CarPlay: US fast food chain allows ordering from the car
The American roasting chain Chick-fil-A uses Apple's iPhone integration to sell food. You can pick them up directly from the nearest branch.
Chick-fil-A sandwich with CarPlay logo: a perfectly sensible combination.
(Image: Chick-fil-A / Apple)
CarPlay can be used to develop complete apps that run on the iPhone but function and can be operated on the central display of numerous cars. Popular apps include navigation and map apps such as Apple Maps or Google Maps, audio players such as Spotify, Apple Music or Audible, as well as petrol station price finders. However, ordering food (in advance) with CarPlay is still rather unknown. In the USA, the popular fried chicken chain Chick-fil-A has now implemented this with its own application for Apple's iPhone vehicle integration. This allows you to order food from your car and collect it directly from the nearest branch.
Specially adapted to the vehicle
The app was tested for months in a beta phase and has recently been made available to Americans in the fast food provider's availability area as an alternative ordering method, according to a FAQ. An account must first be created and a credit or gift card deposited. Another prerequisite is that you have already placed a digital order online. "Please refrain from using the app while driving. Thank you for driving carefully," the chicken chain continues.
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However, the entire Chick-fil-A range is not currently available via CarPlay. To speed up the ordering process, the app in the car only shows older orders (which can then be repeated or adjusted) and menu favorites previously set on the iPhone. It is also not possible to change orders under CarPlay once they have been transferred to a store; this is only possible on the iPhone. The CarPlay application does not currently support payment with a method other than the stored credit or voucher card – Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay.
Chain with new stores in the UK
Home deliveries cannot be ordered; instead, the CarPlay app only offers restaurant pick-up, drive-thru, mobile-thru (which is supposed to be faster than drive-thru) and delivery to the parking lot ("curbside pickup"). You cannot use CarPlay to enter where you are in the parking lot; instead, this can only be done on the iPhone. This also applies to changing the branch.
All in all, the Chick-fil-A app for CarPlay shows that it is also possible to order food via the vehicle display. Although you still have to reach for your iPhone for many functions, these are ones that are not really needed in the car – and would be too distracting. We can only hope that other fast food chains will take the app as a model – in Europe too. Chick-fil-A is currently planning to open several new branches in the UK and could also come to the EU from 2026.
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