We’re all one step closer to not ever needing a phone when we drive. The latest example is the 2025 Chevy Equinox, which has built-in apps and a 5G cellular connection. You can now install and use apps like Audible and Tidal to help with long drives.
That’s exactly what I ended up doing, experimenting for an entire week by leaving my phone behind on every drive. I barely noticed.
I should admit up front that I have been in a mode lately where I am more interested in audiobooks than podcasts or even music lately. I just feel, for long drives to a downtown office, I can make more use of the time listening to books than anything.
I noticed the Equinox has an app for Audible, and I took the opportunity to listen to several books on a few drives. Logging into the app is easy using a QR code and I was up and running within about a minute. I could see my library right on the screen and didn’t need to bother with CarPlay at all. My latest ”read” is a book called The Siren’s Call by Chris Hayes, which is about avoiding distraction in a digital age like ours.
Before each drive, I didn’t need to fish out a phone or think about charging anything. I didn’t need to use CarPlay, either, I just punched up the Audible app and hit play on my book. The cell services worked smoothly and never had any trouble streaming the book as I drove, even when I was driving in a tunnel. (That might have more to do with the city where I live using wireless repeaters for cell coverage in those tunnels.)
Next, I added the Tidal app to the Equinox and had a very similar experience. Tidal streams at higher fidelity than most apps, and the install was also very painless. Again, I just used a QR code to set up the app by syncing the login to my account. (Yes, this means using your phone, but it is the first and last time you will need the phone to authenticate the apps.)
Tidal sounded clear and without any of the distortion you might hear when you sync over Bluetooth using an app that does not support high-res music (like, say, Spotify). Overall, Tidal was easy to use and familiar — I could see the latest albums that pop-up and that Tidal thankfully filters to only show the artists I like who have a new album out. I could also punch up any of the latest tracks from my favorite artists as well (you have to scroll down further to see other artists), and streaming never faltered or paused during all of my testing for a week.
Where is this heading? I have said it before and I will say it again — we will eventually get to the point where we do not need to have a phone when we drive. All of our apps will run in the vehicle, and those that don’t will likely be accessible through a voicebot. The Equinox supports the Google Assistant so I was able to ask about the weather and news.
The only thing I did miss is the ability to text by voice. I used an iPhone so it wasn’t possible to use Siri since I left my phone behind on most trips. Strangely, I did notice that CarPlay was supported even though I know GM had decided to drop CarPlay support. (I asked a Chevy rep about this topic and have not heard back quite yet.)
No matter — I liked everything else about going phone-free during my test and barely missed the need to text anyone. I had my books and music, so I was set.
