Next-gen CarPlay battles Android Automotive for carmakers, drivers
Following the demise of Apple's own automotive project, the company's attention has turned to the next-generation CarPlay and its relationship with automakers.
A visualization of CarPlay
Although Apple first debuted a next-generation CarPlay concept in the summer of 2022, only two automakers thus far -- Porsche and Aston-Martin -- have committed to the product. More carmakers have signed on to the more comprehensive and built-in Android Automotive technology.
This is different from the first-gen Android Auto, in that the Automotive system is embedded in the vehicle at the factory. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple's next-gen CarPlay still runs on the iPhone, which provides greater flexibility, but no opportunity for licensing.
As was demonstrated, next-gen CarPlay expands to multiple screens inside vehicles, and controls car hardware such as the climate system. Google has focused on signing up carmakers to use its embedded Android Automotive.
So far, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Lucide, Polestar, Porsche, Stellantis, and Volkswagen are all offering Android Automotive as an option for car buyers. The industry maintains support for CarPlay due to the preference of iPhone-owing car buyers.
So far, Apple has focused on high-end carmakers for commitments to support next-gen CarPlay. With the so-called "Apple Car" project shutting down, Apple may focus on the new CarPlay to strengthen relationships with the industry.
Currently, Apple has no plans to monetize the new CarPlay, either by charging manufacturers to license it or offering a paid tier for users. The company presently works with each supporting manufacturer to create a custom bespoke version to work with its vehicles.
After shutting down the Apple Car project, Gurman offers that this could be an opportunity for Apple to earn from CarPlay itself.
He reckons that Apple could start charging car producers to support CarPlay, on the belief that some consumers won't consider vehicles without the feature.
Gurman also proposes Apple could continue to use the older version of CarPlay as a free option, but then to charge for the newer upgrade.
Apple could also go down the route of eliminating per-manufacturer custom versions in favor of templates for the operating system. This approach would still allow customization of CarPlay, potentially by users as well as car makers.
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Comments
If my Sony TV with its Google TV is any indication of app reliability, I could imagine a situation where I'd have to reboot an app to have it function correctly.
Not something, I want to do while driving!
Usually the system that controls the engine and related calculations (e.g traction control, optimizations related to adaptive suspension, etc) are closed off from secondary things such as airco and other systems, which are also separate from media/entertainment/bluetooth and navigation tools.
If you look at the latest Tesla models where they removed indicator stalks (extremely stupid), they still offer a backup method where you can change between parking, reverse, drive and neutral.
That of-course doesn’t change your concern - a failing entertainment system is extremely annoying and road rage worthy. But how a car is set up shouldn’t make it dangerous.
So eazzy-pezzy: If you use manufacturer-supplied connected services in your vehicle, the safe assumption would be some of your driving stats, and other assorted personal pieces of data and communications, are being shared outside of the organization. Credit bureau's, insurers, and marketing companies are prime suspects.
If you don't want your car/truck/SUV sharing your data then buy an old one, something from 20 years ago and earlier.
The new version will run natively on the vehicle, licensed from Apple but integrated by the manufacturer for its purposes. Apple is relinquishing some control, offering the software, but turning hardware over to the manufacturers. It won't be running from the iPhone. Of course, manufacturers will have expanded access to data, and opportunity for monetizing if that's their intent, and it is for nearly all of them.
GUIs are a matter of taste and functionality, and cross-device and eco-system integration are another. My Jaguar has nice subtle graphics you'd probably approve of, but the overall experience when our Macs, iPads, and iPhones so seamlessly work with Car Play is in another dimension to the manufacturer's offerings alone. That said, there are a ton of features the Jag's system offers in addition, from ambient cabin lighting choices to the various safety and suspension features and safety adaptations, so using both the Jag and Apple's systems, where most useful, seems the logical way for now. If Apple were to add all the other features into a full experience, as I believe is coming, then I seriously doubt manufacturers would even worry as long as they sell cars. At that point, a choice of interface designs and color schemes from Apple doesn't sound too far-fetched. As it is, the Jag's Sports Dynamic driving mode changes the dash and the entire cabin's color scheme even when Car play is at the forefront.
BUT IN ADDITION, Apple will be licensing the OS to automakers to integrate with their own hardware, not the iPhone. Essentially the same as Google is doing with Android Automotive which is not the same as Android Auto, the latter which still works directly from an Android phone.
Both will utilize the essential 1st party apps, which the automaker will integrate with their own in-vehicle control systems. The automobile functions themselves will not be streaming from your iPhone or your Android phone, and personal in-vehicle data will be in the hands of the manufacturer and not the OS provider, which would be either Google or Apple.
In a nutshell, the Apple/Google apps will be treated as third-party apps by the manufacturer. Android Automotive is offered both with and without Google App Services, and my guess is that Apple will do the same, but it is just that, a guess. Further to that, it should eliminate the requirement that the driver even owns an iPhone for the system to work, if I'm understanding it correctly.
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/
they were in the list of the new generation CarPlay too