How to Take Screenshots on Android Auto and Apple Carplay

In your car, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay interface are great companions to assist you while you drive. Both interfaces offer many things, from navigation to controlling media playback. If you wonder which one does it better, read our comparison of Android Auto vs. Apple CarPlay.

You might want to take screenshots of a location, error, or any other information from your car which supports Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. It could be to show your friend how the interface looks like. So, here’s how you can take screenshots on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Besides that, you can also take a look at some of the best Apple CarPlay Tips and Tricks to improve your CarPlay experience.

How to Take Screenshots on Android Auto

Taking screenshots on Android Auto requires you to make some preparations. There is an initial setup process that you need to go through to enable the ability to take screenshots on Android Auto. You’ll need to use the Android phone paired with the Android Auto in the car. For this guide, we paired a Samsung Galaxy phone and will be using screenshots from that device. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Connect your phone to your car’s Android Auto head unit.

Step 2: Open the Settings app on the Android phone which you use for Android Auto.

Step 3: Scroll down to the Advanced features section and tap on it.

Step 4: You will see the Android Auto option on the Advanced features screen. Select Android Auto to access settings.

If you don’t see the Android Auto option, you can use the search bar in the Settings app on your phone to look for it.

The screen that you can see now is the Android Auto preferences screen. This is where you can control the various settings of Android Auto.

Step 5: Scroll down on this page to the About section. You will find the Version tab. Tap on the Version tab multiple times continuously to enable Developer Settings. This is similar to enabling Developer Options on your Android phone.

Step 6: After tapping a few times, you should now see a dialog box asking if you want to allow development settings. Select OK.

Your phone will enable Developer Settings for Android Auto.

Step 7: Tap on the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 8: Select Developer settings.

Step 9: You will see multiple options on the Developer Settings screen. Tap on ‘Share screenshot now.’

The Android Auto interface will capture the screenshot of the screen. It’ll show you the entire interface.

You will get an option to share the screenshot on your phone. Choose where you want to upload it or if you want to send it to someone. However, there’s no option to store the screenshot on your phone’s internal storage.

How to Take Screenshots on Apple CarPlay

Taking a screenshot on Apple CarPlay is quite straightforward. Unlike the Android Auto, you won’t need to go through hoops to enable any such setting just to take screenshots. Here’s how to take a screenshot on Apple CarPlay.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your car’s Apple CarPlay head unit. You can connect via the wired or wireless method.

If your car doesn’t have wireless Apple CarPlay, you can get a CarPlay compatible wireless adaptor.

Step 2: Once the Apple CarPlay screen is mirrored on the head unit, navigate to whatever screen you want to capture.

Step 3: Take a screenshot on your iPhone by pressing the Side or Power button and Volume Up button on iPhones with Face ID. For iPhones with a physical Home button, you’ll need to press the side or power button with the home button.

That’s pretty much it. When you take a screenshot on your iPhone, the Apple CarPlay screen is also simultaneously captured. You can verify this by heading over to the Photos app on your iPhone. You will see two screenshots – one of your iPhone’s screen and the other would be that of the CarPlay screen.

Similarly, you can also start a screen recording on your iPhone, and the CarPlay screen will also be saved as a separate file. CarPlay seems to be the easier interface to work with and even has several useful features like Shortcuts and Automations that you can try.

Capture Your Driving Interface

Whether you use an Android phone or an iPhone, you can follow the respective steps to capture the Android Auto or Apple CarPlay screen in your car. It’s a little surprising that capturing the Android Auto screen is tedious, whereas it’s much simpler on CarPlay. Hopefully, with future iterations of Android, Google will introduce an easier way to capture screenshots on Android Auto.