Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

freep.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 395 posts

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

#181

Post by scarface74 »

copperx wrote: post #165
Waterluvian wrote: post #41

Detaching the entertainment system from the car and making it just a dumb touchscreen and speakers must have really grinded the gears of auto makers. I can now upgrade my entire entertainment system, GPS, phone, etc. by replacing a phone. They’d prefer you get another car when your system is feeling old. I don’t even understand why my 2020 car had an optional GPS add-on for thousands of dollars. Android Auto / CarPla…

It actually played out differently than I thought. I thought that CarPlay and Android Auto would not be backward compatible with older versions, forcing you to upgrade your car along with your phone. I'm surprised it didn't work that way. I still don't understand why.

Why wouldn’t it? I can use AirPlay from a first gen iPad from 2010 with a Roku stick sold in 2022. I can also print from an old iPad to a brand new AirPrint compatible printer.

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

#182

Post by iainmerrick »

m463 wrote: post #166
iainmerrick wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly I misremember, but I’m pretty sure hands-free phone calls in cars via Bluetooth were a thing before the iPhone existed. (Looking it up... Yeah, around 2001, apparently.)

But the iphone could play music over bluetooth, and that was something cars ignored for quite some time.

Most people didn’t have music on their phones back then. But you could plug your iPod into the headphone jack!

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

#183

Post by scarface74 »

m463 wrote: post #127
wlesieutre wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if the infotainment is good today , GM is basically saying “trust me bro, 10 years from now maps on this decade old hardware are going to be so good you’ll want to pay a subscription for it.” I was thinking an Equinox EV would be my next car, but now I’m looking at gas vehicles and thinking I’ll give EVs a while longer to sort out which manufacturers earn a reputation for EV reliability, longevity, and good soft…

remember the iphone came out in 2007 - and I'm certain there was a lag before cars even supported phones. By the time some GM phone connect system got through the pipes (several years), we might be carrying AR glasses instead of phones.

Actually there wasn’t. Cars were supporting the iPod protocol for a couple of years before the iPhone came out - meaning you could see the song that was playing, change to the next track or playlist from the head unit.

The iPhone still supports that protocol. I could navigate through my podcast player (Overcast) from the head unit of my old car

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

#184

Post by silisili »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #179
tnel77 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally love CarPlay. A requirement for my next vehicle is wireless CarPlay, and I will not even begin to consider it if it does not have that. Some people want ventilated seats or a V8. I want CarPlay. I think this is a very silly move by GM that they will quickly reverse.

Just rented a car with wireless Android Auto, and while it was convenient when it worked, it occasionally dropped the connection and I had to manually restart it (and sometimes it would refuse to connect). On one day where I was on a road trip, this happened several times. Also, when I wanted to turn it off temporarily, there's no easy way to do so on either the phone or car. Gotta turn the car off or dive deep into…

The first and only time I tried Android Auto, I asked my wife to look up directions to a place on my phone. It kept saying not to use the phone while driving, and effectively blocked it.

I mean, I get the spirit, but the experience was terrible.

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

#185

Post by shrx »

spockz wrote: post #171
LanceH wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit of a pain if two people share the car. Even worse if two people share more than one car. There never seems to be an option to force use a specific phone when more than one is possible. They all seem sticky to a phone and it always seems to be the other one. I guess a good thing about carplay is that when traveling with someone else, they can use their phone to update things like maps, and we're not complet…

I really liked wireless CarPlay when testing the Enyaq and wondered about the multi user situation. Already today Bluetooth always seems to get exactly the wrong phone. In our current setup we just have a phone holder with plug in which we shove the phone. Then it is done. It takes longer to pull the phone out of the pocket than to connect it. The only downside to CarPlay is that the battery stays at 100% charge. I w…

Care to elaborate? Are phones not supposed to be charged to 100%?

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

#186

Post by holoduke »

explaininjs wrote: post #161

Anyone else much prefer just mounting your phone on the dash, instead of a separate carplay system? Bonus points if the mount has wireless charging. This way there’s no new UI to learn, and you never are stuck using a subpar carplay-variant UI (looking at you, Gaia)

Same here. The only thing I need is some kind of Bluetooth adapter and some decent speakers. Phone is perfect for everything else.

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

#187

Post by spockz »

shrx wrote: post #185
spockz wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really liked wireless CarPlay when testing the Enyaq and wondered about the multi user situation. Already today Bluetooth always seems to get exactly the wrong phone. In our current setup we just have a phone holder with plug in which we shove the phone. Then it is done. It takes longer to pull the phone out of the pocket than to connect it. The only downside to CarPlay is that the battery stays at 100% charge. I w…

Care to elaborate? Are phones not supposed to be charged to 100%?

The batteries used in phones degrade quickest below 20% and above 80% of charge. This is already at room temperature. When the batteries or phone is hot the degradation at those state of charge (SoC) is even worse. In the car when using CarPlay the phone can get really warm, especially if it is in the sunlight which tends to happen easily. When left in the shade it gets hot due to restricted airflow.

Therefore I would like to limit the SoC on my phone to not excessively degrade the battery. I very rarely, if ever, need more than 80% of the design capacity of my iPhone anyway. So I prefer it to last longer.

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

#188

Post by throwbadubadu »

shrx wrote: post #185
spockz wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really liked wireless CarPlay when testing the Enyaq and wondered about the multi user situation. Already today Bluetooth always seems to get exactly the wrong phone. In our current setup we just have a phone holder with plug in which we shove the phone. Then it is done. It takes longer to pull the phone out of the pocket than to connect it. The only downside to CarPlay is that the battery stays at 100% charge. I w…

Care to elaborate? Are phones not supposed to be charged to 100%?

lmgtfy: Its the extremes (0% and 100%) that degrades LiIon the quickest, if you want the longest life ideally you'd keep it 30-70% the whole time, ymmv (and also thresholds).

And it is a pity manufacturers don't support you in doing stop-charging-at-x if you wanted, e.g. a simple thing for software to do, but impossible without rooting on Android.

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

#189

Post by Mindwipe »

scarface74 wrote: post #180
ethbr0 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't surprise me. My observation with Google product teams partnering is that they start from the assumption that the price of working with them is whatever data they want. Pushback = "Fine, we won't do a deal" Felt like watching railroads negotiate with local government.

This very attitude is what prompted Apple to drop Google for its native Maps app.

And was a catastrophe for Apple.

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

#190

Post by manmal »

spockz wrote: post #171
LanceH wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit of a pain if two people share the car. Even worse if two people share more than one car. There never seems to be an option to force use a specific phone when more than one is possible. They all seem sticky to a phone and it always seems to be the other one. I guess a good thing about carplay is that when traveling with someone else, they can use their phone to update things like maps, and we're not complet…

I really liked wireless CarPlay when testing the Enyaq and wondered about the multi user situation. Already today Bluetooth always seems to get exactly the wrong phone. In our current setup we just have a phone holder with plug in which we shove the phone. Then it is done. It takes longer to pull the phone out of the pocket than to connect it. The only downside to CarPlay is that the battery stays at 100% charge. I w…

BTW, on long drives, do take care to not let the phone heat up. That’s way, way worse than letting the battery sit at 100%.
Post reply on HN