How To Play Videos and Netflix on Your Car’s Apple CarPlay Display Without Jailbreak

Apple CarPlay is an invention for safely using your phone while driving. It’s a system that enables a car’s head unit to act as a display or controller for an iOS device. It gives directions, allows sending and receiving messages, and enjoying your favorite music while driving.

CarPlay is an innovative and safe way to use your phone in the car while keeping your eyes on the road. That’s why the app doesn’t allow users to play videos, which can distract you while driving. This means you cannot stream YouTube or Netflix on Apple CarPlay.

Failure to access video streaming platforms is a bummer because you cannot make the most of your car’s ‘infotainment’ system. For example, you cannot enjoy the best car shows on Netflix to watch while parking after a long drive. CarPlay provides easy access to phone features you might struggle with while driving, lowering distraction risk.

What Does Car Play Offer?

CarPlay is an infotainment system controlled by the Siri voice assistant for a hands-free driving experience. Siri reads out text messages and even makes phone calls allowing the driver to concentrate on the road. It also sends dictated replies and creates events in your calendar.

Like most Apple products, CarPlay is a great innovation and works with various types of touchscreens, car knobs, and buttons. It even has an app that directs you to your car’s home screen with a single tap.

The CarPlay dashboard is intuitive with easy-to-use apps for music, maps, calendar, messages, and iPhone, and you can customize it by installing new apps.

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Steps for Customizing the CarPlay Screen

The CarPlay screen is easy to customize, including adding and removing apps and it doesn’t have to be on when making changes to the device. Here are the steps to follow:

• Go to your iPhone Settings and tap on General.
• Choose CarPlay
• Select your vehicle model to obtain specific settings.
• Tap Customize and use the plus and minus signs to add and remove apps.
• You can also rearrange the apps to your preferred order.
• Connect CarPlay with your vehicle to update the changes.

However, for legal and safety purposes, you cannot add video-supporting apps on CarPlay. Imagine the lawsuits that would be filed against Apple if it allowed people to watch videos while driving.

That’s why Apple doesn’t support Netflix or YouTube apps on CarPlay. However, the company allows several apps like Audible, Overcast, Spotify, etc., which won’t distract you while driving.

But people are developing new ways to use Netflix, YouTube, and other video-playing apps on CarPlay. Most of these methods involve jailbreaking an iPhone to allow the installation of third-party apps, a complicated process.

Luckily, you don’t have to jailbreak your phone to watch videos on CarPlay, and here’s what you need to do.

Using iCarPlayDongle

iCarPlayDongle X, C, and Pro offer the best solution to play Netflix, YouTube, and other video streaming apps on your CarPlay screen. The dongle works on cars with the official stock OEM Wired-CarPlay capability. The table below has examples of the supported models:

Visit the official website of iCarPlayDongle for the complete list of vehicles supported by the iCarPlayDongle X, C, or Pro.

Adding the dongle to a vehicle with a factory OEM wired-CarPlay adds other functionalities. For example, we are converting the existing wired-CarPlay setup to wireless without changing anything.

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iCarPlayDongle adds the all-important feature to stream Netflix or YouTube from your iPhone to the car’s head unit. The quality is MirrorLink and AirPlay Mirroring functionality, which transfers the content on your phone’s display to the vehicle’s head unit.

The mirroring allows streaming Netflix or YouTube on your phone and displaying on the head unit. It also allows you to play audio and video files from a USB drive.

Here are the main features of iCarPlayDongle

• Supports iPhone 5 and above and the latest iOS versions.
• Adds wireless functionality to a vehicle with a wired CarPlay head unit.
• Full Siri functionality through the vehicle’s in-built microphone hardware.
• Plays different types of media files stored on a USB drive.
• Adds mirroring functionality to display the phone’s content to the vehicle’s head unit. As mentioned, this function allows you to watch Netflix, YouTube, or any other streaming service from your mobile device to the car’s head unit.
• Supports multiple screen sizes.

How iCarPlayDongle Works

The iCarPlayDongle is an easy-to-use device and doesn’t require any special skills to use or operate. Here’s what you need to do:

• Connect the iCarPlayDongle to the USB port of your vehicle or where you plug in your iPhone to access wired CarPlay.
• A brand new interface will show up on the head unit.
• Wirelessly connect with your iPhone, and that’s it. Select YouTube or Netflix and start streaming on your vehicle’s head unit.

Wrapping Up

Most people prefer the Apple CarPlay display because of its interactive and easy-to-use features. However, due to safety concerns, CarPlay doesn’t allow drivers to play videos while driving. This takes the fun out of your car’s infotainment system because you cannot watch your favorite videos or series in the parking lot.

WheelPal is the most popular app for playing videos on Apple CarPlay but only works with a jailbroken phone. Jailbreaking can literally break your phone, and you’ll also lose your device’s warranty. iCarPlayDongle, on the other hand, is a risk-free method for playing videos on Apple CarPlay and is available for $184.