Which USB to use for Apple CarPlay in 2020 Prius Prime Limited?

Just picked up my first Prius Prime: 2020 Limited Edition. Previously owned 2004 and 2010 ordinary Prius models.

Want to set up Apple CarPlay and some reading in Prius Chat leads me to believe I need to use a USB cable for connecting my iPhone XS. There is only one USB port in the front portion of the car (other than the cigarette lighter connector). Is that the one to use? Once I set up CarPlay, do I always need to tether the iPhone that way.

I have never played with/used any Entune Applications before. Do I need to bother with the Entune App.

Would appreciate a tutorial on the ins and outs of Entune, CarPlay, Hands Free operations in general.

The Toyota manuals are not easy to follow.

I have been an avid Waze user in my 2010 Prius (pretty much ignoring the Prius built-in Nav that came with my 2010) but looking at the iPhone screen repeatedly while driving is a distraction.

Appreciate any advice from forum members.

Jim

 

Thanks for the reply.

Turns out (didn't expect this because I never had a car with CarPlay enabled) that connecting the cable and then trying to use the car automatically provides CarPlay features. And the apps I was interested in: Waze, WXPN, Sirius XM all seem to work.

I will have to see how answering a phone call received while driving works with CarPlay. I don't think the hardware phone buttons work then to pickup and hangup, but I could be wrong.

I will also have to see how the Waze map updates while driving after I enter a destination. Will be nice not to have to try and read the iPhone display independently from the 11.6 inch display. But it would be nice if Waze nav used more of the screen than the upper half in the CarPlay screen section.

If you disconnect the USB cable and use the car, then the iPhone is back to being a bluetooth enabled device again and I expect phone calls received will be hands-free. I did check that bluetooth audio is available.

The USB cable also seems to charge the phone!

As an Apply guy since 1978 (started with the Apple II) and now Mac-based, this looks to be a nice configuration for me.

 

Thanks for the tip about Siri. I did test that I could pick up an incoming call with the physical answer button so that addressed one of my concerns. The Waze map display seems to lack detail when I am using it though compared to the iPhone map display for Waze. I see the blue route but the street markings/names are faint. The audio instructions are fine.