For me it's not only the familiar UI but the comfort in knowing that it has all my stuff. Especially when renting a car! CarPlay has the exact same settings as my personal car and no infotainment system will ever be able to match that without having me dish out my iCloud credentials and risk forgetting to erase them before returning the car.
The real Achilles heal of CarPlay is probably not Apple's fault, but not being able to control your in car Sirius XM satellite service is a real PITA. I don't want to have to rely on the Sirius app with cellular service - use my antennae and satellite subscription!
Last time I tried Sirius XM via satellite, their signal was so low-bitrate/compressed that the sound quality was decidedly inferior to standard FM radio (never mind HD radio). Have they done anything about that? My sense was that, with the availability of mobile broadband, they weren’t going to bother investing billions in launching new satellites to cover the needed bandwidth for higher-quality sound.
PAC is variable and likely be much close to CD audio quality than not, butt that depends on what you're listening to and when.
At some point, regulators will require to separate devices, UI and data, enabling car manufacturers (and others) to develop their own apps that have access to all the users data (appointments, contacts, music files, FB friends, etc). That’s when we will see real competition.
For me it's not only the familiar UI but the comfort in knowing that it has all my stuff. Especially when renting a car! CarPlay has the exact same settings as my personal car and no infotainment system will ever be able to match that without having me dish out my iCloud credentials and risk forgetting to erase them before returning the car.
Even with my own vehicle I do not copy my "phone book" into the car's memory. I don't want contacts, previous addresses, or anything else identifiable in the car's Infotainment system. I even redact my name and address off my insurance and registration just in case the car is stolen. This has never been a problem because those documents are verifying the car's legality on the road, not the driver. You'd be hard pressed to find any information about me in my car once it's been parked and locked.
If I was a car maker, I would jump to new CarPlay as fast as I could.
I just don't understand why the resistance.
Shouldn't be that hard for any Apple user to understand why combining hardware and software is what creates something unique. None of the car makers want to end up as commodity makers. It will be difficult for Apple to get the major players onbard now that Car is dead. Mercedes was a launch partner for CarPlay NG but decided against it. Would expect for more to follow.
If I was a car maker, I would jump to new CarPlay as fast as I could.
I just don't understand why the resistance.
Shouldn't be that hard for any Apple user to understand why combining hardware and software is what creates something unique. None of the car makers want to end up as commodity makers. It will be difficult for Apple to get the major players onbard now that Car is dead. Mercedes was a launch partner for CarPlay NG but decided against it. Would expect for more to follow.
How would they end up being commodity makers because they allow the iPhone's CarPlay UI or Android's Android Auto UI to connect?
" ...but that could be less about CarPlay, and more about how owners are so unhappy with infotainment systems provided by car makers" - I don't think that's the case. By all accounts, Rivian's and Tesla's infotainment systems are very nice. The problem with all manufacturers' infotainment systems is that they fundamentally can't provide the same level of service as either CarPlay or Android Auto because they don't have access to all the information contained on our phones! How will Rivian ever manage to automatically suggest directions to the dental appointment I have in my calendar? The difference is only going to get more stark as Apple rolls out its AI to Siri. As stupid as Siri currently is, it's already way better than the car's "assistant" - and once Siri becomes more conversational and be able to draw on even more user data (via the models being run on-device), there will be no contest.
Tesla claims to be on the AI bandwagon as well - but it, nor any of the other car manufacturers, have free access to the data on our phones. Only CarPlay and Android Auto do. I especially wish Rivian's CEO was more customer-centric as I really like their vehicles. The guy is smart and should understand this basic issue - his counterpart at Ford has summarized it quite nicely "...the train [of who should provide the infotainment system] has left the station years ago." Rivian and Tesla (and now GM) just can't see past their greed (future revenue from tying their customers to in-car subscription services).
Actually Tesla’s integration is pretty complete. It fully links up your contacts, calendar and phone numbers. It can read your calendar and contacts, and assuming the contact information is complete, it will drive you to your next appointment. All wirelessly, stopping to charge if it needs to. Now that full self driving can operated totally hands free. You might not have to ever touch the steering wheel or yoke during your day. It has gotten VERY good in the last few months. Version 12.4 or newer. Not autonomous yet, but getting much closer. All without CarPlay
While I'm in the "CarPlay or bust" camp, GM seems to doing just fine since it abandoned CarPlay, unlike Ford which has kept it, and that isn't great news for the future of CarPlay. The lure for automakers to abandon CarPlay is strong. It's all about extra profits and a continuing income stream on every vehicle sold. So you partner with Google, as GM did, and develop a homegrown system that will vacuum up customer data like crazy, which you then sell, plus charge subscription fees for the "nice to have" features in your system. GM has already been caught screwing its own customers by secretly selling collected data on how they were driving to their insurance companies, which then promptly jacked up their rates by complete surprise. How could GM get away with this? Easy! You just ask your customers to sign a gazillion page, small print EULA at the time they're picking up their brand new car, they sign without reading, of course, and voila! They've given GM the right to collect, track and sell the data collected within their vehicles.
Both of our cars have wireless CarPlay added on because they are too old to have come with color touchscreens built in. One has a replacement head unit (the stock one was awful) which came with wired CarPlay and we have since added a wireless adapter, and the other has an auxiliary screen connected to the aux in. I don't buy new cars, but if I did they'd need to be compatible with CarPlay since none of them have easily replaceable head units anymore...
While I'm in the "CarPlay or bust" camp, GM seems to doing just fine since it abandoned CarPlay, unlike Ford which has kept it, and that isn't great news for the future of CarPlay. The lure for automakers to abandon CarPlay is strong. It's all about extra profits and a continuing income stream on every vehicle sold. So you partner with Google, as GM did, and develop a homegrown system that will vacuum up customer data like crazy, which you then sell, plus charge subscription fees for the "nice to have" features in your system. GM has already been caught screwing its own customers by secretly selling collected data on how they were driving to their insurance companies, which then promptly jacked up their rates by complete surprise. How could GM get away with this? Easy! You just ask your customers to sign a gazillion page, small print EULA at the time they're picking up their brand new car, they sign without reading, of course, and voila! They've given GM the right to collect, track and sell the data collected within their vehicles.
Perhaps, since replacement head units are disappearing, that it will come down to something like an AppleTV installed aftermarket so that I ca “stream” my iPhone content (maps) to the screen the way I AirPlay photos, etc. to my TV screen at home?
" ...but that could be less about CarPlay, and more about how owners are so unhappy with infotainment systems provided by car makers" - I don't think that's the case. By all accounts, Rivian's and Tesla's infotainment systems are very nice. The problem with all manufacturers' infotainment systems is that they fundamentally can't provide the same level of service as either CarPlay or Android Auto because they don't have access to all the information contained on our phones! How will Rivian ever manage to automatically suggest directions to the dental appointment I have in my calendar? The difference is only going to get more stark as Apple rolls out its AI to Siri. As stupid as Siri currently is, it's already way better than the car's "assistant" - and once Siri becomes more conversational and be able to draw on even more user data (via the models being run on-device), there will be no contest.
Tesla claims to be on the AI bandwagon as well - but it, nor any of the other car manufacturers, have free access to the data on our phones. Only CarPlay and Android Auto do. I especially wish Rivian's CEO was more customer-centric as I really like their vehicles. The guy is smart and should understand this basic issue - his counterpart at Ford has summarized it quite nicely "...the train [of who should provide the infotainment system] has left the station years ago." Rivian and Tesla (and now GM) just can't see past their greed (future revenue from tying their customers to in-car subscription services).
Actually Tesla’s integration is pretty complete. It fully links up your contacts, calendar and phone numbers. It can read your calendar and contacts, and assuming the contact information is complete,
This sounds like sharing all that information with a third party. Not something I’m interested in. I prefer that information to stay on my phone.
While I'm in the "CarPlay or bust" camp, GM seems to doing just fine since it abandoned CarPlay, unlike Ford which has kept it, and that isn't great news for the future of CarPlay.
I think GM only dropped CarPlay on their EVs, but I’m not positive.
One of the main reasons I trust CarPlay not to send out my data is that Apple has a long history of respecting user privacy. Google, Facebook and others have a long history of intentionally disrespecting my privacy. Similarly, I wouldn't use a software product that gets most of its functionality from sending my data to the web (eg, Grammarly) but I would use a software product like Apple Intelligence (the new Private Cloud Compute does not scare me. Apple seems to be doing it right.)
I would consider products other than CarPlay if they respected my privacy. I'm not committed to Apple per se, I'm committed to privacy. I can't see anyone trying to compete with Apple on this crucial feature. Apple has become a multi-trillion dollar company in large part due to their privacy features, and no manufacturer wants to provide similar features. I guess companies like Microsoft don't want to take any of Apple's market share. I feel sorry for Microsoft's shareholders.
" ...but that could be less about CarPlay, and more about how owners are so unhappy with infotainment systems provided by car makers" - I don't think that's the case. By all accounts, Rivian's and Tesla's infotainment systems are very nice. The problem with all manufacturers' infotainment systems is that they fundamentally can't provide the same level of service as either CarPlay or Android Auto because they don't have access to all the information contained on our phones! How will Rivian ever manage to automatically suggest directions to the dental appointment I have in my calendar? The difference is only going to get more stark as Apple rolls out its AI to Siri. As stupid as Siri currently is, it's already way better than the car's "assistant" - and once Siri becomes more conversational and be able to draw on even more user data (via the models being run on-device), there will be no contest.
Tesla claims to be on the AI bandwagon as well - but it, nor any of the other car manufacturers, have free access to the data on our phones. Only CarPlay and Android Auto do. I especially wish Rivian's CEO was more customer-centric as I really like their vehicles. The guy is smart and should understand this basic issue - his counterpart at Ford has summarized it quite nicely "...the train [of who should provide the infotainment system] has left the station years ago." Rivian and Tesla (and now GM) just can't see past their greed (future revenue from tying their customers to in-car subscription services).
Actually Tesla’s integration is pretty complete. It fully links up your contacts, calendar and phone numbers. It can read your calendar and contacts, and assuming the contact information is complete,
This sounds like sharing all that information with a third party. Not something I’m interested in. I prefer that information to stay on my phone.
Actually the information is NOT shared with Tesla. It is only shared with the vehicle while the phone is connected. It is also optional, by type. example, I share my contacts (so they work when making/taking phone calls). But I have iMessage and calendar turned off. I prefer to get those on my watch. If i need to “share” a destination, that can easily be shared directly from Apple Maps. “Tesla” appears in the sharing tray along with Messages, email etc. Tesla is using public APIs to read the data over Bluetooth. You do have to perform a two-way handshake and authorize the phone to share data with the vehicle.
This is completely separate from using the iPhone as the key for vehicle.
On the summer vacation Budget tried to rent me a GM car without Carplay. I said LOL, that's funny. I will take the Ford Explorer with CarPlay, thank you very much.
If I was a car maker, I would jump to new CarPlay as fast as I could.
I just don't understand why the resistance.
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Car manufacturers view the infotainment systems as profit centers designed to generate revenue by sucking up driver data not only to amass statistically useful data on vehicle performance, but also to sell on to data aggregators. CarPlay, I believe, requires a licensing fee and sends no data to the manufacturer.
Looking for a business card printer that can produce colorful cards that read, “No CarPlay, no sale.”
Drop in car sales lacking CarPlay also will tend to reduce revenues. Hopefully auto makers will soon realize their folly of not catering to the highly valued Apple consumers. If not, I suspect Ford, Toyota, et.al. will ramp up their market share over the next few years. May be time to short GM stock?
Just returned from vacation and Siri has gotten worse which seriously hurts CarPlay.
The latest SW update apparently scrambled my settings and all of a sudden Siri requested navigation told me it did not know where I was despite Google Maps knowing perfectly well where we were on the same device.
If I was a car maker, I would jump to new CarPlay as fast as I could.
I just don't understand why the resistance.
GM is a perfect example of this. They claimed that "Apple was trying to control too much of the car's systems" and recently opted to remove CarPlay from their vehicles. Their solution was to go with Google's system. The very opposite of Apple's CarPlay. Apple's CarPlay anonymizes their users, so no one can see what you are doing or who you are. This is the very information that advertisers want. Google gives them that information (for a fee) so they can monitor what you are doing and sell that information to other companies for profit.
So, what's happening? There have already been several reports by drivers that their Google navigation is suddenly giving them detours from their route. The detours are not to get you around possible traffic issues, but commercials for vendors trying to get you into their stores. Imagine you are trying to get to an important business meeting on time in another city and suddenly your navigation system tells you to take a detour, only to find yourself turning into the parking lot of Clownburgers.
This puts me into a serious conundrum because I was planning on buying a Chevy Equinox EV, currently the most affordable, cross-country capable EV. Now, my choices are narrowed down to EVs that cost at least twice as much, but still offer Apple CarPlay. A serious crimp in my financial planning.
GM has been making some good choices moving towards EVs, but dropping CarPlay was absolutely the dumbest, most shortsighted decision above all.
You're mixed up.
GM will be using Android Automotive, a separate technology and expanded integration for different uses than Android Auto. There's no requirement that a manufacturer using the OS use the optional Google Automotive Services, and some manufacturers will integrate Android Automotive without Google Services. So no, they aren't doing it so that Google can sell them personal user data. Google doesn't sell personal data. Period. Some FUD just never dies.
Yes, yes, I'm sure they're so great with feature vomit, just like we heard for years that Apple will never be able to sell a single iPhone in Eastern Asia because they already have phones that have so many features it comes with a phone book size instruction manual to teach you how to access and use them. 🙄
Comments
https://www.dbstalk.com/index.php?threads/what-does-sirius-broadcast-in.163651/
I think GM only dropped CarPlay on their EVs, but I’m not positive.
I would consider products other than CarPlay if they respected my privacy. I'm not committed to Apple per se, I'm committed to privacy. I can't see anyone trying to compete with Apple on this crucial feature. Apple has become a multi-trillion dollar company in large part due to their privacy features, and no manufacturer wants to provide similar features. I guess companies like Microsoft don't want to take any of Apple's market share. I feel sorry for Microsoft's shareholders.
The latest SW update apparently scrambled my settings and all of a sudden Siri requested navigation told me it did not know where I was despite Google Maps knowing perfectly well where we were on the same device.
In places like China there are far more advanced options that are deeply integrated into vehicles and provide seamless integration with phones.
This is now a few years old and even then the system was far ahead of Android Auto/CarPlay.
https://m.gsmarena.com/aito_m5_harmonyos_system_quick_review-news-54285.php
Things have come a long way since then.
GM will be using Android Automotive, a separate technology and expanded integration for different uses than Android Auto. There's no requirement that a manufacturer using the OS use the optional Google Automotive Services, and some manufacturers will integrate Android Automotive without Google Services. So no, they aren't doing it so that Google can sell them personal user data. Google doesn't sell personal data. Period. Some FUD just never dies.
Android Automotive does permit the use of CarPlay or Android Auto if the manufacturer wants to. GM is choosing to block both Apple CarPlay AND Android Auto connections streamed from our personal phones. Some manufacturers using Android Automotive are not. There will be a lot of Android phone owners just as displeased with those who do.
https://emteria.com/blog/android-auto-vs-android-automotive
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/android-automotive-cars-get-carplay-support-because-really-why-not-191912.html