Sygic Car Navigation for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay?

03. 05. 2016 · 3 min read

Recently we have received many questions from you about Apple CarPlay (Check out the end of this article, we have some great news for you) and Android Auto compatibility and when it will be ready. Today, our Sygic Car Navigation app is available for cars with MirrorLink®, InControl™ and Honda Display Audio enabled systems, so why isn’t it available for CarPlay and Android Auto yet?

For now, the situation is clear: only selected developers can publish their apps on CarPlay and Android Auto platforms. We have tried to get into discussions with Apple and Google, and we are still asking for their software development kits to provide you with an alternative offline navigation experience on both platforms. To date however, we are still not one of the few, nor is any other navigation developer, which means users are forced to use only one default navigation - Apple Maps or Google Maps. This brings together several downsides for users like the need for an internet connection to enjoy all the features or large-sized offline maps and missing features like advanced route options, a rich POI database, safety warnings, mobile speed camera warnings and more.

Here at Sygic Car Navigation, we are always looking forward to offering our navigation experience to as many users as possible. Right now we are not able to fulfill our vision and publish our app on two major platforms because of their closed development environment.

Join us

However, this is not the end. We think competition is healthy and moves things forward. You, the user, is the one who will benefit from it the most. Therefore we ask you to join us on this quest and help us to bring more applications from other developers to CarPlay and Android Auto. Contact Apple via their feedback form or send feedback to Google via the Android Auto companion app right now. Ask for compatibility with Sygic Car Navigation and hopefully together we will deliver new apps on both platforms much faster.

Until this happens, we will continue to improve our app, its features, your experience and the quality of maps. Right now many other options how to connect with car's infotainment systems. Current connectivities you can use are:

  • SDL (Ford, Pioneer, Datsun)
  • MirrorLink (VW, Seat, Skoda, Peugeot, Citroen, Suzuki, Honda)
  • InControl (Jaguar, Land Rover)
  • HondaLink (Honda)
  • BoschMySpin (Motorcycles with Bosch infotainment)

You can find all information with instructions right on Compatible Cars site.

Besides, our commitment stays clear. Whenever CarPlay or Android Auto will open its gates, we will be ready to offer you Sygic Car Navigation there with all of its favorite features.

Edit 2018 - With iOS12, Sygic will release its state-of-art offline navigation for Apple CarPlay
We have some amazing news for you. On #WWDC18 Apple announced, that CarPlay will support 3rd party apps, including Sygic. Since then our developers are working hard to bring you our state-of-art offline experience directly to your in-dash, so you can start using it right after the new iOS12 is released. Check out the first screen in our recent blog post.

We are pretty sure, that you and Sygic community significantly contributed to this announcement. And we owe you big thank you. However if you own Android smartphone, you still can't connect Sygic to your in-dash and benefit from all the great safety features, that connected car provides. Join us in our effort and send feedback to Google.

Written by Andrej Horák