" ...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
Does this mean that Tesla has access to iCloud to sync Contacts and Calendar? To be honest, that would be pretty nice.
How about Email, Messages, Music Playlists. Do these also sync over the air immediately?
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. 🙄
Yet, the reality is that those systems are far, far ahead of anything Apple can do because the system suppliers (aka the equivalent of Apple) are involved in the design of the car, go far beyond 'infotainment' and have the deepest integration possible - including the cars critical systems. They also tie in seamlessly with the phone systems.
'feature vomit'?
Being able to control windows/AC etc isn't feature vomit. Neither is the voice assistant being able to distinguish between the driver and passengers and maintain contextual conversations. Not is being able to have car to car/home video calls etc.
Unfortunately, automakers have decided to integrate the "infotainment" features into the car's main computer. There is no longer a radio you can replace - it's all integrated with the rest of the computer's interface. If there's a discrete radio at all, it's going to be a bare-bones tuner and antenna, controlled by software on that computer.
And this is why infotainment systems today are so bad. There's literally no competition. Back when you could rip out the GM (or Honda or Toyota or whatever) radio and replace it with a good one from Sony (or JVC or Pioneer or whatever), there was some competition. Radio manufacturers had to compete with each other, and customers would compare these aftermarket radios with factory radios (which were always significantly worse).
But today, the manufacturers don't even have to pretend to care. It is physically impossible to replace what they give you, and they know it. So they'll install complete junk and either tell you to pound sand, or they'll offer an "upgrade" for several thousands of dollars in order to give you what you used to be able to buy for $300 from Best Buy or WalMart.
Does anyone know how much Apple charges for CarPlay?
Apple doesn't charge anything for CarPlay. I don't see how they could since the UI is in your iPhone and everything it run from your iPhone.
There is still a proprietary communications protocol running over that USB or Bluetooth connection. Apple may require payment for access to its specification. There is probably a mandatory certification program for any product to use the "CarPlay" branding, which is probably not cheap. It is also likely that the firmware running in the car's radio is (in whole or in part) using library code licensed from Apple.
Even if auto manufacturers are able to download a free spec and develop the software from scratch, it is highly unlikely that they actually will, since that development work would likely cost more than licensing software from Apple and hiring an Apple consultant to assist them with the integration.
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.
Not likely to happen. The industry trend is in the exact opposite direction. Fewer and fewer components can be replaced at all, even by a skilled mechanic. And the government doesn't care.
Does this mean that Tesla has access to iCloud to sync Contacts and Calendar? To be honest, that would be pretty nice.
I don't know what Tesla, specifically, is doing, but the ability to sync
contacts via Bluetooth is nothing new. We had a 2012 Kia Sedona do
this as a part of its normal speakerphone integration, and without
anything remotely resembling CarPlay either. It pulled the data from
the phone via Bluetooth (not iCloud) as a part of the Bluetooth connect
process. It did that so the car's built-in voice system for making
calls could look up numbers. It worked remarkably well.
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.”
There is no licensing fee or use CarPlay. It runs on your phone.
" ...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
You must be visiting from another dimension. It cannot be operated hands free and despite the name is not full self driving. That is just another Musk lie. You have to at the wheel paying attention and ready to take over when it decides to kill again.
I guess I'm that one, I finally got a car that has Apple CarPlay and didn't like it and prefer using the car default system. Maybe because the car I had before this didn't have CarPlay and I used the built in system and fully used to it. Car Play didn't seem any easier to use than my car's default, my iPhone's battery drained even faster when I used CarPlay and finally my data use on my cellular provider for the first time I hit my limit, CarPlay is too chatty even if using just the basics like playing music and occasional map. I switched back the the cars default system and more battery life and cell data back to just music.
I think a lot of this is Apple marketing trying downplay Google/Android. I forget the acronym for the default system used my most the car makers, but it a basic system that was created by Google. Apple marketing doesn't want people to like anything Google ever if they don't even know it's a Google app.
Ferrari is removing their gps from cars. Bet they aren't the last to do this. Why go to all that expense to develop an infotainment system no one ever uses?
One big problem with CarPlay is that some automaker's in-house infotainment systems, like Honda, do not fade quietly into the background when CarPlay has the helm. It seems like the automaker's systems are always trying to take back control and you have to keep pushing them to the rear whenever they try to take over. Maybe it's just Honda, but their native infotainment system is like a viral infection than can't be cured, not even with CarPlay. Can't tell you how many times I've started either of my Hondas and they start playing the very first song, by alphabet, in my 32K plus song library without me even turning on the audio player and regardless of whether I was playing audio prior to turning off the car. Even on my bare-bones non-CarPlay equipped Honda with my iPhone connected via USB directly the Honda system and my iPhone are often fighting over who is controlling music playback, especially when I'm using the iPhone's shuffle feature. At times the Honda system wins the fight and there I am once again, listening to the very first song in my collection once again. I think some Honda owners buy or create a song named something like AAAAA that contains nothing but silence so they don't get blasted with sound every time they start their car. Totally weird shit.
One bit of silver lining here is that I installed a small box that plugs
into the USB port on my car and converts my wired CarPlay into wireless
CarPlay. It has worked very well for nearly 2 years so far. Cheap but effective. Doesn't solve the CarPlay vs Honda battle.
The whole notion of automakers bundling their own homegrown infotainment system software in with their system management, vehicle maintenance, or egad, engine or climate control software is something I do not ever want to be exposed to. Without trying to sound like I curmudgeon, because I am or at least once was a total car geek when regular cars didn't cost as much as a house, current cars/trucks make the whole driving experience as exciting as watching hemorrhoid cream commercials on TV, except for the fact that TV commercials are for the most part not trying to kill you, unlike a vast majority of current drivers on the road who devote 1.6% of their attention to driving while the rest of it is divided between their smartphones (at least 90%), Starbucks beverage, yelling at their offspring, or flipping off fellow motorists. Even CarPlay can't fix the hideousness of driving today ... at least says this boomerman.
Comments
'feature vomit'?
Being able to control windows/AC etc isn't feature vomit. Neither is the voice assistant being able to distinguish between the driver and passengers and maintain contextual conversations. Not is being able to have car to car/home video calls etc.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/31/tech/tesla-full-self-driving-mode-seattle-motorcyclist-killed/index.html
I think a lot of this is Apple marketing trying downplay Google/Android. I forget the acronym for the default system used my most the car makers, but it a basic system that was created by Google. Apple marketing doesn't want people to like anything Google ever if they don't even know it's a Google app.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/ferrari-removing-built-in-nav-gps