One glance at the screen tells you the road ahead, the speed limit and your speed.
Or do you not use Apple Maps while driving?
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CarPlay Two Features missing on Carplay - Speed Limit when not navigating and Current Speed.
- Thread starter snash22
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Or do you not use Apple Maps while driving?
So basically you think it’s bad that CarPlay doesn’t navigate when you are not navigating? Any speed data that CarPlay would have would be an estimate only. I can hear the whining already from people who get speeding tickets based on an estimated speed. I’m pretty sure every car has a speedometer- use that. Now it would be cool if the car companies actually allowed the speed data to third party software and devices. But can’t see that happening soon
I think it is bad that CarPlay doesn’t show the speed limit when I am not navigating.
Using GPS to determine speed is likely better than your speedometer due to the speedometer being out of calibration and the wear of your tires.
Your GPS speed is extremely accurate.
Just a point of clarification here... CarPlay doesn't decide what is and what is not displayed. CarPlay simply functions as an extension of your iPhone display, projected onto your car's audio head unit. This is just how it works... and this is confirmed by the fact that Waze shows both speed limit and current speed, while Apple Maps and Google Maps do not. (BTW, my Ford SYNC shows speed limits on its native navigation screen, as well.)
The OP's beef is not with CarPlay, but rather with Apple Maps. By design, Apple only allows certain apps to utilize the CarPlay interface... what those apps choose to display on the head unit is totally within the purview of their design, so long as it is compliant with Apple's guidelines.
The OP's beef is not with CarPlay, but rather with Apple Maps. By design, Apple only allows certain apps to utilize the CarPlay interface... what those apps choose to display on the head unit is totally within the purview of their design, so long as it is compliant with Apple's guidelines.
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Good points. I don't recall if Apple Maps shows the speed limit when using Apple Maps on an iPhone.
Some modern cars have speed limit sign recognition. Ours has it and it works well. It keeps the speed limit sign on the digital dash until it encounters another. Great for seeing at a glance what the speed limit is.
Do wish it had the ability to sound a chime alert at a user-settable amount over the speed limit. For example, if 5 over in a 30 mph zone, a chime would sound.
Related to an earlier query, many, if not most, drivers do not use Apple Maps. They know where they are going, rely on their car's built-in navigation system, or use some other map system.
Do wish it had the ability to sound a chime alert at a user-settable amount over the speed limit. For example, if 5 over in a 30 mph zone, a chime would sound.
Related to an earlier query, many, if not most, drivers do not use Apple Maps. They know where they are going, rely on their car's built-in navigation system, or use some other map system.
This seems to have devolved pretty fast.
I agree, it should show speed limits when not navigating. When it comes to the data center side of things, it’s a minuscule amount of data and the volume of photos uploaded to iCloud dramatically dwarfs the volume of speed requests. Sending a 4kb speed file vs a 16mb photo is something any large or midsize company could handle. If waze can figure it out then the most valuable company on the planet can to. Don’t give passes to Apple.
However I disagree that gps can more accurately detect speed than a speedometer and the tire wear and calibration argument I’d say is a dramatic over thinking of a non issue. Speedometers are a proven technology with realtime data shown directly in front of you. There’s a reason that car regulations say to use a speedometer and nothing about using a gps for speed. Gps is simply not a better alternative Areas with poor gps coverage (tunnels, mountainous areas, and the like) can reduce position accuracy dramatically leading to incorrect results. While that’s not everyone’s situation it’s also worth noting that gps has a minor lag to it which can be frustrating. Trust me, I know from experience. A van I drove for a while didn’t have a working speedometer and gps was the best alternative I had. As for the reduced distractions. You cant be serious. Looking slightly down vs off to the side at your phone for a small number on a screen is not easier and is most definitely an added distraction.
Finally, I would argue that we should be able to get traffic alerts (if opted into) without navigation and the ability to report them too. I navigate to work an back just so I can get the speed check alerts and so I can report them or accidents myself. Yes it’s an added distraction at times but there are benefits like finding out ahead of time there’s an accident on my regular route or cops every 5 miles (which actually happened one day last month).
So I guess my points here are just that Apple is ridiculously wealthy and if anything we should be holding them to a higher standard than we do waze. Distractions are bad and proven technology is good. It’s been working for decades and will continue to do so.
I agree, it should show speed limits when not navigating. When it comes to the data center side of things, it’s a minuscule amount of data and the volume of photos uploaded to iCloud dramatically dwarfs the volume of speed requests. Sending a 4kb speed file vs a 16mb photo is something any large or midsize company could handle. If waze can figure it out then the most valuable company on the planet can to. Don’t give passes to Apple.
However I disagree that gps can more accurately detect speed than a speedometer and the tire wear and calibration argument I’d say is a dramatic over thinking of a non issue. Speedometers are a proven technology with realtime data shown directly in front of you. There’s a reason that car regulations say to use a speedometer and nothing about using a gps for speed. Gps is simply not a better alternative Areas with poor gps coverage (tunnels, mountainous areas, and the like) can reduce position accuracy dramatically leading to incorrect results. While that’s not everyone’s situation it’s also worth noting that gps has a minor lag to it which can be frustrating. Trust me, I know from experience. A van I drove for a while didn’t have a working speedometer and gps was the best alternative I had. As for the reduced distractions. You cant be serious. Looking slightly down vs off to the side at your phone for a small number on a screen is not easier and is most definitely an added distraction.
Finally, I would argue that we should be able to get traffic alerts (if opted into) without navigation and the ability to report them too. I navigate to work an back just so I can get the speed check alerts and so I can report them or accidents myself. Yes it’s an added distraction at times but there are benefits like finding out ahead of time there’s an accident on my regular route or cops every 5 miles (which actually happened one day last month).
So I guess my points here are just that Apple is ridiculously wealthy and if anything we should be holding them to a higher standard than we do waze. Distractions are bad and proven technology is good. It’s been working for decades and will continue to do so.
I appreciate your thoughtful reply. I agree that in cities, mountainous areas and tunnels the GPS speed can be inaccurate. But the problem with speedometers is not trivial. https://hudway.co/blog/difference-in-gps-obd-and-speedometer-speed-readings#:~:text=While on a straight run,fall on a winding road.
I guess one could have the option to turn off the GPS speed or just ignore it?
Anytime! I always love a good debate or a good opportunity to learn something new.
I read that article but there’s three things that stood out to me.
1.) speedometer inaccuracy by law. Generally in the us your speedometer will read 2mph higher than your actual speed. That’s fairly universal. I’ll concede that tire inflation, size, and wear have some impact but I’d argue not to the extent they imply. You won’t suddenly have a 10mph difference from your true speed. Maybe 4-5 tops baring unusual circumstances including but not limited to failure of the sensors that pass data to the speedometer.
2.) gps inaccuracies. They do a great job pointing out more complex details such as satellite positions, number of satellites, and their poor understanding of turns. However I believe that can be compensated for with software assuming we have a fairly accurate measurement of distance driven and time it took as well as an accurate position thru the whole processes.
3.) they’re selling a product. I’m always skeptical of companies trying to down a tried and true method and push something new that is directly tied into their product.
All that being said, I’d still argue that gps is not a suitable replacement for the day to day speedometer readings.
This is just UI clutter, redundantly showing a piece of information you already have prominently displayed right in front of your face.
It's handy to have the speed limit displayed, but 1) it's not always accurate and 2) it's already posted on signs and 3) the sign is what's legally enforcable anyway.
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Yes, they are selling, I should have found a better link, but the plusses and minuses are the same, just to different degrees.
99.5% of my driving is in open areas. And 50% of the time I am using cruise control, which I set looking at the car’s speedometer. Just being able to glance at the screen to see all my data at once is great on Waze. But Apple can be better especially when this is/should be a simple change.
yeah and so are road signs. why not eliminate GPS too if you're gonna go with this argument....
I can look at CarPlay to see the the road ahead, the speed limit, and my current speed with one glance.
I can see your points being more implemented in basically the next version of Carplay when it is a part of the car
For some stupid reason the trim of my suv don’t have native navigation, so I have to use Apple CarPlay or another navigation app, which I use every time I drive, so that I’ll know of any road hazards, before starting my drive enabling me to pick an alternative route if one is available.
Doubtful that this will be a real solution for the mainstream. How long has the Apple car key been a thing, with only a few models of a few brands using it? The "next version. of CarPlay" will require even deeper integration with the instrument cluster/infotainment system... I don't really see that happening, at least not any time soon.
Again, Waze has been doing this for years... there is no valid reason (beyond stubbornness on Apple's part) for them not implementing it in Apple Maps.
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CarPlay requiring deeper integration with the instruments would be exactly why that version of Carplay gets the visible speedometer and speed limit on roads to make it more "premium"
Waze has been doing it for years yes.. and I am by no means justifying Apple, but do remember at least as far as the speed limits on roads that Waze is also community driven and you can report speed limit changes and takes less time to update since there are senior users and mods and whatnot so basically free labor to make the changes. Also, if I remember correctly Waze has always had it before Google acquired it, because does Google Maps even have a real-time speedometer built in?
Yeah, the deeper integration will allow for the speed limit (and current speed) info... but it will also limit the number of makes and models that offer that deeper integration.
I cannot say for sure whether Google Maps offers any speed information (limits or current/actual speed), as I could not tell you the last time I used Google Maps for navigation - maybe "never".
A lot of my driving is in a large downtown. It is hilarious to see my location and direction jump by several meters while standing still at a light. GPS has a lot more limitation than the vehicle speedo.
You think Apple really cares about that? when would this be the first time Apple limited some features towards the newer thing if this even happens
Not really, I'm sure there's some legalese in there about it being accurate and obeying posted limits and the ones in the apps are just suggestions.
There's a local road near me that they adjusted the speed limit - the 35mph used to be 55mph, and they moved the speed reduction up by about a mile. So my Garmin GPS devices and Apple Maps would have me speeding for a mile!
They can't update them super fast, updates take time. It's a nice to have to see the speed limit, but honestly it behooves the driver to keep an eye on the actual posted speed limits.
Heck, half of the neighborhood streets around me don't even show their speed limits in Apple Maps at all, and I'm in a fairly large tech city...
EDIT: That said, I would love having the speed limits more prominently visible - they are still useful, and I would absolutely love to have a speedometer built in somewhere as an option as well. My 31 year old car does have a functioning speedometer but sometimes I am curious how accurate it is hah
1) speedometers are generally quite accurate. Like you said, the vendors have them set high (WTF!), but only typically by 1-2 miles max. I have routinely and repeatedly tested my speedometers on multiple vehicles (Volvo and GMC) for decades, and they have always been quite close, absolutely close enough for driving speed limit issues.
2) GPS accuracy I have also tested. iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro, Apple Watch 7, Apple Watch Ultra. Accuracy is spectacular, to within a few feet on a 1/4 mile track even; except when it is not. I walk the identical couple of miles every night and usually the distance repeats to within a few meters, but sometimes it will be off by a lot, 50-500 feet.
No vehicle speedometer has ever done that in my testing, not once. If a speedometer is inaccurate it is by a consistent small repeatable amount.
Bottom line is we agree: gps is not a suitable replacement for the day to day speedometer readings.
Edit: This is 2023 and CarPlay-type devices are now ubiquitous. As much as I hate adding laws to a world already overloaded with laws, states and localities should be required to electronically promulgate geographically accurate speed limit info for Apple/Waze/Google whomever to access and link to their apps. If they fail to do so then they should not be allowed to generate revenue ticketing speed limit violations.
It ain't rocket science. This is old tech now and far overdue. We just have lazy law enforcement, happy to keep consumers confused and unintentionally stumbling into speed violations.
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