Tesla Tinkerers Get CarPlay and AirPlay Running Natively [VIDEOS]

Tesla owners are still waiting on official Apple CarPlay support, but two well-known tinkerers just got it running natively on a Tesla screen. Michał Gapiński and Maciej Wilczyński showed off CarPlay and AirPlay working on an AMD Ryzen-powered infotainment system, modified using a custom environment enabled by @CoilShift.

Gapiński is the developer behind the Tesla Android Project, which brought CarPlay to Tesla screens through an unofficial workaround over four years ago. That setup relied on a Raspberry Pi and a browser. This time, it’s built directly into the car’s software, dedicated app and all.

Native CarPlay on a Tesla Screen

Gapiński called it the world’s first native CarPlay implementation in a Tesla, noting that it took over five years to make a native port. “No dongles, no browser. Bare metal, butter smooth,” he said about the solution.

His videos show a CarPlay icon in the app launcher, right alongside Tesla’s own apps like Caraoke, YouTube, and Hulu. Tapping it opens CarPlay as a native window on the right side of the display, while Tesla’s vehicle controls stay on the left. You get the full CarPlay interface, including Phone, Messages, Apple Music, Podcasts, and third-party apps like Google Maps, ChatGPT, and even Grok, plus an option to expand CarPlay to full screen.

It’s not just the visuals that work. Gapiński said Siri works through the car’s onboard microphones, and that “lossless audio works and you can hear it.”

Even the RGB works — in one clip, he uses CarPlay to play songs through Apple Music while the cabin’s ambient lighting reacts to the music.

AirPlay Turns Your Tesla Into an External Display

Wilczyński shared another feature CoilShift unlocks: AirPlay. His video shows an AirPlay app in the dock, which waits for a connection. From there, he selects the Tesla screen as a display in his MacBook’s settings, and his desktop shows up on the car’s screen.

“It’s like having an external display for your Mac, iPhone or iPad - but built into your car!” Wilczyński wrote. It’s an early preview, so it still has black borders around the image, but he says the final version will fill the entire screen.

He also noted that despite rumors of Tesla adding official AirPlay support, “I’ve found no existing plumbing for it anywhere in the firmware.” He and Gapiński built the feature from scratch.

Tesla’s Official CarPlay Is Still Coming

Neither developer has said whether these features will be available to other owners. Both run in a modified environment, the same kind of setup Wilczyński used to unlock Tesla’s hidden Automations feature, which is already in the code for a wide release.

However, this implementation shows not just that CarPlay on a Tesla is possible but that a native version could be buttery smooth. Tesla’s own version is still in the works. A report last fall said Tesla was working on an official CarPlay port, and reports earlier this year said it hadn’t been dropped.

Tesla is reportedly even working directly with Apple to keep Apple Maps in sync with FSD. Apple is also adding AirPlay to CarPlay, and Tesla’s official implementation is expected to include it.

We expect official CarPlay to launch with this year’s Holiday Update. Until then, Gapiński summed up what everyone’s wondering: “@Tesla when?”