Google Maps and Waze Coming to CarPlay in iOS 12

carplay third party apps ios 12

Beginning this fall with iOS 12, Apple will allow navigation apps to work with CarPlay, including both Google Maps and Waze.

The change was announced at WWDC, and — for consumers — could be one of the most immediately useful announcements made during the entire keynote.

Since CarPlay was first introduced a few years ago, Apple has prevented all navigation apps not named Apple Maps from working with CarPlay. This means that anyone who wanted to use an alternative app like Google Maps, Waze, or TomTom was forced to use a phone mount instead of the otherwise very useful CarPlay.

Apple didn't actually say when (or even if) Google Maps and Waze would be available with CarPlay, but MacRumors has reached out to Google and will update if we hear back.

Related Roundup: CarPlay

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Three Companies Are Now in the Running to Take Over the Apple Card

Thursday January 16, 2025 8:18 am PST by
Apple is in talks with Barclays and Synchrony about becoming its new financial partner for the Apple Card, according to Reuters sources. The report today added that Apple has also been holding discussions with Chase Bank owner JPMorgan since last year, so there are at least three potential companies in the running to take over the Apple Card from current partner Goldman Sachs. Goldman...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 8 New Features

Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025: More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
MacBook Air 15 Inch Feature Blue

MacBook Air Likely Apple's First Product Update of 2025: What to Expect

Wednesday January 15, 2025 8:49 am PST by
There is a good chance that Apple's first product announcement of 2025 will be updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M4 chip. Last month, Apple released macOS Sequoia 15.2, and in doing so it accidentally confirmed new MacBook Air models are coming this year (unsurprisingly). Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the new MacBook Air models will be announced "earlier" than some...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Major Thermal Design Upgrade

Friday January 17, 2025 4:33 am PST by
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report. The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader. Vapor chamber technology is already used...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple Expected to Launch 20+ Products This Year: Here's the Full List

Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year. Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...

Top Rated Comments

44267547 Avatar
87 months ago
This is huge. I’m Actually surprised Apple is making this change. And now it allows for more diversity like Google Maps, which has its advantages over Apple Maps.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MadDane Avatar
87 months ago
I had two gripes with CarPlay. Being unable to search for music with Spotify and not being able to use Google Maps. Now one of them is coming. This is the biggest news from WWDC for me :D I use CarPlay almost daily.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Boyd01 Avatar
87 months ago
Anxious to hear more about this. My new VW has CarPlay. Used it on the way home from the dealer and have not tried it again since then. Third party apps would definitely be a reason to revisit CarPlay.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
one more Avatar
87 months ago
This is good that they're allowing competition but I really wish they'd improve Apple maps.
With Apple allowing third party navigation apps into CarPlay, not mentioning Maps a single time during today’s presentation or in iOS 12 new features ( https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-12-preview/features/ ), I am also wondering what the future of Apple Maps might be like. I hope they are not giving up on it.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scottct1 Avatar
87 months ago
It don't work yet. :(

Updated to Beta 1 today then went to my car and plugged into my CarPlay unit (New 2018 car) and no Waze icon. :(
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
einmusiker Avatar
87 months ago
This is absolutely huge. A game changer. Android auto will probably become completely obsolete
[doublepost=1528153681][/doublepost]
Doesn't this require CarPlay 2? Which I assume means the car manufacturers will have to push out an upgrade. Wonder how long that will take?
In a word no. I’ve had other new apps show up on CarPlay without a major update
[doublepost=1528153816][/doublepost]
You didn't look very hard. Google came up with this as the first entry:

https://9to5mac.com/2018/06/04/apple-wwdc-app-updates/
There’s no way apple wouldn’t have mentioned CarPlay 2 in the keynote if that was accurate
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)