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GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

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Re: GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

#21

Post by coryrc »

Jtsummers wrote: post #5
justahuman74 wrote: post #2

Why didn't they just keep it on life support?

They wanted to demonstrate why their move away from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is a bad idea and why people shouldn't buy their cars (if they care about them still functioning after 4-6 years).

> why people shouldn't buy their cars (if they care about them still functioning after 4-6 years).

People have had 45 years to get the message. My Michigan parents' lives changed[0] when they got their first Toyota after a lifetime of Big 3 vehicles. Too bad it took so long to get out from under the indoctrination.

[0] Okay I exaggerate but really nice having a vehicle without something constantly broken and/or leaking

Re: GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

#22

Post by snapetom »

conk wrote: post #4

GM is removing CarPlay, and now this story that they are dropping support for in car infotainment apps for cars that are 5-7 years old. Are consumers really going to buy their cars? I won’t consider a new car that doesn’t offer CarPlay/android auto.

Was it removing or has it been removed? Seems like a while ago they announced it.

Anyway, no way I was buying a GM car because of that. I don't believe a car manufacturer can create a better software experience than a software company.

Re: GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

#23

Post by mips_avatar »

mdasen wrote: post #20
nneonneo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am so glad that I insisted on buying a car with CarPlay five years ago. At the time a number of our options did not have CarPlay, but were otherwise quite solid cars. If I'd gone with any of them I'd likely be a lot less happy than I am now: given that I use CarPlay on literally every drive, it's probably the single most important feature to have. I get that GM doesn't want to cede the important center console to t…

I agree with you that it's the wrong choice, but it's not just about ceding control. It's also about ceding the revenue. For example, to connect their system to the internet, that'll be $20/mo. I'd guess GM gets a large portion of that revenue. If you're using CarPlay, there's no reason for you to buy their service. It looks like GM makes around $1,000 in profit per vehicle. If half of their customers give them $20/m…

GM has a unique customer base of people willing to buy bad cars

Re: GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

#24

Post by jabroni_salad »

mdasen wrote: post #20
nneonneo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am so glad that I insisted on buying a car with CarPlay five years ago. At the time a number of our options did not have CarPlay, but were otherwise quite solid cars. If I'd gone with any of them I'd likely be a lot less happy than I am now: given that I use CarPlay on literally every drive, it's probably the single most important feature to have. I get that GM doesn't want to cede the important center console to t…

I agree with you that it's the wrong choice, but it's not just about ceding control. It's also about ceding the revenue. For example, to connect their system to the internet, that'll be $20/mo. I'd guess GM gets a large portion of that revenue. If you're using CarPlay, there's no reason for you to buy their service. It looks like GM makes around $1,000 in profit per vehicle. If half of their customers give them $20/m…

I know I'm slippery sloping but I wonder if they won't get rid of bluetooth and aux ports in the future. Letting people play spotify on their phone's data connection is money on the table when they could be selling their own data plans, getting a cut from their own app stores etc.

Re: GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

#26

Post by ec109685 »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #17
dylan604 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's stopping someone from spending a few hundred bucks at their local custom stereo shop and replacing the head unit with something else that is less user hostile? If everything else in the car is what you need, just replace the part you don't like if it's not available as an option.

These days the head unit has its tendrils wrapped around many parts of the car besides just infotainment, and wiring harnesses are a lot more proprietary. Does the aftermarket head unit support your car's parking sensors? How about the backup camera? Even the Homelink button that opens your garage door has migrated to the touchscreen in a lot of newer cars, never mind forehead-slapping features like the climate contr…

Wish there was rules around interoperability. Having to buy a whole new car to get your apps back is terrible.

Re: GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

#27

Post by kybernetyk »

Fwirt wrote: post #19
conk wrote: post #4

GM is removing CarPlay, and now this story that they are dropping support for in car infotainment apps for cars that are 5-7 years old. Are consumers really going to buy their cars? I won’t consider a new car that doesn’t offer CarPlay/android auto.

It’s not as “integrated” into the car, but if you just want CarPlay, there are cheap single-purpose “tablets” that mount to your dashboard and either pair to your car’s Bluetooth or plug into the Aux port and just do CarPlay/Android Auto. Amazon is full of them. Ultimately it’s just a video and touch transport protocol, with some additional channels like illumination and I hear speed on some models.

I've got one of those in my 2004 Mazda. It even came with a backup camera. Best 50 Euros ever spent. :)

Re: GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

#28

Post by darksaints »

ifh-hn wrote: post #6

This is everything that is wrong with "smart" devices. Just give me a normal radio with Bluetooth capabilities, especially if you're unwilling to support something for the reasonable life of your product.

I have one of these cars, the last model year before they switched to carplay. The bluetooth implementation is dogshit...randomly speeding up songs, audio skipping, cutting out, etc. Occasionally forgets connections and has to be set up from scratch. Can't handle music and navigation at the same time...will turn down volume on music to handle navigation instructions, only to forget to turn the music back up for 5 minutes, by which time you've already turned up the volume to compensate and get blasted by the unexpected volume increase. And from what I can tell, my car does it better than most other manufacturers from the same era.

I think the only reason why the car makers switched to carplay/android auto is because they knew they sucked at infotainment systems and software and nobody wanted their bullshit, so they just outsourced it so they wouldn't have to try anymore.

Re: GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020

#29

Post by Spooky23 »

conk wrote: post #4

GM is removing CarPlay, and now this story that they are dropping support for in car infotainment apps for cars that are 5-7 years old. Are consumers really going to buy their cars? I won’t consider a new car that doesn’t offer CarPlay/android auto.

I don’t understand why anyone would buy a GM car. This is just frosting on the cake.
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