Engadget has published a roundup of the best free CarPlay apps, drawing on the reviewer's five years of using CarPlay and testing dozens of apps for the piece. The article notes that CarPlay has shifted from a nice-to-have to a genuine purchasing consideration for car buyers, projecting simplified, driver-friendly versions of iPhone apps onto a vehicle's infotainment screen, though the experience varies significantly between older wired systems, newer wireless setups and premium options like CarPlay Ultra, currently limited to newer Aston Martins.

The recommendations cover navigation, music and podcasts, highlighting each app's particular strengths and drawbacks based on hands-on testing.

– Google Maps — strong voice-command navigation and live traffic/incident reporting, but fiddlier route previews and occasional location drift
– Apple Maps — more conversational turn-by-turn directions, Apple Watch alerts, and wider support for driver-display navigation
– Spotify — quick access to recent listening and playlists, with optional integration into Google Maps' navigation screen
– Apple Music — reliable library access, more consistent Siri voice control than Spotify, plus curated radio and personalised playlists
– Pocket Casts — praised for its filters and podcast discovery features (article cuts off before full detail)