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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

#371

Post by wlesieutre »

cpursley wrote: post #367
wlesieutre wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m talking about the Equinox EV which is a different car on a different platform (BEV3 vs D2XX), so I don’t think you can make that comparison until the car actually exists and people can give it a closer inspection and drive it for a while. I’ll give you the Korean competitors, but what Japanese competitor are you impressed by? The BZ4X/Solterra? MX-30? The Prologue which is a BEV3 car with a Honda sticker on it? U…

I'm 100% in agreement with you (and thanks for the detail, rare here). Japan is lethargic in terms of EVs despite an obvious tech advantage ... Ford is the only American car company that impresses me

Alas, the MME is also expensive and difficult to get. Though I appreciate their commitment to continued CarPlay support, presumably including the next-gen dashboardy version.

https://9to5mac.com/2023/04/13/ford-carplay-support-commitme...

In the meantime I'm probably going to wait things out in a Corolla hatchback or something. Equinox EV might've been in the sweet spot, but to spend $30-40k on it to just be squeezed for software subscriptions that probably won't even be good, ugh.

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

#372

Post by LanceH »

david422 wrote: post #348
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…

Pretty sure mine has a setting where you can prefer which phone is selected when connected.

We've done this in numerous rental cars. Many variations of the same problem -- it picks the phone it picks. We've had to resort to deleting one phone from the car (and the phone's bluetooth) to get it back on the other phone.

It's inconceivable how the pairings are so bad and there isn't just a button for each phone connected that just works. Even when switching does work, all it takes is one blip and it hops over the other phone.

Again, this is on multiple cars on long road trips where we have at least two people to work on it and literally hours to figure it out. We generally settle on a single phone per car now, because it just isn't worth it.

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

#373

Post by aaronbrethorst »

coolspot wrote: post #345
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wireless CarPlay in my 2022 Kia EV is way less enjoyable than wired CarPlay in my 2005 Toyota with an aftermarket Sony head unit with CarPlay support. Latency is much, much lower in the Toyota and there's never any trouble with switching between my iPhone and my wife's. Whoever's is plugged in wins—the end. As opposed to the Kia where it's always a crapshoot and plagued by endless Bluetooth connectivity issues.

I think you can use wired CarPlay in Kia even though it has wireless. I use wired in my 2023 Kia and love it!

Interesting...I'll check this out next time I'm driving. Hope you're right! I'd love to be freed from the tyranny of Bluetooth :)

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

#374

Post by mikestew »

8ytecoder wrote: post #153
ho_schi wrote: post #148

Remember Nokia? They were not greedy Big IT. Instead the defined Bluetooth as standard. The Result? My iPhone can talk with me in my Audi A4 (B8,2008). And even music because refit Bluetooth. And? Because the screen is set back in the center console (luckily no touch) I can place my phone there and use it for navigation. Need for CarPlay? 0 Need for Android Auto? 0 :) Carmakers should tell Apple and Google that they…

Any pointers to how much Apple and Google charge the carmakers? Considering a car giant made this deeply unpopular decision, I was sure it should be easy to find. But I’ve had no luck so far.

Apple doesn’t charge, I do not know about Google. No source handy.

That’s what make the decision more galling: free wasn’t good enough, we demand recurring revenue!

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

#375

Post by philistine »

brookst wrote: post #317
dionidium wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The first is that all of these in-car systems are pretty dated even after a couple of years. CarPlay can't really get out of date any more than iOS can get out of date. It's just a software push. The main problem with the stereo in my car is that not everything is in CarPlay, so you have this sort of absurd situation where CarPlay is supposedly just one function of many, when obviously FM radio should just be an ap…

It’s a little silly, but it avoids the complexity of the car needing to describe every feature to CarPlay. It’s very hard to create an abstraction that allows for any capability, setting, message to be displayed and interacted with. For instance, some 4x4’s have 2D inclinometers. Modern trucks have all sorts of crazy optimizations for towing. Requiring CarPlay to understand and adopt new car-specific features gets cr…

It needs to get there quick. The golden goose is EV range. If your phone doesn't know when you need to recharge your batteries, Apple Maps and the rest are functionally useless.

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

#376

Post by winternett »

bborud wrote: post #226

Ideally, my car would look like a BT speaker, possibly with a microphone and some controls, to the phone. I don't want a dedicated satnav, I don't want an elaborate in-car entertainment system. The reason is twofold. The first is that all of these in-car systems are pretty dated even after a couple of years. The second is that they tend to be fairly low quality to begin with. The system in my car that integrates with…

So many of these cars will sit in junkyards over this flawed tech era in just a few years... Just one change to phone connectors can cause sudden obsolescence of nav and other major components used in so many cars.

We are paying a lot extra for this tech that has a very limited shelf life. Simpler is becoming much better than new at the fastest rate ever. I really don't need my car to be cutting edge any more, because that requires too many damn monthly subscription payments.

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

#377

Post by theshrike79 »

andrewmutz wrote: post #299
mlsu wrote: post #32

How does this business decision make sense? A car is a high-margin item, so the impact of even a handful of consumers choosing not to buy must be huge, right? Whereas, they would need to "monetize" (ugh) many many more units to turn back that lost profit. And as the shakeup due to EVs begins, even loyal consumers will be considering other makes. My girlfriend bought a car recently. CarPlay was not negotiable for her,…

They are probably trying to emulate Teslas product strategy Tesla doesn't offer android or iPhone carplay. Instead they try to offer a software experience superior to those. It does Spotify, gps, etc but also manages the car itself. Depending on what the user is doing it makes sense. If the user mostly wanted their phone for music and directions, you can build that stuff in house and have it turn out okay. If the use…

Tesla is the only company I trust to keep their infotainment system up to date.

But still I'd really want it to support CarPlay, because I use Apple Music and Overcast the most when I'm in my car.

I also prefer the way Apple Maps pronounces the street names over here (phjone lang set to english) compared to the utter butchering Google Maps does.

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

#378

Post by TulliusCicero »

silisili wrote: post #184
TulliusCicero wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Oh yeah that's awful. Even dumber, that's only true for Android Auto, not CarPlay (even with Google Maps still).

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

#379

Post by johnwalkr »

brookst wrote: post #351
johnwalkr wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Integration for AC, radio, backup cameras, etc is coming this year.

Only a curated subset of well-defined features, and not to existing carplay installations. Any car with a feature that is not part of the carplay2 spec will need to find a way to expose UI to the user outside of carplay.

Yeah it’s for new cars. Still more compelling than GM’s direction for new cars.

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

#380

Post by decafninja »

TrapLord_Rhodo wrote: post #306
bborud wrote: post #226

Ideally, my car would look like a BT speaker, possibly with a microphone and some controls, to the phone. I don't want a dedicated satnav, I don't want an elaborate in-car entertainment system. The reason is twofold. The first is that all of these in-car systems are pretty dated even after a couple of years. The second is that they tend to be fairly low quality to begin with. The system in my car that integrates with…

It sounds like you've given up completely on what a car infotainment could be because car companies suck at software so bad. I had an old GMC Canyon through college, and the only thing it had was Aux. After college i bought a model 3 when they first came out and I absolutely love the infotainment system. I love that I can play witcher 3 on my Tesla. My bluetooth always connects. I can unlock my car with my app and it…

Not the OP, but I have. I’ve driven cars from cheap econoboxes to exotics and all of them have had mediocre infotainment and navigation systems at best.
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