Here's What's New In iOS 8.3 Including Information On Apple CarPlay

iOS 8.3 brings plenty of new features and bug fixes to the software inside your iDevice. Apple released the update yesterday and everyone has been combing through the software to find out what's new.

Car enthusiasts are more interested in what's new with CarPlay. Here are more details on what we know so far...

Main New Features in iOS 8.3

- New diversified emojis and emoji picker.
- Passbook: Apple Pay cards and other passes have been placed in separate stacks.
- Siri supports new languages.
- Make speakerphone calls using Siri: Just say "Call XYZ using speakerphone" and voila!
- New album icons in photos. There's a new automatic album created for all your screenshots. Awesome!
- Keyboard: The spacebar has been widened so hopefully less typos.like.these.
- Messages: Separate lists for messages from known contacts and the unknowns.
- No password required to download free apps.

CarPlay Features/Issues in iOS 8.3

- Wireless CarPlay is now supported. iOS 8.3 will allow users to use CarPlay wirelessly. However, you will need a vehicle that supports wireless CarPlay to use this. As far as the aftermarket goes, none of the current head units support wireless CarPlay. In fact, the hardware in the head units may not be up-to-date to avail of wireless CarPlay.

- Launch CarPlay without unlocking your iPhone: I posted about this a few minutes ago. In iOS 8.3 you can now launch CarPlay without needing to unlock your iPhone. The iPhone will prompt you to allow this the first time you connect it to your car's head unit.

- The "Hey Siri" feature appears still to be broken. It doesn't work reliably if at all. If you've been following this issue for the last few months, you know how annoying it can be. With "Hey Siri," users should be able to launch the voice assistant by just saying that phrase and not having to long press the home button. The iPhone needs to be connected to a power source. But for some reason, this feature does not work in the car.

- Sluggish interface: When CarPlay first became available to the general public there were a few complaints about the sluggishness of the interface. Changing music tracks or triggering Siri, for example, took a few extra seconds sometimes. Whether this issue has been fixed or not, cannot be confirmed at this time. This is something we will know as time passes and we get to use CarPlay a little more in iOS 8.3.

- New compatible third-party apps? None so far but hopefully iOS 8.3 will signal the release of more third-party apps that are compatible with CarPlay.

Have you updated your iPhone to iOS 8.3 and tried it out with CarPlay? Let us all know in the comments below if you find anything new.