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It does not. These are two different things. I do not have the WiFi Hotspot, yet I am able to stream and use Siri. The hotspot is similar to your home wifi in that it allows non-cellular devices to connect. The Hotspot uses the vehicle's cellular capabilities to provide the hotspot, which is similar to how your phone would act as a wifi hotspot.
CarPlay connects via Bluetooth to establish an initial connection. Once the iPhone and the vehicle recognize each other, the phone connects to the vehicle's wifi to establish a connection. This has nothing to do with a hotspot. Look up AirPlay 2...it uses wifi to stream and connect devices. This allows for a "better" connection, as it allows for a lossless audio source unlike Bluetooth. With Bluetooth LE on the horizon, which allows for lossless audio among other things, things may change.
But at the end of the day, if you're paying for the WiFi hotspot monthly under the impression that you need this for CarPlay...you are getting fleeced. The phone's cellular connection allows for streaming, Siri, and iMessage and pushes it either through bluetooth connection or CarPlay (which connects via Wifi). The iPhone only utilizes the in-car WiFi to communicate. See below:
Wireless CarPlay has three requirements, a Bluetooth connection, a Wi-Fi access point, and location data. Here’s is a simplified breakdown of the entire process:
To initialize the connection the phone uses Bluetooth to send a signal to the head unit requesting to connect.
Once the Bluetooth connection is made the phone will request wireless credentials to the Wi-Fi access point.
Upon confirmation the head unit will send the wireless credentials to the iPhone, which will cause the phone to search and join the Wi-Fi access point.
After the Wi-Fi connection has been established, the Bluetooth signal will disconnect and all audio and video will be transferred over Wi-Fi.
And now you’re set, you now can use CarPlay wirelessly.
Apple CarPlay itself does not use any data from your cell plan, the apps you use will. So if you normally use your phone for navigation or streaming music you’ll use the same amount of data as before.
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