Qobuz’s recent CarPlay update is a major improvement – but it’s not quite perfect

Qobuz‘s updated CarPlay interface couldn’t come soon enough.

As someone lucky enough to have multiple music streaming services to hand as I trek from my home to our Reading office (or anywhere else for that matter) in my increasingly road-weary Audi A1, I’m well-versed in how each major brand has integrated Apple CarPlay into their respective platforms.

(Image credit: Qobuz)

Plus, some features don’t work as smoothly or reliably as you might like, although this might be down to personal experience and the fact that this is still a very recent update.

Pressing the ‘radio’ icon, which generates a sort of bespoke playlist based on the song you’re listening to, nearly caused an entire system crash during testing, but that might rectified later down the line. Maybe my 4G connection just wasn’t as strong as I thought it was, or maybe I caught the service on a bad day.

Nevertheless, Qobuz’s recent overhaul in the way it implements Apple CarPlay is a vast improvement on that which preceded it, making it a genuinely viable alternative to the likes of Tidal or Spotify when you’re hitting the road.

Qobuz has already dramatically reduced the gap between its own service and those of its key rivals, with this latest upgrade proving that the French brand is serious about making itself the premier hi-res service on the block.

Now that its sound and music catalogue are up to scratch, alongside this new upgrade to its in-car integration, it may be time for rivals to stand up and take notice of a service that has gained serious momentum in the past few years.

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