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GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

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Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#21

Rivian doublding down on this is also a bit disappointing. Not that I can afford one

It’s not clear yet if Rivian is really doing this on principle or if they are trying to get subscription fees like GM or if they just have a lot to deal with right now and don’t want to bother with it.

Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#22

The better option is: remove infotainment completely and _require_ a smartphone for anything other than FM/AM radio. * Support an open protocol for rendering images/video/animations on the screen. Sorta like... you know, CarPlay. * Have controls for what events are allowed to be sent to the connected device. Don't want your phone to know your Throttle Position? Turn that shit off. Don't want your phone to know whethe…

Sure, if you live somewhere with constant cellular connection or you're not sharing a vehicle with someone else. What really irks me is when a connected device is required to do something trivial. My dad's 2021 GMC truck recently got an OTA update that removed the built in map. I discovered this when I was driving in the country and came upon construction with closed roads. I tried to pull up the map and look for a road that would go around and I couldn't, that feature is gone. I would have had to stop, pair my phone with the head unit and then fire up CarPlay and open Google maps - none of which I wanted to do since it just wasn't necessary. Not to mention there was no guarantee after pairing that I would be able to use Maps due to shoddy coverage in the area I was in. Graceful fallbacks used to be a thing but it feels like today if you don't have a connection then everything is just dead and your SOL. The world's population doesn't all live in modern connected cities. Why is it anytime I go off-road I become a QA tester? Kind of sick of it.

Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#23
I got my first GM vehicle when I got a Volt Gen2. It is very good and that surprised me as I had always had somewhat negative opinions about GM. I’m starting to shop around for a full EV now and had been interested in the Chevy Blazer and Equinox EVS. With this recent announcement, all that is out the window. I would have been a natural customer for GM but now I’ll be looking at Ford, Hyundai, VW, or any of several other manufacturers who will allow me to connect my phone to my car. I am more loyal to my phone than I am to my car.

Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#25
post #9

Picking up our Hyundai Ioniq 5 this afternoon. We were seriously going to wait for a 2024 EV Chevy Blazer[0], but… [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35391283

My partner just got an Ioniq and it is pretty sweet. It’s a brand I never thought twice about that seems to be killing it recently.

Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#26
post #8

Short term, this is stupid. GM pulled out too quickly, and without a superior drop-in replacement. Long-term, this is smart. GM will gain complete control of the software stack, and they won't be bullied into anything. Tesla knows this. Others like Rivian know it too.

> Long-term, this is smart. GM will gain complete control of the software stack… CarPlay (I’m not familiar with Android Auto) doesn’t require that GM cede any control over their software stack. As Wikipedia puts it, it just “enables a car radio or head unit to be a display and a controller for an iOS device”. What GM wants is to charge you $30/month for services, since phones have mostly killed their OnStar cash cow.…

> cede any control over their software stack

Except, from what I understand they'll use Android Automotive (not to be confused with Android Auto).

Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#27
post #20

I don’t understand why they can’t have their own system and still support CarPlay. They are not mutually exclusive options.

Because GM wants to charge subscriptions for all kinds of software features and don’t want any competition. They are mainly looking at this as their maps vs the phone’s maps. They are ignoring all of the other reasons on why people choose AndroidAuto and CarPlay. That is often as much about personalization as anything else.

It's not like it stops people from just using their phone in a standalone way, which is what I do even with CarPlay. Bluetooth and I don't get along, and I was prompted to activate Siri and all kinds of other stuff that I have disabled on my phone when I tried it. No thanks, it works fine on its own.

Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#28
post #5

Car infotainment systems are terrible. That's the reason why everyone wants CarPlay and Android Auto. It's kind of like going back to flip phones after using smartphones for years.

I also trust Carplay and Android Auto security since no data is sent out of the phone.

Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#29
post #8

Short term, this is stupid. GM pulled out too quickly, and without a superior drop-in replacement. Long-term, this is smart. GM will gain complete control of the software stack, and they won't be bullied into anything. Tesla knows this. Others like Rivian know it too.

> Long-term, this is smart. GM will gain complete control of the software stack… CarPlay (I’m not familiar with Android Auto) doesn’t require that GM cede any control over their software stack. As Wikipedia puts it, it just “enables a car radio or head unit to be a display and a controller for an iOS device”. What GM wants is to charge you $30/month for services, since phones have mostly killed their OnStar cash cow.…

> CarPlay ... just “enables a car radio or head unit to be a display and a controller for an iOS device”.

Then why does it demand that Siri be enabled in order to complete the connection?

Re: GM’s decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

#30

The better option is: remove infotainment completely and _require_ a smartphone for anything other than FM/AM radio. * Support an open protocol for rendering images/video/animations on the screen. Sorta like... you know, CarPlay. * Have controls for what events are allowed to be sent to the connected device. Don't want your phone to know your Throttle Position? Turn that shit off. Don't want your phone to know whethe…

Sure, if you live somewhere with constant cellular connection or you're not sharing a vehicle with someone else. What really irks me is when a connected device is required to do something trivial. My dad's 2021 GMC truck recently got an OTA update that removed the built in map. I discovered this when I was driving in the country and came upon construction with closed roads. I tried to pull up the map and look for a r…

Pretty crazy that 5 years ago, many cars went with an offline first approach to maps. You had to manually update the map database every year. I don’t even see that business model ever returning. Companies have figured out there’s way more money in running a map service. Ftr, teslas stream map tiles and if your car loses connectivity, you’re not going to see anything
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