How to improve CarPlay navigation if you use Google Maps over Apple Maps

There's something quietly absurd about the CarPlay default-app situation in 2024. Here we have a car interface built on an iPhone—a device where users can freely set their default browser, email client, and music app—yet navigation remains locked to Apple Maps unless you manually intervene. Engadget's guide (https://www.engadget.com/2267714/how-to-improve-carplay-navigation-use-google-maps-not-apple-maps/) highlights the workarounds, but the deeper story is about how Apple treats the car as a special exception to its own default-app philosophy. The dashboard is prime real estate, and Apple has decided it's not for rent. The workarounds themselves are telling. The most reliable approach remains the "launch before you plug in" method: start Google Maps on your iPhone, get the route queued, then connect to CarPlay. That's not a feature; it's a ritual. The Siri-driven alternative—asking Siri to "get directions to X via Google Maps"—works but requires remembering a specific phrasing that Apple has never made discoverable. And the Shortcuts automation, while clever, is a power-user hack that most drivers will never discover. The friction is the point: Apple is betting that most users will just give up and use Apple Maps. What's fascinating is that this isn't a technical limitation. The API hooks exist. Google Maps has full CarPlay integration; it just can't claim the default slot. This is a policy decision dressed as a technical constraint. And it's worth noting that in the EU, where regulators have pushed back on Apple's ecosystem control, the rules are changing. The fact that this article needs to exist "in most regions" acknowledges that the landscape is shifting—Apple's grip on CarPlay defaults may eventually loosen the same way it did for default browsers and email apps. For now, the practical advice stands: if you're a Google Maps loyalist, the Shortcuts automation is the closest thing to a permanent fix. Set up an automation that opens Google Maps when CarPlay connects, and you've effectively recreated the default behavior Apple refuses to provide. It's a small victory for user agency, but it shouldn't require a workaround in the first place. The car should respect your choices, not Apple's.