I bought a car without Carplay, everything I missed

Navigating the traffic jungle, once punctuated by horns and lights, has evolved. Today, it's a chain of podcasts that guides us, Spotify that punctuates our journey, and our text messages dictated aloud that maintain the link without our taking our eyes off the road. If your steering wheel doesn't interpret these elements, you're definitely missing out. This reality was brutally confirmed by my recent vehicle purchase, a decision low in technological inattention, which I share. My experience with a model that has neither Apple Carplay nor Android Auto revealed to me the vital importance of on-board technologies in our daily journeys. Welcome to a test drive full of digital discoveries at the heart of modern driving.

THE DIGITAL COCKPIT: AN UNEXPECTED NECESSITY FOR PASSIONATE MOTORISTS

The steering wheel is our paintbrush, the roads our vast canvas. Each adventure a personal epic in search of moments of grace that the digital world shapes in its own way. Take Carplay, for example. A simple accessory, a plug&play installation, and a whole universe of multimedia connectivity opens up to you. It's almost a daydream for drivers looking for comfort and efficiency.

Perhaps the historic automotive brands were the lone heroes in this gesture, creating epics of combustion engines. Today, they share the stage with other players: the digital companions of our journeys.

I WAS SKEPTICAL, BUT NOW I'M CONNECTED

I used to have reservations about the importance of connectivity in my car. I've lived through the golden age of radio, of endless discussions in the passenger compartment of vehicles with no electronics more advanced than an FM car radio. But my latest acquisition is an eye-opener. Delivered with 2010 technologies, my vehicle, however sophisticated in its day, has become a fossil, stunned by technological inertia in the face of competition from newcomers.

APPLE CARPLAY AND THE REVIVAL OF AUTOMOTIVE COMFORT

Regular road noise now competes with crystal-clear telephone conversations. Musical strides from my favorite playlist flood my cabin. Carplay has made me realize that comfort is also about feeling at home, in your own bubble, even at 130km/h. It's about turning constraints into little pleasures, like reading a message even in a traffic jam, without losing your phlegm.

Installed on compatible vehicles, Carplay offers total integration of your iPhone with the interface of your infotainment screen. Waze, Spotify, your Apple Music playlist... it's all there, at your fingertips, just as you would use them on your smartphone, but with the benefit of voice recognition and near-perfect integration.

FACING THE UNKNOWN

But I didn't just rethink my journeys by listening to my favorite playlists. The absence of Apple Carplay made me realize that driving wasn't just about speed, but also about connection. Carplay isn't just a collection of more or less useful applications. It's also about safety. Leaving your phone behind gives you a golden opportunity to concentrate on the road.

THE CAR OF TOMORROW IS ALREADY HERE

Beyond Apple Carplay, other functionalities are becoming indispensable. Driving assistants, intelligent notifications based on our habits, massaging (and heated) seats: everything is there to alleviate the fatigue and monotony that sometimes characterize our most common journeys.

CONCLUSION: LIMITLESS DRIVING WITH CARPLAY

Buying a car is no longer just a question of power or seating comfort, but a statement about our digital existence. So the next time you get behind the wheel, remember that driving is more than a series of lines on a screen. It's a complete experience, a work in progress that only state-of-the-art equipment like Apple Carplay can complete.