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GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

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Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#371

It is like they want to lose customers. Even Teslas, which have a good UX that people like, still gets people complaining they wish it had CarPlay or Android Auto. It is just a nice extension of your phone that costs automakers basically nothing to implement. If they think they are going to create their own app stores people buy apps and subscriptions from they are delusional. We bought a Toyota recently that will re…

The free subscription on my 2021 Toyota expired 16 months ago. Remote start still works. (Well, the fob button sequence is as finicky and inconsistent as it always was, but it does work.) I think Toyota changed their minds on that feature after the bad press about it hit.

It seems to be back into effect as I have to have an active subscription for it to function. I guess they are giving it another go with their latest vehicles.

Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I 90% agree, but also, there's a ton of informational & sensors & systems that need control. With physical knobs/dials/switches/buttons disappearing, the main console now has a lot more obligations than just infotainment like it used to, and it's not clear that letting a phone run the show is really viable with what's afoot, given the scope of systems the display has to control. Wait, sorry. It's not clear how we'd g…

> With physical knobs/dials/switches/buttons disappearing You have identified the problem.

It does suck that physical interfaces are going away, but I feel like there's still a real & interesting challenge to let people use their own user agent, rather than just become reliant on whatever premade jumble of systems a car happens to cook up for itself.

Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#373
post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CarPlay works surprisingly well for driving to charging stations. You tap add waypoint (or whatever) in Apple Maps, then tap EV charging station, or tap siri, and say "DC fast charger" or whatever. (Tested with a Chevy Bolt). However the navigation isn't as well integrated with range, etc, as was common on older vehicles. If this wasn't a blatant "have Google pay us to force our customers to give Google their data" m…

My Ioniq 5 and (iirc) Teslas charge better if you use the native nav, as it starts preconditioning when a charger is the destination. For mine in particular, I’m not sure there’s another way to fire off preconditioning. May or may not matter but it can make a difference in cold.

That only matters in the rare times that I might need to drive long distances to a commercial charging station. 90% of the time I’m charging at home. I don’t want to give up my personalized experience just for the occasional time when I might want to use a different routing app.

Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#374
post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All vehicles. Apple announced the total UI takeover option (though I’m not sure if it works today) but no car maker supports it on a shipping vehicle. Many have announced interest but at this point we don’t know if it will ever be available, even if only on some kind of ultra-luxury car.

There’s always the aftermarket. If CarPlay stops being a standard option, that is the first thing I will do with a new car: replace the AV

The head units are so integrated and specific to vehicles now that I doubt that a third party unit would work and provide all that you need from it. The most you might get is a secondary screen that displayed CarPlay/AndroidAuto but then connected to the car via Bluetooth which is a serious downgrade.

Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#375
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a cost to GM because they can’t nickel and dime their customers with subscription fees if customers can use the phone service they already have.

Weird how the inability to gouge is now seen as a "cost".

Opportunity cost

Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#376
post #283
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many vehicles, CarPlay and Android Auto appear within a panel on the overall interface, they don't have to take over the whole UI.

All vehicles. Apple announced the total UI takeover option (though I’m not sure if it works today) but no car maker supports it on a shipping vehicle. Many have announced interest but at this point we don’t know if it will ever be available, even if only on some kind of ultra-luxury car.

I drive a 2021 Toyota RAV4. The CarPlay interface takes over the whole screen. It also does so in every rental or borrowed car I’ve ever driven.

Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#378
Dropping CarPlay and Android Auto, in favour of Android Automotive… which is different from Android Auto.

More seriously, Automotive is basically the car running Android, rather than running some custom firmware that can receive the “mirror” content from CarPlay/Auto. Because this means it’ll be running a full app platform, I wonder if CarPlay/Auto could be implemented on top of Automotive with relative ease. It may even be possible for Apple to publish a CarPlay app on the Play Store for example.

Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#379
post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably the downvotes are because, from the point of view of an Apple user, every single thing you mentioned is demonstrably worse. - Apple Music, but now Google can spy on my music tastes? No thanks! - Data subscription for my car? Why would I possibly want to pay for that? - Google Maps: Again, Apple users have opted out of this ecosystem. Apple Maps is fine. Other options are also fine. Google Maps is my 4th or…

You can use google maps to route in your car via Apple CarPlay. You just have to tell Siri to use google maps. My BMW also has its own routing software, which I use sometimes due to a spurious gps bug that affects CarPlay but not the BMW Xdrive stack itself.

If the car does not support carplay, how would that work though?

Re: GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google's help

#380
post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, removing CarPlay is not a great move, and is rightfully being bashed in this thread -- but these kinds of OEM integrations are far beyond a smartphone subsitute, especially given what's coming down the pipe for auto. As you allude to in your comment already, CarPlay is a "projection", a one-way deal -- whereas most of these integrations make heavy use of data from car sensors, which enables a lot of high fidelit…

You are being down voted in part because you're factually wrong. Apple Carplay is not one-way projection. The phone receives inputs from the car, such as screen touches, the microphone audio from the driver for phone calls, button presses, GPS signals, and even wheel speed information for navigation in tunnels. The reason this integration is not better is in no shape, way, or form Apple's fault. It is 110% caused by…

Unfortunately, I know exactly why I'm being downvoted, and that's not it. It should be rather obvious that "screen touches" are not the category of comms I was talking about.

Perhaps you meant to say "this is why I downvoted you", in which case, I appreciate you taking the time to state your piece.

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