WhatsApp is getting a native CarPlay app — and you can grab the beta version now

• A native WhatsApp app is being tested for CarPlay
• The beta version is available now
• It includes a visual interface with access to contacts, call history, and more

If you use both WhatsApp and CarPlay then you’re probably aware that the former is currently limited on the latter. There’s no native app, so you have to use Siri to perform tasks, and it lacks a visual interface. But that’s about to change.

As reported by WABetaInfo, there’s now a native WhatsApp app available for CarPlay, but only in beta so far.

This app lets you see your chat list, and you can optionally filter it to show just conversations with unread messages. You can tap on a chat to send a new message, or tap on ‘New Message’ to send one to anyone in your address book.

You can message and call but not read

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The app supports both light and dark modes, and you can also see call history, contacts that you’ve marked as favorites, and a screen showing your main profile details, and, of course, you can start calls with the app too. What you can’t do is open a conversation to read all the messages in it, as that wouldn’t be safe while driving.

This being a beta version, it’s possible that some features may be added or removed before the final release, but since these are mostly core features, we’d expect them to largely remain intact.

You can grab the beta via the TestFlight app, but note that it might be a little buggy, so you may prefer to wait for the finished version, which will hopefully be along soon, and which will be available on the App Store once it lands.

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