It is an unsaid rule at Hyundai that it would offer wired CarPlay and Android Auto those car models that have integrated navigation facilities. This meant that some low-end models without factory navigation arrived with wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, whereas high-end and expensive car models did not have wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. However, the situation is about to change soon. As reported by Chasing Cars, Hyundai has decided to bring wireless CarPlay and Android Auto support to models that come with the built-in navigation system.
Why is Hyundai changing its stance?
The second generation KONA SUV will be the first car model that will gain support for wireless CarPlay and Android Auto this year. While this news is great for potential car buyers who were planning on discarding Hyundai cars due to the lack of wireless CarPlay, Hyundai’s new resolve will also bring the wireless phone mirroring functionality to existing models. This will be possible with backward compatibility and the wireless CarPlay/Android Auto functionality will be rolled out to existing cars via over the air update. However, Hyundai has not confirmed yet which models will be eligible for backward compatibility. “Hyundai’s Guido Schenken has told Chasing Cars that Hyundai is investigating which models will have backward-compatibility. There is high confidence that new-generation Kona examples delivered before Q4 2023 will be capable of being updated. There is lower confidence that other recent models will be able to be updated. This reflects lower confidence than yesterday’s stance on backwards-compatibility.” While Hyundai will be able to deliver the feature to some existing car owners via over the air updates, not many Hyundai cars support the functionality. Over the air update is a new feature for Hyundai cars. Only Palisade, Tucson, Venue, and Ioniq 6 support over the air update functionality as of now. It is not clear how the Korean car maker will bring wireless CarPlay and Android Auto support to models that do not support over the air updates. Chasing Cars said that the reason why Hyundai has decided to end its years-long dispute after wireless CarPlay is becoming a popular demand amongst car buyers. The publication wrote, “Chasing Cars understands that the dispute involved whether Hyundai or the smartphone mirroring software would have priority access to the “navigation” shortcut button inside the cabin.” Chasing Cars says that Hyundai will roll out the feature starting in October 2023.
