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CarPlay Is Additive

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Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#441

Post by [deleted] »

kenjackson wrote: post #412
alerighi wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate my 2011 vehicle that only has a car radio with FM tuner and CDs, and yes, I know that I could easily swap it but I didn't on purpose, let me explain why: - all the controls that I need, that are basically volume, radio station or CD track, are easily accessible trough physical buttons and knobs, that I can use without taking my eyes off the street - I get in the car, insert the key and the radio turns on…

Your use case sounds like exactly the opposite of what I’d prefer. And, I personally find the quality of YouTube Music Premium (256kbps AAC) superior to FM radio.

[deleted]

Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#442

Post by RealityVoid »

skydhash wrote: post #407
RealityVoid wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, you are limited by having CD's which compared to streaming stuff from Spotify is much much less convenient, take up space and you need to create/buy them, your playlist don't synch up with your other devices. CD experience is much less streamlined than a smartphone. Perhaps nostalgia makes them seem cooler for you, but I am not sold.

Not GP. But a decade ago, my brother’s car didn’t have bluetooth. We burned down a few mixes on CD and that was ok for long trek during town. He replaced that unit but we still used those CD from time to time. It was simpler than deciding which phone to connect. Even today, while I use spotify on my work computer, it’s basically the same albums every day (around a dozen). Playing CDs would be probably better than swi…

I have a car that doesn't have bluetooth, and trust me, when it's not there, you miss it.

Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#443

Post by dataengineer56 »

thek3nger wrote: post #424
linzhangrun wrote: post #302

For pure interaction, CarPlay as a generic solution is very hard to beat infotainment systems that are deeply integrated with the vehicle itself. Its advantages are mainly these: - Consistency. You get into a new car, all you need to figure out is how to open CarPlay, no need to learning a completely different and often complicated infotainment system. - "It's on your phone". You can decide what playlist to play or w…

Another advantage of the "it's on your phone" aspect is that it follows you when you switch cars. If I use my friend's car, I still have MY system. If I rent a car for a trip, I still have MY system.

Another advantage of the "it's on your phone" aspect is Consistency. You get into a new car, all you need to figure out is how to open CarPlay, no need to learning a completely different and often complicated infotainment system.

Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#444

Post by hparadiz »

Telaneo wrote: post #437
hparadiz wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally only need the map up sometimes so I find the whole thing kind of patronizing. The last time I tried it I didn't like that I couldn't switch between different music apps without exiting the entire system. Maybe it's different now but I'm pretty content not using it. Also the Carplay / Android port on my car is old and doesn't support fast charging.

> I personally only need the map up sometimes so I find the whole thing kind of patronizing. You should be able to have it only show the music app or whatever if that's what bothers you. My cars default infotainment shows the map by default too, so this is more or less the same from my point of view (other than the fact that the car's maps are out of date). > The last time I tried it I didn't like that I couldn't swi…

My car's default system is running Android 4.x and has big "Audio", "Maps", "Climate" physical buttons on both the wheel and the center dash but rarely use the car's Maps screen. I usually have it set to Audio and it just shows what's playing via Bluetooth. I'm mostly driving around LA so my typical driving pattern is knowing 90% of the route and needing to sometimes lookup traffic and then looking at the directions for the last 10% if I'm going somewhere new. Otherwise I'm playing either Spotify, Soundcloud, or Beatport.

When I tried Android Auto it actually took over my car's infotainment system and made my phone slightly slower having to drive another screen? I dunno it's been years. I just don't see the value in it personally.

Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#445

Post by nntwozz »

I considered buying a new 2-DIN CarpPlay stereo for my 2003 Suzuki Grand Vitara but went with a simple 12V LENCENT Bluetooth V5.4 FM Transmitter instead that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket.

The reason was that the original stereo has a custom shape that fits the dashboard, it's rounded and the fascia is apparently easy to crack when removing.

I attach my phone with a CD-mount that goes into the CD-player (I hate those vent-mounts) and then I just connect the radio to whatever frequency the FM transmitter is set to.

It works surprisingly well, I was skeptical at first reading some negative reviews but I'm super satisfied.

The signal never cracks but YMMV, I have it set to 87.5 in rural Sweden and it sounds perfectly clear in the domain of 128 kbit MP3.

I'm a sound guy but I think with the poor sound isolation of the car and the OK speakers it sounds perfectly adequate and even a bit nostalgic— it's how I remember car trips in the 90s and early 2000s.

It costs €30-40 and I also get a USB-C PD and a second USB-QC 3.0 on the device.

Simple and keeps everything original in the car.

Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#446

Post by Telaneo »

glitchc wrote: post #238

I love how people are pushing for Android Auto and CarPlay on the basis of consistency and ubiquity and control, yet fail to realize that their advocacy will reduce what is currently a thriving marketplace filled with unique options to a duopoly. Once that happens we all know what comes next: enshittification.

> a thriving marketplace filled with unique options to a duopoly.

If the car infotainment market is what counts as 'thriving' with 'unique options', then I don't want a thriving market, because that's apparently a bad thing. Sure, there are plenty of unique options. Outside of Carplay, Android Auto and Tesla (and maybe a few other very recent models), they're all shit.

I don't want hundreds of bad options. I want one (at least, more is preferable) good option.

Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#447

Post by embedding-shape »

kenjackson wrote: post #412
alerighi wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate my 2011 vehicle that only has a car radio with FM tuner and CDs, and yes, I know that I could easily swap it but I didn't on purpose, let me explain why: - all the controls that I need, that are basically volume, radio station or CD track, are easily accessible trough physical buttons and knobs, that I can use without taking my eyes off the street - I get in the car, insert the key and the radio turns on…

Your use case sounds like exactly the opposite of what I’d prefer. And, I personally find the quality of YouTube Music Premium (256kbps AAC) superior to FM radio.

> And, I personally find the quality of YouTube Music Premium (256kbps AAC) superior to FM radio.

When it comes to playing music from phones in cars, connection type seems to matter more than the source, and iOS has some weird built-in sound normalization only for CarPlay that drives me crazy.

In my Audi A3 (2018), if I connect my iPhone 12 Mini via AUX or Bluetooth, sounds works perfectly fine. Same when playing via CD or USB stick inserted into the car, no problem. FM radio also works well, regardless of volume.

However, if I play music via CarPlay (Spotify [lossless], YouTube, on phone .flac files, etc) some built-in sound normalization seems to kick in and suddenly it ruins the music when playing even slightly louder.

I've tried for years to figure out what the hell is going on, tried every setting under the sun, but cannot get it to work so only thing left is some built-in sound ruinification ("normalization") that Apple does, only when played via CarPlay, not when playing via AUX or Bluetooth.

Seems to happen with every car I try it with, but I never tried a different phone. So right now I'm choosing between being able to have GPS or listen to music properly, as I cannot do both at the same time...

Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#448

Post by hparadiz »

Telaneo wrote: post #439
hparadiz wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rear and mirror cameras being active is one reason I don't like it when my phone is connected to it because they overlay what Carplay/Android Auto is trying to show. It's sort of like downgrading from dual screen to one.

I've never found it to be inconvenient. When I'm reversing, I'm not using Carplay actively. I guess it could be annoying if you're a passenger trying to key in a destination or something, but I'd just use my phone in that case (or have the driver unlock their phone).

My car has side cameras that activate when the turn signals are active and that is usually precisely at the same time that I need to see directions for a major interchange or similar. I'm guessing it's been fixed but I find mixing the UI of my phone with my car's built in UI can create some unexpected behaviors.

Re: CarPlay Is Additive

#449

Post by embedding-shape »

skydhash wrote: post #407
RealityVoid wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, you are limited by having CD's which compared to streaming stuff from Spotify is much much less convenient, take up space and you need to create/buy them, your playlist don't synch up with your other devices. CD experience is much less streamlined than a smartphone. Perhaps nostalgia makes them seem cooler for you, but I am not sold.

Not GP. But a decade ago, my brother’s car didn’t have bluetooth. We burned down a few mixes on CD and that was ok for long trek during town. He replaced that unit but we still used those CD from time to time. It was simpler than deciding which phone to connect. Even today, while I use spotify on my work computer, it’s basically the same albums every day (around a dozen). Playing CDs would be probably better than swi…

> Even today, while I use spotify on my work computer, it’s basically the same albums every day (around a dozen). Playing CDs would be probably better than switching to the UX disaster that is Spotify

Why don't you switch to CDs then? Something is telling me this isn't quite the full story.

I'm sure lots of people who don't really need to use Spotify use Spotify all the time, if you really do listen to just a few albums, why not buy those off Bandcamp/Beatport/Whatever then listen to those and stop paying Spotify? I'd easily switch away from Spotify if I no longer saw/agreed with the convenience, but hard to beat it for discovery right now.

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