Apple CarPlay Audiobook Workaround
Apple’s CarPlay solution does fantastic things for the daily commute by bringing the iOS experience to the dashboard. Many car manufacturers have already signed up to bring CarPlay support to their lines in the near future. Some have already integrated CarPlay into existing models. It’s a technology to consider if you’re in the market for a new car. But many will be interested in adding CarPlay to their existing ride by way of a third part, or aftermarket, headunit. Numerous aftermarket stereo manufactures have already released systems that support CarPlay. The most recent hardware supports CarPlay as well as Google’s alternative: Android Auto.
In an effort to cope with an 2 hour+ commute each day, I added a Pioneer AVH-4100NEX to my 2007 Trailblazer. An impressive aftermarket car stereo, it has a fast, responsive touch screen and excellent CarPlay support. Siri can be activated with a long press of a button on the bezel of the headunit. As is the case with all of the current Pioneer models, the iPhone must be attached to the headunit via a cable in order for CarPlay to work. Apple has added Wireless CarPlay to recent versions of the iOS but Pioneer models such as mine lack the wi-fi capabilities required to leverage the wire-free version of CarPlay. So, in the case of my AVH-4100NEX, the USB cable is my friend.
Read More…