I was under the impression that Tesla had no desire to use CarPlay so I don’t know how they were “beat”.
Wording aside (on which I agree with you), as a brand new Tesla S owner, I have to say that their music/messaging interface is embarrassingly primitive: buggy, laggy, can't perform basic functions such as allowing you choose a playlist you want and so forth.
This is particularly surprising given how impressive much of its software interface is, e..g, maps, navigation, security features (e.g., Sentry), vehicle controls, etc.
I think it would really behoove Tesla to adopt something along the lines of CarPlay or at least come up with something reasonably equivalent. Right now, this commonly-used function by a vehicle driver.... to put it in one word: sucks.
PS: The vehicle itself is just magnificent. Easily the best car I've owned, overall.
I was under the impression that Tesla had no desire to use CarPlay so I don’t know how they were “beat”.
Wording aside (on which I agree with you), as a brand new Tesla S owner, I have to say that their music/messaging interface is embarrassingly primitive: buggy, laggy, can't perform basic functions such as allowing you choose a playlist you want and so forth.
This is particularly surprising given how impressive much of its software interface is, e..g, maps, navigation, security features (e.g., Sentry), vehicle controls, etc.
I think it would really behoove Tesla to adopt something along the lines of CarPlay or at least come up with something reasonably equivalent. Right now, this commonly-used function by a vehicle driver.... to put it in one word: sucks.
PS: The vehicle itself is just magnificent. Easily the best car I've owned, overall.
I have to agree. I bought a model Y 2 years ago. The lack of CarPlay was a concern and I spoke to a coworker about it who said he really didn’t miss it in his model S.
After 2 years, it’s mixed but I still miss CarPlay on a regular basis.
- the Tesla NAV function is very good. It’s missing. Few things that Apple Maps has (sharing arrival time, ability to select routes) but has features related to charging that Apple Maps doesn’t. In general it’s rare for me to really need Apple Maps.
- there’s no Apple Music but they do have Spotify. Overall, after using it a bit I like Spotify better. Both have their issues but Spotify has fewer than Apple Music.
- The Tesla podcast app (TuneIn) sucks. You can use Spotify for podcasts and it’s much better but it doesn’t remember or note which podcasts you’ve listened to.
- going back to the small CarPlay display on our other car is difficult. The display and responsiveness in my Tesla blows it out of the water.
- Tesla does a reasonable job with text messaging but not as good as CarPlay.
- Using the Tesla apps (except the map) requires either paying for premium connectivity or connecting to a Wi-Fi hotspot. The latter can be done but is a bit tedious. CarPlay is nice because it just uses your cellular service that you’re already paying for.
The two biggest advantages of CarPlay are the fact that it automatically follows you and it’s more open. If you’re listening to a podcast on your phone and get into your car the podcast picks up at the exact same spot. CarPlay also makes it easier for 3rd party developers to add apps. You can’t get a Waze app or Pandora or whatever you want. If Tesla would allow this it would pretty much obviate the need for CarPlay.
Yes, the headline is obviously wrong because Tesla has no desire to support CarPlay or Android Auto whatsoever. There isn't a race there, so there isn't anything there in regards to being "beaten".
My last 2 vehicles were a BMW i3 (cheapo lease) and a Tesla Model 3. Both companies are very protective of their brands, just like Apple, and it would take considerable customer and sales pressure for them to change, like it did with BMW. I've only experienced CarPlay once or twice from car rentals, and that was a long time ago. No idea how CarPlay would benefit me.
I will say that the Tesla software and UI sucks. It's really put a damper on getting a Model Y for the wife, whose car is 9 years old now and getting close to replacement.
1. I've had the display UI freeze on me. You need to restart it the UI. It's happened about 3 times across 2.5 years of ownership, and that's 3 times too many for that to happen. The car basically has an "inner" operating system that performs the primary function of the car. Then, there is the "outer" operating system controlling the UI of the display. It's the display UI that freezes, but you can still drive, you just don't have a UI to tell you anything. Not fun to have the display UI frozen while driving.
2. Tesla's Bluetooth stack has finally settled down? Maybe? There are a lot of software updates, and some updates can be wonky.
3. I would have made quite a few different UI choices. Like, when in reverse, it should be impossible for the rear camera views to be dismissed until the vehicle is either in drive or park. 1/3rd of the display is devoted to an animation of the car, with animations of objects from the front facing cameras. As far as I can tell, this is useless. If it showed me if there are cars in my blindspots, perhaps useful, but there is about 250 to 500 ms of lag in it, which is too much lag. The cruise control can be stupid with the braking at times.
Just lots of refinement left to go in the UI department for all these cars where a touchscreen is the primary UI of the car. There might be room in it for Apple, but you have to wonder why they are putting so much effort into it. There's a bit of "do or do not" in my comment here. The car space is decadal, not yearly. If they are going to sell a car, they shouldn't be waiting, because there are so many other things that need to be done, and the car UI is like 1% of it.
They are not really resisting, they simply do not NEED it. Tesla, and I assume Rivian have their own solution which duplicates everything CarPlay provides and then some. For example navigation is tightly coupled to their charging network, including current availability updated in real time.
Tesla is considering becoming an AirPlay 2 destination. They also could use Apple Music as a media source. Right now Tesla is limited to LiveOne (FKA Slacker), Spotify and Tidal.
Tesla’s media and navigation capabilities are really pretty decent. CarPlay would be a step backward for Tesla, and I assume Rivian (I have no direct experience with Rivian).
As a Tesla owner I can say I would happily smash Elon Musk's toes for Carplay. Read into that what you will.
Comments
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geely
If you want to live in a democracy, diversify away from China whenever you can. There are plenty of great EVs that aren’t Chinese.
This is particularly surprising given how impressive much of its software interface is, e..g, maps, navigation, security features (e.g., Sentry), vehicle controls, etc.
I think it would really behoove Tesla to adopt something along the lines of CarPlay or at least come up with something reasonably equivalent. Right now, this commonly-used function by a vehicle driver.... to put it in one word: sucks.
PS: The vehicle itself is just magnificent. Easily the best car I've owned, overall.
My last 2 vehicles were a BMW i3 (cheapo lease) and a Tesla Model 3. Both companies are very protective of their brands, just like Apple, and it would take considerable customer and sales pressure for them to change, like it did with BMW. I've only experienced CarPlay once or twice from car rentals, and that was a long time ago. No idea how CarPlay would benefit me.
I will say that the Tesla software and UI sucks. It's really put a damper on getting a Model Y for the wife, whose car is 9 years old now and getting close to replacement.
1. I've had the display UI freeze on me. You need to restart it the UI. It's happened about 3 times across 2.5 years of ownership, and that's 3 times too many for that to happen. The car basically has an "inner" operating system that performs the primary function of the car. Then, there is the "outer" operating system controlling the UI of the display. It's the display UI that freezes, but you can still drive, you just don't have a UI to tell you anything. Not fun to have the display UI frozen while driving.
2. Tesla's Bluetooth stack has finally settled down? Maybe? There are a lot of software updates, and some updates can be wonky.
3. I would have made quite a few different UI choices. Like, when in reverse, it should be impossible for the rear camera views to be dismissed until the vehicle is either in drive or park. 1/3rd of the display is devoted to an animation of the car, with animations of objects from the front facing cameras. As far as I can tell, this is useless. If it showed me if there are cars in my blindspots, perhaps useful, but there is about 250 to 500 ms of lag in it, which is too much lag. The cruise control can be stupid with the braking at times.
Just lots of refinement left to go in the UI department for all these cars where a touchscreen is the primary UI of the car. There might be room in it for Apple, but you have to wonder why they are putting so much effort into it. There's a bit of "do or do not" in my comment here. The car space is decadal, not yearly. If they are going to sell a car, they shouldn't be waiting, because there are so many other things that need to be done, and the car UI is like 1% of it.
As a Tesla owner I can say I would happily smash Elon Musk's toes for Carplay. Read into that what you will.