Mazda's current system is by Johnson Controls and they don't have a clue. Got a new Jetta with Carplay and it's much better. I specifically wanted a car with AppConnect and Carplay. So to Ford, Toyota, etc. you are going to lose business because of this. Really these systems need to become more like computers that owners can install the OS they prefer.
I think an important aspect missed by most here is obsolescence: Mobile technology is still moving at the speed of light -- not just the hardware but software stuff such as Apple Music, etc... it's the reason why so many buy a new phone every couple of years --- to get the latest & greatest. But they keep a car far longer.
I don't want to have to buy a new car just to upgrade its entertainment or navigation system. Rather, just connect my phone (which is up to date) either wirelessly or via USB and use its features.
By the way, Cructchfield offers a wide variety of car entertainment systems that can be easily installed in most any vehicle to update the vehicle to current technology -- including Apple Music. I installed one in my 1999 Honda and now stream Apple Music, the audio portion of Apple Maps as well as a hands free phone wirelessly through the car's audio system. I perhaps should have purchased a unit with a screen for Apple map navigation, but didn't want to sink the money into such an old car. The whole thing cost under $200 -- which is far lower than most auto manufacturers charge for a minor upgrade to their entertainment systems.
A lot of the news coming out of car manufacturers indicates they'll have self-driving vehicles on the road between 2019-2021...
Tesla’s Musk sees fully autonomous car ready in 5 years Submitted byKpg81on Wed, 2014-09-17 16:12 Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the technology to make a fully autonomous car will be ready in five or six years, and the result will be a vehicle far less likely to harm occupants and others on the road.
...so I suspect Apple will introduce their vehicle along that same timeline, that is unless they purchase popular, but not profitable, Tesla before then.
A lot of the news coming out of car manufacturers indicates they'll have self-driving vehicles on the road between 2019-2021...
Tesla’s Musk sees fully autonomous car ready in 5 years Submitted byKpg81on Wed, 2014-09-17 16:12 Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the technology to make a fully autonomous car will be ready in five or six years, and the result will be a vehicle far less likely to harm occupants and others on the road.
...so I suspect Apple will introduce their vehicle along that same timeline, that is unless they purchase popular, but not profitable, Tesla before then.
Personally I'll be surprised if Apple themselves builds an actual car.
Kinda late to the party...its already taken off on both sides (Android Auto and CarPlay). What will they offer to make others switch and stop supporting this? I think in the end all they're going to do is piss off customers (like Toyota already has) and people just won't buy their products.
If Smart Device Link is the default set-up, and 'it just works', and works well, I'd think most people will just go with it. If you step into your car the first time and it informs you that it has detected your phone and asks if you'd like to set it up it would be tempting to say 'yes'. I wouldn't be surprised if most people think they have CarPlay working. If in order to get CapPlay working you have to go into a convoluted settings menu structure in order to enable it it will further discourage.
Just being a devils advocate here.
I believe to enable CarPlay all you have to do is plug it in and it comes up. There are no special settings to setup or go through. Its pretty much plug n pray. If SmartLink is supposed to work with your phone and stuff I don't see it as it "just working". There are way too many different kinds of phones it will have to support vs Android Auto and CarPlay are just built into the phone's OS. Maybe I'm missing something?
I think paxman is saying that Smart Device could succeed IF two things are true: (a) it works well and (b) CarPlay is hidden behind menus, etc. Paxman isn't saying CarPlay is difficult to use - he's saying that automakers could purposely make CarPlay difficult to use in order to encourage to encourage use of Smart Device. (b) is possible. (a) seems unlikely given what we have seen to date from the OEMs.
I have a 2014 and a 2017 vehicle, different manufacturers, both with CarPlay, neither is great. My experience with CarPlay and how it's been intertwined into the vehicle's OS is not good. I'm not impressed at all and will probably stop using it. I really hate how the UI on the iPhone Maps app changes when it's connected to CarPlay. I hate how CarPlay is a separate app on the Car display with no interconnection to the manufacturer's OS. I really don't like how bluetooth connectivity within CarPlay has been implemented when multiple devices have Bluetooth connections to the system. The entire setup is much more of a distraction then helpful. The best part of CarPlay is displaying the map on the car's display, that's it. Apple should have focussed on providing the data using the phone and it's power rather then providing a UI that operates completely separate from he car's internal UI. It's one big mess at this point.
A lot of the news coming out of car manufacturers indicates they'll have self-driving vehicles on the road between 2019-2021...
Tesla’s Musk sees fully autonomous car ready in 5 years Submitted by Kpg81 on Wed, 2014-09-17 16:12 Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the technology to make a fully autonomous car will be ready in five or six years, and the result will be a vehicle far less likely to harm occupants and others on the road.
...so I suspect Apple will introduce their vehicle along that same timeline, that is unless they purchase popular, but not profitable, Tesla before then.
Personally I'll be surprised if Apple themselves builds an actual car.
Seems to me Apple must continue to enter and expand their offerings since iPhone sales may have already peaked or could be peaking soon. They've typically been very good at analyzing the growth curve "hockey stick" on their own product sales and anticipating which new markets to enter, even though they have looked more and more timid and unsure about their direction recently (despite continuing to be highly profitable).
There is one thing that would get me to use the Ford SYNC3 interface over CarPlay: Waze
SYNC3 is in many ways easier to use, but for me the most important feature is timely traffic information.
I've compared Apple Map, Google Maps, and Waze operating concurrently around town, and Waze is substantially faster at updating conditions than even google maps (by at least five minutes). Apple Maps often doesn't show incidents for ten or more minutes after Waze reports them.
Apple has not approved any third party mapping app for CarPlay and likely won't.
another thing that annoys me about CarPlay is that unless you have an app open before connecting, good luck getting it to launch. Apple really needs to support app launching from CarPlay for all supported apps rather than expecting users to open all apps that they might potentially use.
If Apple adds Waze support, spontaneous app launching, and wireless connections (which may or may not be on the vehicle manufacturer), then they will likely become convenient enough to become my go-to solution. If Ford adds Waze support, I'll continue to use SYNC3 and if need be, supplement with Siri Eyes Free.
I don't care what tech vehicle mfgs use in the background for their infotainment systems, but I expect it to transparently connect both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to the car and pass those respective interfaces to the car. I also am about to be in the market to replace an aging vehicle, and Toyota is already out of consideration due to their lack of support for CarPlay, although Toyota does claim they support Siri Eyes Free and Bluetooth connections to smartphones.
Comments
I don't want to have to buy a new car just to upgrade its entertainment or navigation system. Rather, just connect my phone (which is up to date) either wirelessly or via USB and use its features.
By the way, Cructchfield offers a wide variety of car entertainment systems that can be easily installed in most any vehicle to update the vehicle to current technology -- including Apple Music. I installed one in my 1999 Honda and now stream Apple Music, the audio portion of Apple Maps as well as a hands free phone wirelessly through the car's audio system. I perhaps should have purchased a unit with a screen for Apple map navigation, but didn't want to sink the money into such an old car. The whole thing cost under $200 -- which is far lower than most auto manufacturers charge for a minor upgrade to their entertainment systems.
(The above quote from Tesla's site)
...and...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bmw-deploy-40-self-driving-cars-us-europe-000013909.html?ref=gs
...so I suspect Apple will introduce their vehicle along that same timeline, that is unless they purchase popular, but not profitable, Tesla before then.
SYNC3 is in many ways easier to use, but for me the most important feature is timely traffic information.
I've compared Apple Map, Google Maps, and Waze operating concurrently around town, and Waze is substantially faster at updating conditions than even google maps (by at least five minutes). Apple Maps often doesn't show incidents for ten or more minutes after Waze reports them.
Apple has not approved any third party mapping app for CarPlay and likely won't.
another thing that annoys me about CarPlay is that unless you have an app open before connecting, good luck getting it to launch. Apple really needs to support app launching from CarPlay for all supported apps rather than expecting users to open all apps that they might potentially use.
If Apple adds Waze support, spontaneous app launching, and wireless connections (which may or may not be on the vehicle manufacturer), then they will likely become convenient enough to become my go-to solution. If Ford adds Waze support, I'll continue to use SYNC3 and if need be, supplement with Siri Eyes Free.