Woman was ready to fork out $800 for Apple CarPlay at mechanic then she realized her car had little-known feature seven months later

A Toyota Camry owner in the U.S. very nearly wasted $800 to have Apple CarPlay fitted.

The woman had been driving her Camry for seven months, but didn’t realize she didn’t need to have CarPlay fitted.

This is because she realized it was already included.

Fortunately, she found out in time and saved herself $800.

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“If you have a screen, you probably have CarPlay”

Shyanna Thalia Shields, who goes by @shyanne.thylia on TikTok, said she had no idea her Toyota Camry already had Apple CarPlay.

She plugged her phone into the vehicle’s USB seven months later, and CarPlay immediately popped up on her infotainment screen.

This is may sound obvious to some people, as somebody in the comments pointed out.

“If you have a screen in your car, you almost certainly have CarPlay,” one of the commenters wrote.

However, others would argue that automakers and dealers aren’t communicating properly with their customers.

A Subaru owner had a similar experience, albeit for a completely different reasons, when she found out the hard way about the notorious ’50k checkup’, which is something no one had told her about.

What’s the alternative to Apple CarPlay/Android Auto?

Most legacy automakers have given up on trying to develop their own alternative to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

It’s cheaper and easier to integrate the aforementioned standards than it is to develop a new one, and customers seem to prefer Apple’s and Android’s systems anyway.

Having said that, some manufacturers are still working on their own software for the car’s infotainment system.

Honda, for example, has recently unveiled two prototypes that’ll use the company’s new OS, called Asimo OS.

Mercedes is doing something similar with its MBUX system that also integrates AI.

But things are probably going to change in the near future as more tech companies join the automotive world.

Xiaomi, Huawei and Sony are already making cars, and it’s only a matter of time before other equivalent companies join the bandwagon.

Apart from Apple, as we all know.