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GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

jalopnik.com

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Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#221

Post by rezonant »

nneonneo wrote: post #140
overgard wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, I got my first car with Car Play a year ago. I'm not super impressed. It's buggy and slow and the interface is clunky. It's better than using my phone directly, barely, but I still would have bought the car if it didn't have it. All I really want is music and maps anyway, and I can just get a cheap phone mount for my dashboard like I did with my old car so I don't have to look down at it.

Out of curiosity, which manufacturer? I suspect that CarPlay quality varies a lot by manufacturer; e.g. it sounds like GM really never tried very hard to get their CarPlay implementation to work well.

It is definitely true that the display and input latency on the headend screen is in control of the car manufacturer, so not all Carplay/AA implementations are equal. I've seen it on rental cars-- some are great and some are crap.

But the software on the screens is great! Not something that can be said about, for instance, Ford SYNC (TM).

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#222

Post by ranguna »

andsoitis wrote: post #98
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla is the exception here: they seem to have mastered making a car software experience that doesn’t suck, and they don’t even support CarPlay. But Tesla is a tech/software company that happens to make cars (of dubious build quality), I don’t think conventional automakers can replicate that.

Tesla software experience far outshines CarPlay and Android Auto.

Google maps or waze are much better than the on board tesla maps. You need to pay to have traffic data on tesla, waze and Google maps gives you that for free.

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#223

Post by rezonant »

thih9 wrote: post #46
YPPH wrote: post #21

The major advantage of AA/CP is they are simple screen projection protocols capable of being supported for decades. The "brains" of the system, namely the phone, can be easily upgraded as technology changes. People will get new phones. Operating systems will be upgraded. Apps will come and go. Maps will update. The system will keep working flawlessly. This can't happen with fixed hardware in vehicle - the firmware an…

To be fair, this kind of redundancy and reducing likelihood of third party changes seems safer to me. Nothing about “Operating systems will be upgraded. Apps will come and go. Maps will update.” says “The system will keep working flawlessly.” - if anything, the system will accumulate flaws.

On the flip side, the custom weird UI the car manufacturers contracted some cheap outside firm to write at low cost, and is filled with paid product placement and data mining, will be flawed from the start and never fixed.

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#224

Post by lloeki »

epolanski wrote: post #218
bastard_op wrote: post #156

Automobile companies tried for years to make a decent infotainment system in cars, and almost universally they were all terrible no matter how expensive the vehicle. Finally Android Auto and CarPlay gave everyone what they wanted - decent access to music on their phone, call capabilities that actually work, and program integration with things they actually use with internet service they already have. Then manufacture…

I have like the opposite experience...AA and Carplay have always been cause of issues, having to take the phone in my hand while driving, sluggishness.. In fact I feel the opposite you say: car play has been an excuse for some automakers for subpar infotainment. That being said removing it completely is madness, because people like you are millions and want it.

None of these issues exist on my Mazda car. Screen is tactile at stops, but I only ever use the rotational+directional knob. Phone stays plugged and untouched. It's snappy.

I bet some other cars have poor HID but here they put the work in and it is good.

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#225

Post by nilsherzig »

gambiting wrote: post #205
bastard_op wrote: post #156

Automobile companies tried for years to make a decent infotainment system in cars, and almost universally they were all terrible no matter how expensive the vehicle. Finally Android Auto and CarPlay gave everyone what they wanted - decent access to music on their phone, call capabilities that actually work, and program integration with things they actually use with internet service they already have. Then manufacture…

Just an anecdote - I own a Volvo XC60(with Sensus not AAOS) and 99% of the time I'd rather just use the built-in OS than Android Auto - AA is slow to respond and imprecise(clicks are almost always recognized as swipes rather than clicks, problem which doesn't happen in the built-in OS), and every time you need to do something it locks you out for 5 seconds to look at the road, even though it's my passenger using it.…

To be fair Volvos entertainment system is by far the best one I've used so far. Night and day compared to a lot of other manufacturers

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#226

Post by rezonant »

valgaze wrote: post #88

July 2022: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/22/apple-carplay-could-be-a-tro... Not sure how they arrived at the number (maybe only new vehicles), but there was a claim that 79% of US carbuyers would insist on carplay support Apple engineering manager Emily Schubert said 98% of new cars in the U.S. come with CarPlay installed. She delivered a shocking stat: 79% of U.S. buyers would only buy a car if it supported CarPlay.…

I have to assume they meant 79% of US consumers who use iPhone, since only about 60% of the US uses iPhone, and Carplay specifically is useless to the remaining 40%.

Or perhaps they were grouping in AA under the covers.

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#227

Post by hooby »

stakhanov wrote: post #206

Are they also removing cupholders from their cars then? I'd imagine that, in the name of safety, you wouldn't want a driver faffing around with a hot drink while driving the vehicle either.

I don't know about cup holders - but it's been definitely shown, that replacing actual physical knobs and buttons with a touch-screen does hurt safety.

The thing with media controls is, that you can use those only when it's safe to do so. You're not gonna change the radio channel or music-playlist while going through a busy intersection. But many of the functions car manufacturers are moving from actual buttons to their touch-screens, aren't that time flexible.

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#228

Post by rezonant »

function_seven wrote: post #48
kQq9oHeAz6wLLS wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This way they can wrap the errors in try..catch blocks and suppress their output. Boom - error free code!

“Try..catch”—what the hell is that? When I craft my performant error-free code, I only use the finest bug-squasher: On Error Resume Next. No need to wrap anything. You declare it once and cruise to your solution.

I have zero doubt there's some kind of VB6 monstrosity living in some car's infotainment system. Complete with a copy of Windows CE to boot.

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#229

Post by rezonant »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #73
function_seven wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Try..catch”—what the hell is that? When I craft my performant error-free code, I only use the finest bug-squasher: On Error Resume Next. No need to wrap anything. You declare it once and cruise to your solution.

Fun-fact: if you compile VB.NET code that uses On Error Resume Next it results in output IL that wraps every statement in its own try/catch+swallow block.

Welp that's horrible, I'll have nightmares about this.

Re: GM says it's dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because they're unsafe

#230

Post by beAbU »

stephen_g wrote: post #159
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla is the exception here: they seem to have mastered making a car software experience that doesn’t suck, and they don’t even support CarPlay. But Tesla is a tech/software company that happens to make cars (of dubious build quality), I don’t think conventional automakers can replicate that.

My impression of Tesla (from driving a friend's, who is a massive Tesla fan) is that I get the feeling that the systems aren't as clever as they think they are, and it led to some "interesting" (actually downright scary and dangerous) experiences with the driver assist functions on a long distance drive we did. It wasn't the full Autopilot, just the lane following/adaptive cruise control kind of thing but we almost d…

Yeah moving a control function in the UI of a car system through an OTA update should be not be allowed imo.

And we are not even talking about "safety critical" things like the hazards switch or parking brake or whatever. If I want to adjust the airflow to my feet by a little bit, I want to do that regardless if I'm driving or standing still. If I need to navigate a menu to do that, then I'll do that, whether I'm moving or standing still. Nobody has the patience to learn the UI up front, or pull over to navigate through a menu safely.

This dead horse has been thoroughly beaten, but please: give us physical controls! Say no to touch screens!

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