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CarPlay

Updated

Sidetrip supports CarPlay so you can quickly access your trip itinerary while driving. This guide explains what CarPlay supports, what is required, and how navigation works.

Requirements

To use Sidetrip in CarPlay, you need:

  • Sidetrip Pro — CarPlay access requires an active Pro purchase
  • An iPhone connected to a CarPlay-compatible vehicle or head unit
  • At least one unarchived trip in Sidetrip

If Sidetrip Pro is not active, CarPlay shows a Pro-required message. If you do not have any unarchived trips, CarPlay shows a no-trips message.

What You Can Do in CarPlay

The CarPlay app is designed for quick, driving-friendly itinerary access:

  • View your unarchived trips
  • Open a trip to see its days
  • Open a day to see its stops
  • Tap a stop to start navigation
  • See progress indicators for days and stops
  • See trip and day cover cards on iOS 27 or later

Trip editing, importing, AI generation, sharing, and detailed planning are still handled in the main Sidetrip app on iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Using Sidetrip in CarPlay

  1. Connect your iPhone to CarPlay.
  2. Open Sidetrip from the CarPlay home screen.
  3. Select a trip from the Trips list.
  4. Select a day.
  5. Tap a stop to open navigation.

When you return to Sidetrip from navigation, the app attempts to return you to the stop list for the day you were viewing.

Trip and Day Covers

On iOS 27 or later, trips and days appear as landscape cover cards. Trip cards show the trip title and dates, while day cards show the day number, title, date, and progress label. Days remain grouped by trip part. Tap a trip card to open its days, or a day card to open its stops.

Opening a trip shows a details header above the day cards with its title, dates, cover, tagline, and itinerary progress. Opening a day shows its title, date, cover, progress, and summary above the stop list. CarPlay chooses from shorter text variants to fit the display. The header text appears immediately, with a placeholder while the cover loads. Missing or unreadable covers use a neutral image with an icon. Portrait photos are cropped to fit the landscape presentation; the saved photo is not changed.

Add, replace, or remove covers in the main Sidetrip app on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Saved covers, including AI-generated covers, appear automatically in CarPlay once available on your iPhone. Cover changes made by collaborators appear after iCloud sync. On earlier iOS versions, CarPlay uses the standard lists and progress icons.

Continue Your Itinerary

  • Continue Trip opens the first unfinished day in itinerary order, including a day already started. This follows your recorded progress, rather than the current calendar date. When all days are complete, the button becomes a disabled Trip Complete indicator.
  • Next Stop starts navigation to the first stop in the day's itinerary that is Not Visited or In Progress, using your selected navigation app. Visited and Skipped stops are passed over. When all stops are finished, the button becomes a disabled Day Complete indicator.
  • If the next stop has no usable coordinates, Next Stop is disabled and the header explains that its location is unavailable. It does not silently skip that stop. Trips without days and days without stops show disabled No Days or No Stops buttons.

These actions update as itinerary progress changes, including changes synced through iCloud. Opening a day or starting navigation does not mark anything visited; manage visit statuses in the main Sidetrip app.

Day and Stop Progress

Sidetrip uses progress labels on day cards in iOS 27 or later, and icons in standard day lists and stop lists, to show progress at a glance:

Days

  • Not Started: No stops have been marked yet
  • Started: At least one stop has been updated, but the day is not complete
  • Complete: All stops are marked visited or skipped

Stops

  • Not Visited: You have not visited this stop yet
  • In Progress: You are currently at or working through this stop
  • Visited: You completed this stop
  • Skipped: You intentionally skipped this stop

Stop statuses are managed in the main Sidetrip app. In CarPlay, tapping a stop starts navigation.

Choosing a Navigation App

You can choose which navigation app Sidetrip opens from CarPlay:

  1. Open Sidetrip on your iPhone.
  2. Tap the gear button on the trips list to open Settings.
  3. Find CarPlay Navigation.
  4. Choose a Navigation App.

Available options are:

  • Apple Maps
  • Google Maps
  • Waze

This setting appears only on iPhone and only affects navigation launched from CarPlay. Navigation from Sidetrip on iPhone, iPad, or Mac continues to use Apple Maps.

If you choose Google Maps or Waze and that app is unavailable, Sidetrip asks whether you want to use Apple Maps instead or cancel.

Troubleshooting

Sidetrip Does Not Appear in CarPlay

  • Confirm your iPhone is connected to CarPlay.
  • Confirm Sidetrip Pro is active in Sidetrip Settings.
  • Restart Sidetrip and reconnect CarPlay.

No Trips Are Shown

  • CarPlay shows only unarchived trips. If all trips are archived, they will not appear.
  • Open Sidetrip on your iPhone to allow iCloud sync to finish.
  • Tap the refresh button in CarPlay.

Google Maps or Waze Is Unavailable

  • Install the selected navigation app on your iPhone.
  • Choose Use Apple Maps when prompted.
  • Or change the CarPlay Navigation setting back to Apple Maps.

iPhone Shows a Permission Prompt

The first time Sidetrip opens another navigation app, iOS may show a system prompt on your iPhone asking whether Sidetrip can open that app. This prompt is controlled by iOS and cannot be skipped by Sidetrip.