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Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

money.cnn.com

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Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#121

Post by goshx »

salmonlogs wrote: post #114

Reading the comments I appear to be the exception. I lease a 2015 BMW 4-series which I added "Professional Media" to and the nav works really well. I've driven plenty of other cars where the nav is useless, but not all are bad. Reasons to use it over my phone: * 11" screen shows me a high quality map overlayed with current traffic, with 1/3 split for lane guidance when needed * Directions also shown directly on the d…

Same lease as you. Maps are not updated and the traffic information is pretty bad compared to google maps.

I use the car's nav only when I don't have to worry about delays caused by traffic, otherwise google maps is my first option.

BMW's nav is pretty bad in offering alternative routes based on traffic data, but I just LOVE the directions on the HUD.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#122

Post by salmonlogs »

Someone1234 wrote: post #117
salmonlogs wrote: post #114

Reading the comments I appear to be the exception. I lease a 2015 BMW 4-series which I added "Professional Media" to and the nav works really well. I've driven plenty of other cars where the nav is useless, but not all are bad. Reasons to use it over my phone: * 11" screen shows me a high quality map overlayed with current traffic, with 1/3 split for lane guidance when needed * Directions also shown directly on the d…

You aren't really the exception, instead you're just fortunate enough to have one of the few in-dash navigation systems which isn't absolutely terrible. Most of the features you've named are exactly what Android Auto/Carplay provide, but without limiting you to just a single maps/navigation vendor. You're likely leasing that vehicle for 1-3 years. Do you think that if you purchased that 4-series that the navigation w…

I totally get your point, and agree.

CarPlay/Android Auto certainly improve quality on average for most cars, but I'm not convinced they will solve the problem of outdated technology.

I previous had a Mercedes with "Apple Certified Connectivity" which was great, until they switched to lightning cables and the connectivity broke.

Whilst I'm sure CarPlay/Android Auto will last longer, I don't believe there won't be any breaking changes in future that will break compatibility. Given that we replace phones a lot faster than cars I can see a future where there are cars which only support CarPlay version X, and the standard is now version Y.

At that point you then end up with no navigation or media, because you aren't going to use an older phone just to have it work with your older car.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#123

Post by salmonlogs »

goshx wrote: post #121
salmonlogs wrote: post #114

Reading the comments I appear to be the exception. I lease a 2015 BMW 4-series which I added "Professional Media" to and the nav works really well. I've driven plenty of other cars where the nav is useless, but not all are bad. Reasons to use it over my phone: * 11" screen shows me a high quality map overlayed with current traffic, with 1/3 split for lane guidance when needed * Directions also shown directly on the d…

Same lease as you. Maps are not updated and the traffic information is pretty bad compared to google maps. I use the car's nav only when I don't have to worry about delays caused by traffic, otherwise google maps is my first option. BMW's nav is pretty bad in offering alternative routes based on traffic data, but I just LOVE the directions on the HUD.

Maybe it's a regional thing?

I'm in the UK and my maps get updated frequently (it often has a % downloading bar for the update) and when I compare with my phone the route and traffic is very similar to Google Maps.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#124

Post by FireBeyond »

pwthornton wrote: post #106

Smartphone maps are so superior because they are always up to date, can provide real-time traffic data, can tell you to take an alternative route and can provide other data about places to eat, etc. While a lot of car GPSs have some of this, they are no where near what Google Maps or Apple Maps (or a targeted app like Waze) has. I bought a new car last year, and intentionally didn't get the GPS, even though my car ha…

I know my Audi has Google Maps, and real time traffic.

I think one of the other issues is how many GPS systems refuse to let you enter addresses en route and make you stop and / or pull the handbrake. This increases frustration hugely.

The Audi system says "please don't do this while driving" - you say "Okay" and are able to do so.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#125

Post by seanp2k2 »

pwthornton wrote: post #106

Smartphone maps are so superior because they are always up to date, can provide real-time traffic data, can tell you to take an alternative route and can provide other data about places to eat, etc. While a lot of car GPSs have some of this, they are no where near what Google Maps or Apple Maps (or a targeted app like Waze) has. I bought a new car last year, and intentionally didn't get the GPS, even though my car ha…

Yeah, I'm not sure why car companies invested at all in attempting to build their own mapping software. It's a hard thing to do well, and I had been using GPS in the car since Windows 98 + Microsoft Streets + Garmin eMap + serial adapter running NEMA days. PC or smartphone navigation software has always been better than what is available in cars. Additionally, while the upgrade cycle for phones is yearly for some people, the upgrade cycle for cars can be 10 years or more, and good luck ever getting a software upgrade after buying a car.

Whatever car I buy next, I wouldn't buy without CarPlay. There are also replacement stereos which support this (e.g. Pioneer appradio) but given how most cars don't still use a 2 DIN slot for the radio and have much more integrated systems (drive modes, HVAC controls, etc on the "radio"), it's not even possible to upgrade many without losing significant factory functionality.

My hope is that auto mfgs wise up and realize that they've been wasting billions developing these in-house systems, and instead switch to just having the car be a dumb monitor + speakers with a connection to your phone which runs all of the non-critical systems.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#126

Post by kelvie »

nojvek wrote: post #66

Toyota gps is just garbage. Hangs all the time. I strongly believe car makers just don't see software as a critical component. Exception is tesla.

Even in the Model S, I use my phone's directions. Tesla's map app is great, and the UI is _really_ good (even better in the latest update!), but their source for navigation is garbage (and also their routing algorithm).

I hear it's cause whatever they use works offline, but also because Google wants them to send back real time data, but Tesla doesn't want to (forgot where I heard this though).

I would much much prefer to use the Tesla UI for nav, but the directions are really that bad.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#127

Post by hughes »

masklinn wrote: post #112
tdkl wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I pay hundreds of $currency for a new head unit or thousands for a new car, if I'm already walking around with a device capable doing all that? Android Auto/Car play should just run as a dedicated mode on the phone.

> Why would I pay hundreds of $currency for a new head unit or thousands for a new car Larger display and physical buttons are really quite a good idea when you're driving 2 tons of steel at 60mph.

I think display placement is much more important than size. Using a phone for nav that's sitting in your cupholder is terribly dangerous, but using one clipped to your dash inside your field of view seems okay.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#128

Post by imglorp »

jimwalsh wrote: post #119
tdkl wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I pay hundreds of $currency for a new head unit or thousands for a new car, if I'm already walking around with a device capable doing all that? Android Auto/Car play should just run as a dedicated mode on the phone.

Agreed. I got the cheaper model of my car when I custom ordered it to not have the NAV addon because I knew I'd use my phone and didn't want to pay $2500 USD extra for my car.

My car needed the nav feature in order to get the backup camera, which is essential in cars with a poor rear view.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#129

Post by tracker1 »

Even though my car stereo has pandora on it.. I usually just use bluetooth playback with pandora or skype from my phone as the google maps ux is much better and the directions work while listening.

Honestly, the car ux for entertainment, etc in general feels like something that should have been state of the art half a decade ago... it's too slow, unresponsive and irritation imho, depite positive reviews.

For references it's the fullscreen uconnect interface on a 2016 dodge challenger. Also, the fact that it's 3g instead of lte on the antenna makes the mobile hotspot option worthless and not even a consideration.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#130

Post by sbuttgereit »

tdkl wrote: post #104
Someone1234 wrote: post #39

This is why Carplay/Android Auto are so key. They're safer than using your actual phone, they offer legitimate maps apps (Google Maps/Bing Maps/Apple Maps/etc), and are somewhat future proof. Too bad the MirrorLink consortium dropped the ball so epically. MirrorLink arguably does the same thing as Carplay/Android Auto and has been deployed to millions of vehicles, but nobody uses MirrorLink 1.1, why? Because to get y…

Why would I pay hundreds of $currency for a new head unit or thousands for a new car, if I'm already walking around with a device capable doing all that? Android Auto/Car play should just run as a dedicated mode on the phone.

Yep. A better approach these days would be to have the car dash component simply be a display/remote control surface for the phone rather than have all the software in the car.

I appreciate that approach has certain disadvantages for device and car makers, but really, the only additional value they could add from my perspective is a more convenient display location and larger, car-centric controls. The apps, the configs, accounts, audio, etc. I only ever use my phone anymore anyway.

And, yes, I have built in nav and never use it in favor of the phone. I also have a Bluetooth-to-FM relay device for the audio.

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