ChatGPT on CarPlay has arrived. But there’s one thing drivers need to know

ChatGPT on CarPlay has now become a reality, letting Apple users chat to more than just Siri on their journeys – though we’re still waiting for support for the best smart speakers. 

• Read more: 50 years of Apple: the greatest products ever, ranked – here are numbers 30–21 in our countdown

The news comes as OpenAI updates ChatGPT with CarPlay support, letting you now ask questions and fire off requests straight from your dashboard using your voice – handy for quick answers, settling mid-drive debates, or anything else you happen to use it for.

Before you start imagining a full-blown in-car Siri replacement though, you should know that Apple’s put some firm boundaries in place.

For starters, this is a strictly voice-first experience. You won’t see text replies or visual responses on your car’s screen – everything comes back as spoken audio, following Apple’s tightly controlled CarPlay interface rules designed to limit distractions. Apps also have to use Apple’s standard voice control template, with a fairly minimal interface and a handful of on-screen controls. 

It appears to all be in the name of safety, which makes sense. The last thing we want are drivers distracted by AI-generated images of cats wearing costumes as they barrel down a motorway.

The more annoying limitation though, is the fact that there’s no wake word. If you want to use ChatGPT, you’ll need to open the app manually first, which we feel goes a bit against the safety aspect, given that you’ve got to physically find and tap the ChatGPT button in the CarPlay menu.

And while it unlocks all the smarts of ChatGPT, the integration doesn’t run as deep as Siri – it can’t control your car, tweak settings, or interact with your iPhone in the way that Siri can.

At launch, it sounds like ChatGPT on CarPlay is a cautious first step, and some users might be disappointed with the limited implementation. That’s not to say future updates won’t include improvements like wakewords, but with rumoured Siri improvements like the ability to carry out multiple requests per task, Apple might want to make sure its own assistant doesn’t have the limelight stolen from it.

Still, third-party integration is always a win, so we’re looking forward to seeing how ChatGPT on CarPlay evolves.

• Read more: 50 years of Apple: the greatest products ever, ranked – here are numbers 20–11 in our countdown

Esat Dedezade Contributor

About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.