrank from big square to tiny icon, harder to tap2024-04-24