I have the potential of getting Sirius, and some type of auto connect Wi-Fi-Bluetooth, from the manufacture of my car with a monthly subscription, I told both to f—k off, the only thing I want in my car is the ability to play music by plugging in my iPhone, or an iPad to a built-in amp and speaker system, which I believe Apple doesn’t allow you to plug in an iPad to a car, at least not officially anyway.
GM is not the first car company to try to pull a bait and switch on their customers BMW tried it, and I believe they failed in their venture spectacularly.
Many of the MBA business school run companies have dreams of tethering customers upside down with pockets out to a monthly charge forever.
I’m amazed at how important the phone interface with a vehicle is to many of you. It’s laughable to me that it is a deciding factor to buying a vehicle or not. Perhaps many of us have become too dependent and even addicted to our phones.
We certain have become dependent on our smartphones, but that is because they are crucial to the driving experience. Try being a delivery driver without a smartphone, armed only with paper maps (which I’m sure won’t interfere with your driving at all …), as just one example.
The iPhone holds thousands of songs that a CD player does not, can give spoken directions via Siri, can estimate your ETA and send that as a text message to whomever you are meeting, allow you to make phone calls or send messages hands free, listen to podcasts or audiobooks, and a huge amount more.
To be fair, the built-in driver system can do a couple of these things (mostly navigation, but with a subscription can do other things). But CarPlay is so superior to every ugly car-infotainment system I’ve seen that it is one of the most important features of a car that you don’t take for granted (like wheels and an engine).
I’m amazed at how important the phone interface with a vehicle is to many of you. It’s laughable to me that it is a deciding factor to buying a vehicle or not. Perhaps many of us have become too dependent and even addicted to our phones.
Have you actually tried CarPlay, or AndroidWhatever?
My first experience was in a rental, in a city I'd never driven in, about five years ago. I just wanted to charge my phone. :-)
The CarPlay navigation experience was head and shoulders above any bespoke nav system I'd used before. To this day, it's reassuring to at least have an idea of my arrival times, and alternate routes, even if it's a route I've driven hundreds of times.
As far as entertainment goes, it's nice to catch up on my local sportstalk programs via podcasts, where there are fewer commercials than terrestrial radio, and I can pause/resume at will.
“General Motors plans to phase out widely used Apple (AAPL) CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that allow drivers to bypass a vehicle’s infotainment system, shifting instead to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google (GOOG) for future electric vehicles.”
“GM’s decision to stop offering those systems…”
“The decision to phase out CarPlay smartphone projection technology…”
“Drivers also will still be able to listen to music or make phone calls on iPhones or Android smartphones using Bluetooth wireless connectivity, GM said.”
…they said they’ll let you stream via bluetooth, but not CarPlay. Guarantees people like me will never buy a GM.
“General Motors plans to phase out widely used Apple (AAPL) CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that allow drivers to bypass a vehicle’s infotainment system, shifting instead to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google (GOOG) for future electric vehicles.”
“GM’s decision to stop offering those systems…”
“The decision to phase out CarPlay smartphone projection technology…”
“Drivers also will still be able to listen to music or make phone calls on iPhones or Android smartphones using Bluetooth wireless connectivity, GM said.”
…they said they’ll let you stream via bluetooth, but not CarPlay. Guarantees people like me will never buy a GM.
Gosh. Then those who are dependent on Android Auto won't either. It would affect both camps.
“General Motors plans to phase out widely used Apple (AAPL) CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that allow drivers to bypass a vehicle’s infotainment system, shifting instead to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google (GOOG) for future electric vehicles.”
“GM’s decision to stop offering those systems…”
“The decision to phase out CarPlay smartphone projection technology…”
“Drivers also will still be able to listen to music or make phone calls on iPhones or Android smartphones using Bluetooth wireless connectivity, GM said.”
…they said they’ll let you stream via bluetooth, but not CarPlay. Guarantees people like me will never buy a GM.
Gosh. Then those who are dependent on Android Auto won't either. It would affect both camps.
No, just the Apple half because the OS itself in the car is Android. About half of the automakers are opting to let Google be their app provider (which means Android Auto is essentially built into the car, no phone needed), the other half are using Android Automotive as the OS and building their own app infrastructure. The later half is using AOSP (the open source fork of Android that doesn't have an app store) and will probably rely on Android Auto/Carplay. There are a few outliers that are still making their own stuff from scratch (notably Mercedes and Toyota), but given the complexity of doing so it's probably only a matter of time before they adopt Android as well - it's just going to be cheaper and easier in the long run.
As cars come closer self-driving, they will become more and more service-oriented, and it will be more and more important to the automakers for the car's OS to be the main UI that customers use so that data and services can be monitized, and that means killing support for Android Auto and Carplay. In 5 years support will be rare, and in 10 it will be dead and pretty much nobody will care. They are products borne from the fact that the automakers sucked at making car OSes, as soon as that changes then they will be obsolete.
“General Motors plans to phase out widely used Apple (AAPL) CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that allow drivers to bypass a vehicle’s infotainment system, shifting instead to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google (GOOG) for future electric vehicles.”
“GM’s decision to stop offering those systems…”
“The decision to phase out CarPlay smartphone projection technology…”
“Drivers also will still be able to listen to music or make phone calls on iPhones or Android smartphones using Bluetooth wireless connectivity, GM said.”
…they said they’ll let you stream via bluetooth, but not CarPlay. Guarantees people like me will never buy a GM.
Gosh. Then those who are dependent on Android Auto won't either. It would affect both camps.
No, just the Apple half because the OS itself in the car is Android.
If I can't use Google Play OR AppStore apps OR stored media streamed from my phone, and thus avoid subscriptions from GM, how would my Pixel not be affected along with my iPhone?
Of course Android users will be impacted.
By the way, an auto manufacturer can use Android Automotive without committing to Google services. No data flowing to the Big G unless a driver opts for a Google app. That's what Mercedes is doing in order to monetize their own platform so that's probably another reason for Android to end up in the driver's seat. They may need Google's cooperation, so no doubt the manufacturers be paying Google something, but it won't be Google in charge of the customer. I doubt Apple would be so willing to relinquish control.
That's Volvo/Polestar, Nissan/Mitsubishi/Renault, GM, Ford/Lincoln, Honda/Acura, VW Group, and now Chevrolet that are all-in on Android Automotive, with several others using it as their base without the Google services.
It's not shocking, it's all about money. Apple's Carplay integration requires the carmakers to still develop a local OS and GUI for those who don't have an iPhone, and presumably they have to pay Apple some licensing fees on top. Android Automotive *is* the operating system so no external reliance needs to be assumed, and presumably Google is both aiding in integration and probably covering part of the costs. In the end, automakers get a cohesive car OS that has top-notch navigation and all the apps people want, and Google does all the work for them.
In a day when the software that runs the car is as important if not more so as the hardware, anything that makes the job easier and cheaper for carmakers is going to get their money. Apple dropped the ball here by focusing on making people need to buy more of their products instead of working with the automakers to give them what they need, and Google has been more than happy to pick it up and run it home.
Apple CarPlay is 100% free to automakers. They do not pay a dime
Not sure where you get that idea. Carplay accessory development is covered under the MFi program.
It places all kinds of restrictions on automakers and requires them to jump through all kinds of hoops to get their products approved.
It costs $99/year to participate in MFi. Yeah, guess that is going to break GM. You knucklehead. But seriously, the costs actually are in the verification activities, to get specific hardware and software certified to work with the Apple technologies. But over the number of vehicles involved, it is probably still just pennies per vehicle.
Look, I put up with Sony TV products using Google OS, because I can just ignore it, and switch over to using my Apple TV all of the time, because I have that choice. But GM will be locking your iPhone out of utilizing the console system of your car, and THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. It is the integration of your personal Apple Ecosystem that you want, and is worth FAR MORE than just the cost of any specific app. GM is obviously braindead on this concept. It would be like if Sony TV products couldn't be driven by an Apple TV.
Comments
GM is not the first car company to try to pull a bait and switch on their customers BMW tried it, and I believe they failed in their venture spectacularly.
Many of the MBA business school run companies have dreams of tethering customers upside down with pockets out to a monthly charge forever.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/01/business/gm-apple-play-evs/index.html
“GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs”
“General Motors plans to phase out widely used Apple (AAPL) CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that allow drivers to bypass a vehicle’s infotainment system, shifting instead to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google (GOOG) for future electric vehicles.”
“GM’s decision to stop offering those systems…”
“The decision to phase out CarPlay smartphone projection technology…”
“Drivers also will still be able to listen to music or make phone calls on iPhones or Android smartphones using Bluetooth wireless connectivity, GM said.”
…they said they’ll let you stream via bluetooth, but not CarPlay. Guarantees people like me will never buy a GM.
As cars come closer self-driving, they will become more and more service-oriented, and it will be more and more important to the automakers for the car's OS to be the main UI that customers use so that data and services can be monitized, and that means killing support for Android Auto and Carplay. In 5 years support will be rare, and in 10 it will be dead and pretty much nobody will care. They are products borne from the fact that the automakers sucked at making car OSes, as soon as that changes then they will be obsolete.
Of course Android users will be impacted.
By the way, an auto manufacturer can use Android Automotive without committing to Google services. No data flowing to the Big G unless a driver opts for a Google app. That's what Mercedes is doing in order to monetize their own platform so that's probably another reason for Android to end up in the driver's seat. They may need Google's cooperation, so no doubt the manufacturers be paying Google something, but it won't be Google in charge of the customer. I doubt Apple would be so willing to relinquish control.
Oh, and another by the way...
An excellent collection of news articles here about what it all means:
https://www.autoevolution.com/newstag/Android Automotive/
https://www.autoevolution.com/newstag/carplay/