Indian's big bikes get Apple CarPlay integration for 2020

Indian Motorcycle is good at many things, but the thing that it's arguably best at is building big, luxurious long-distance cruisers -- the kind that make you want to top off the tank and disappear for a few days at a time. 

Of course, one thing that makes long rides like those much more pleasant is music, and Bluetooth communicators have gotten very good in the last couple of years. Now -- with the likes of Honda and Harley having introduced Apple CarPlay and Android Auto into some of their bikes -- it's only fitting that Indian get around to it too, and last week on July 29 the company announced that some of its 2020 motorcycles would have Apple CarPlay integration.

Now, before you rush out to try and update your FTR's system or something, you should know that currently, only Indian's bikes with the 7-inch Ride Command system can use CarPlay. That setup is found on the 2020 Challenger, Chieftain and Roadmaster models, currently. Still, these bikes are all an excellent fit for CarPlay, so it makes sense that Indian would start there.

As we've seen from other manufacturers, to enable CarPlay on Indian's bikes you need to have your own Bluetooth communication system -- Cardo or Sena are your best bet. From there, the functionality should be similar to what you expect in four-wheel and other two-wheel implementations.

The inclusion of CarPlay is huge, but it's not the only update that Indian is giving Ride Command for 2020. It's also managed to improve boot times, navigation controls and location management as well as widgets, including adding one to help track fuel economy.

We reached out to Indian to see if it had plans for Android Auto integration, considering that the folks from Milwaukee already offer that, but didn't hear back immediately.