Although Apple does have a lot of features geared towards sharing with other people, such as AirDrop and Family Sharing, it does have occasional blindspots. On iPads, for example, you can’t set up multiple user profiles, even though they increasingly operate like Macs. To buy an Apple Watch for your kid without also getting them an iPhone, you have to spring extra for a cellular model with a data plan, and pair it to your own iPhone regardless. That might be the best possible argument for turning the Watch into a standalone wearable.
An area of lesser friction involves trying to use CarPlay with two separate iPhones. For the most part, it’s a non-issue. But you can run into trouble, both because of assumptions Apple’s tech makes, and how automakers decide to cope with that. It’s worth learning about if you plan to share a car with your partner, or you’re lucky enough to have separate iPhones for work and personal life.
Sharing CarPlay and the potential conflicts
When convenience is inconvenient
The first thing to be aware of is how CarPlay connects to your vehicle. The wired version requires hooking up an iPhone to a USB data port; the wireless one uses Bluetooth to establish a handshake, but handles most of its data streaming over Wi-Fi. Missing or inadequate Wi-Fi is why some vehicles don’t support wireless CarPlay. I won’t spend much time on the initial setup process, but suffice it to say that the only thing directly dependent on your Apple account is in-app content. If a second person connects to your car, they’re not forced to use your apps or settings. They can’t, actually, since nothing is actually stored in your car’s infotainment system. It’s just projection to a bigger display and sound system.
Two people can’t use CarPlay simultaneously. Most cars don’t have multiple USB data ports, and regardless of how much Wi-Fi bandwidth is available, most dash displays don’t have a lot of screen space. That would also be dangerously chaotic while driving.
If your vehicle is equipped with wired CarPlay, switching iPhones tends to be pretty easy — you just plug the USB cable into the one you want to use. Additional phones do have to go through the setup process, but only once. The next time they’re plugged in, CarPlay will launch automatically, with all of their app and appearance settings intact.
Where things start to get tricky is wireless pairing. Once an initial iPhone is paired, it’s detected and connected automatically whenever you turn your car on. That’s part of the point of going wireless, really — the only thing more seamless is CarPlay Ultra. The problem is that there’s no quick option for switching phones. When wireless CarPlay is enabled, the wired mode is disabled, so it’s not as if you can simply hook up a USB cable.
To deal with this, automakers rely on custom software for saving multiple CarPlay pairings and switching between them. This is brand-specific, and potentially model-specific. In my 2022 Hyundai Venue, I first have to tap my car’s Setup button, then on Device Connections, a.k.a. the Android Auto/Apple CarPlay widget. This lists all the paired devices. To complete the switch, I tap Connect next to the phone I want to use. For your own vehicle, you’ll need to look up online manuals, or videos on YouTube.
There are some other potential headaches with this arrangement. If the second iPhone belongs to your partner, and they get out of the car briefly while you wait in the passenger seat, your car may decide to latch onto your device after your partner wanders out of range. If this happens, you’ll have to go through the reconnection process when they get back. At other times, your car may seem to prefer one phone over the other, even when it should by all rights play fair.
One way of mitigating conflicts is temporarily disabling Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi on an iPhone. If your dash can’t detect a device, it’ll simply default to the next available option. For the sake of a seamless experience, it’s best to disable radios before the car is turned on. Just remember that as a passenger, you’ll have to re-enable Bluetooth to use wireless headphones, and Wi-Fi for Personal Hotspot functions.
Ways you actually can share CarPlay simultaneously
Limited, but they exist
If everyone involved is subscribed to Apple Music, they can at least participate in controlling songs via a feature called SharePlay. Once the CarPlay-connected driver starts playing music, other iPhone users in the car should see a notification pop up on their lockscreens. All they need to do is tap Connect, then wait for the driver to approve. There’s also a QR code method as a fallback.
Spotify has its own counterpart to this, Spotify Jam. Once a driver taps Queue & Jam in the Now Playing view, passengers should be able to join immediately if they have Bluetooth enabled. Otherwise, they’ll have to scan a QR code. The host can, of course, kick people out if they’ve decided to play What’s New Pussycat seven times in a row.
