General Motors is blowing it by barring the widely-used Apple CarPlay (and Google’s derivative Android Auto) that allow drivers to bypass vehicle’s infotainment systems, shifting instead to an built-in infotainment system, Google Automotive, for future electric vehicles.
John Gapper for Financial Times:
Surely I am not the only one to groan at this prospect: many people prefer their smartphone software to their vehicles’ inbuilt displays. As Benedetto Vigna, Ferrari’s chief executive, remarked at the FT’s Future of the Car event this week, “For a car company to become a tech company is not easy . . . We are used to the operating systems we have in our pocket.”
It is hard enough to adapt to the regular updates to Apple iOS or Android, let alone tackle a different set of swipes, symbols and habits for the limited periods that most of us spend driving. I am not entirely sure how my car’s air conditioning works, or what the wiper settings mean: spare me from learning new technology for each brand.
“We feel that we need to have control over the experience,” Nick Festa, GM’s director of digital business, told me this week… Software also offers the prospect of making money. When so many aspects of the connected car can be altered or upgraded with software updates, it is natural for carmakers to get a case of Apple envy. They also want to sell software and services on a platform they operate…
Customers are not accustomed to buying cars and then being told that they will have to pay a fee or subscription for the heated seats to be activated, or for the acceleration to be boosted. In theory, a software upgrade is equivalent to better hardware; in practice, it can feel exploitative.
MacDailyNews Take: For us, and many, many others, General Motors simply moves even further out of consideration for future purchases (GM never really was in consideration anyway).
If GM sticks to this stupidity, it deserves its fate.
See also: Vehicle buyers consider Ford, Toyota, after GM announces Apple CarPlay phaseout – April 14, 2023
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how can GM be so daft?!
How the hell is going independent by going third party with Android?
How is Droid, inhumane, a better humane interface?
Maybe GM Goo prefers 100% A.I. robotic anti-human services?
If you want choice, do it better, not worse, with more flexibility maybe but less secure, less private, less stable, less reliable, uglier.
Same mistake when idiotic competitive proprietary system WalMart MCX CurrentC was used against ApplePay in 2014 by WalMart / CVS / Rite Aid etc. All failed. Wasting Millions.
I think it is stupid moving away from CarPlay. I have a 2012 Ford Focus. In it it had the original Sync. After a while I got sick of it. At that time I bought a Pioneer CarPlay head and had it installed. From that moment on it changed the way of my experience in the car. If I buy a new car it must have CarPlay in it or else I would not buy that car.
Automakers should develop their own IOS and Android App. Offer a good experience there. The days of selling proprietary Nav systems that are out of date in one year are over. Let car owners, or renters use their own device to manage their experience, and use the manufacturers app to schedule maintenance, access user manuals, etc.
GM will push itself farther into being purchased for cheap repair service company vehicles and not for the rest of the public. You go GM! Brilliant move! This is almost as stupid as the Budweiser & Mulvaney thing.
GM has blown many things over the years! The Macalope has a good coloumn on this idiocy
GM’s moving toward bankruptcy. Clearly being mismanaged. Personally, I’ll stick with Ford and Subaru.
Follow the money! It’s always about profit and how much is GM being paid?
You mean just like Apple profits by pre-installing Google Search spyware on all its iOS devices, on by default? And how MDN relies on Google Ads for its income?
All very interesting.
I preferred cars when they had no touchscreens whatsoever.
Ya’ll are wrong. GM does not want to be the mile that Apple makes money off of as in- car services become ever larger profit drivers. Apple will demand its 30% cut and maybe or maybe not share all the data. GM, Rivian and others are making the right play by developing their software chops now. GM just hired a major Apple software executive to help run the show. Besides, the author of the article also has it wrong. They don’t need to learn new software to drive the car. The user interface can be excellent and intuitive without people learning the software. Yes, it’s a short term fail, but long term it is absolutely the right move. Better to do it now while in-car services are in their infancy. The other car makers will find it’s too late when they try to do the same in 5-7 years.
You are 100% correct.
“Don’t use your phone while driving. Distracted driving is dangerous!”
Apple, Google, GM, and other car manufacturers: “Touchscreens everywhere!”
What specifically makes Carplay so great that its functionality can’t be replicated by the automaker without paying the Apple tax? Anyone?
It bears repeating again and again: Apple Maps remains near last place among turn-by-turn navigation apps. Its updates (and CarPlay as well) are too slow. Waze, Google, WegoHere, Mapquest, etc are all preferable alternatives.
Good for GM for controlling its own destiny. Those of you dumb enough to move to Ford or Chrysler because of your dependency on all things Apple: sucks to be you. Drop in a Pioneer radio if you can’t live without CarPlay. It’s absolutely stupid to downgrade the rest of your vehicle based on rumors of infotainment evolution.
I use Waze via CarPlay all the time, and I’m sure that others use other nav apps through CarPlay. All you’re really doing here is displaying your as-, er, ignorance.
You can also use Waze without carplay. How many layers of software do you need to be happy?
Agreed. GM controls its own destiny and makes money at the same time without having to pay the Apple Tax. What’s wrong with that Apple fanboys, freedom of choice it’s their company!
I don’t drive a vehicle with CarPlay, so have no idea of the experience or how it works. Also don’t know if CarPlay is regularly updated to latest version. I do know and agree Apple Maps and Siri are second rate to the competition.
So, while I support GM going your own way, how does that work exactly adopting substandard Android?…
EVs, Unsafe at any Speed!
EVs use domestic energy, old gas guzzlers imported energy. Take down yer flag if you’re going to cheer for greater dependence on mideast oil, buddy.
Just dumped my last GM product daily driver (2012 Buick Enclave). It was such a bad product and over the years had to replace: steering rack, fuel injectors, water pump, fuel pump, power steering pump, all bushings in front suspension (twice), lots of light bulbs. Bought 2015 Lexus RX and have not changed one part in 85,000 miles. Just bought 2021 Lexus and will never return as a GM customer (over 40 years). Wrote to Mary Barra and never heard back
GM = Delusions of Adequacy
It’s all about the data. GM is planning use their proprietary system to gather data on users and sell it, just like FaceBook. I swore off GM years ago – a ’98 Malibu did it… I hated that car lol…