GM’s replacement for CarPlay is due at the end of 2023, but its dealers are in the dark about when that will be and what it will do to sales when buyers figure it out.
It’s hilarious to me that these car companies think consumers will put up with their shitty infotainment just so they can hopefully open a new revenue stream with subscriptions. Consumers are just going to pass over your shit for competitors that do have Carplay/Android Auto.
What’s even worse is GM hired a VP who failed at Apple.
I wish I could fail upwards like that.
Going from VP at Apple to one at GM feels like a proper fail to me.
For the individual it doesn’t matter what the company name is. It matters what they’re paid.
I assume that’s a reference to Mike Abbott, as he’s a software VP at GM and used to work at Apple. He was only hired this year so I don’t see salary data for him, but other “Executive Vice President” positions are paid ~$8.8m as of 2022. No idea what he was paid at Apple, but it’s hard to consider a salary that is likely in the high 7 digits or low 8 digits to be a “proper fail.” If it is, I would love to sign up for this kind of failure.
Me too, me too.
Especially when you’re GM. It’s already an extreme longshot that I was ever going to buy another GM car, but this is 100% the final nail in the coffin.
I’ve only ever owned GM vehicles. After having had rental cars with Android Auto, I care a lot more about my next vehicle having Android Auto than I do about it being a GM.
BRB, Resurrecting the aftermarket radio.
Between this bullshit and touchscreen-only controls, I’ve ruled out quite a few models.Especially for new car buyers. It’s a much more iPhone heavy group than the general population.
At least in countries where I’ve lived, there were two expensive phones that are popular: Samsung Galaxy, and iPhones. The only GM could have boned this harder is if they somehow nerfed the experience on Samsung flagships too.
They did, they aren’t supporting car play or android auto
Idiots. This is a “don’t you guys have phones” moment, but about the GM management and I mean it unironically.
My car has CarPlay where my last car didn’t. I’ll tell you now, I won’t get another car without it.
So says literally everyone I have ever seen comment on the matter. Seriously, is there anyone out there that has tried CarPlay/AndroidAuto and said “eh, I don’t see the point”?
My parents don’t care about CarPlay at all. It’s in their GMC truck but they have no interest in using it, and get confused when it pops up. That being said, they also will absolutely not subscribe to whatever service GM tries to launch in its place. I guess just pointing out that there are some people who don’t see the point, but they also wouldn’t see the point of whatever GM launches.
This is even dumber than that. It’s like if they tried CarPlay/AndroidAuto and said, “you know, I like this, but do you have a shittier version that I have to pay extra for?”
Though I might be willing to get one of these cars. They might reduce the price expecting every buyer to pay for the subscription like smart tvs are subsidised because they’ll make ad money. But then I’ll just use my phone with some kind of a phone holder or get it modded to use my phone. Just because they make the car doesn’t mean they control its ecosystem after they sell it.
But I’d probably just buy a car from a different company instead.
My Suzuki/Bosch headunit is occasionally a bit flakey when connecting to my phone via CarPlay, on the way home last night it gave up so I listened to my music using its iPod mode.
Having a simplistic interface was not too bad, it reminded me of the good old days.
But when a phone call came through and I had to answer it via Bluetooth, all hell broke loose as it tried to switch between iPod mode, A2DP, HFP and HSP.
I pulled over and restarted the car until CarPlay started working again.
I mean, people who don’t care about their radio that much? Honestly, long as I have Bluetooth or an aux port, I’m good.
Not that I don’t like Android Auto or wouldn’t prefer to have it, but the lack of it wouldn’t be an absolute deal breaker
Being able to use Google maps (which is constantly updated, integrated with my contacts, and actually had a UI/UX team design it’s interface) on the tablet sized vehicle display and car stereo system, in addition to whatever music apps, is pretty nice. As well as Google search via steering wheel controls for managing navigation.
Yeah, I could play stuff with Bluetooth or use the integrated GPS system but the quality of audio is noticably worse and the GPS is absolutely shit but nice to have in a pinch.
Honestly idk what other apps integrate with AA, music and directions pretty much do the trick for me.
The radio means almost nothing to me. The ability to have my choice of mapping app on the dash is 90% of the value and absolutely indispensable.
What if you had to PAY a subscription fee to NOT have Android Auto?
What’s a “radio”?
Yep, I have multiple friends who have owned CarPlay cars who see how it’s much different than a phone on a mount.
It integrates poorly in my car and requires a USB cable so I don’t bother. I’m happier just using my phone screen.
Most jurisdictions have either already introduced, or in the process of introducing laws that restrict what you can do with your phone whilst driving. Some have higher penalties for distracted driving than drink driving or speeding!
If you do want Wireless CarPlay, there are cheap USB dongles available that may work to adapt your factory Car Audio to enable it. They are also useful as an alternative if your older car radio is unable to provide sufficient current for your newer device to charge.
Or just don’t play around on your phone while you drive. Pick your podcast/playlist, load the directions, and off you go.
Unfortunately this discipline is too much to expect from for a great percentage of the population. They absolutely must watch TikToks and text their friends whilst driving, otherwise they will die if loneliness!
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Oh, how I wish Android Auto was open source (or if there was a FOSS alternative, that’d also be nice)
I built a better solution that doesn’t require plugging anything in, so for me it wasn’t useful. Bought a new car and now I simply use bluetooth for music. I see CarPlay has a wireless option now, I should look into that.
In other word, you might think that 3.99$/month is a good bargain to get CarPlay with futures updates, but look it’s 2.89$/month right now if you subscribe for 2 years!
Please don’t put those evil ideas out into the universe.
BMW already did it
Hmm. I really am struggling trying to predict the outcome here.
On the one hand, we have a ubiquitous FREE interface that is mature and works via your phone (that 99% of people already have and are familiar with with their own custom music playlists) and is updated constantly.
On the other hand, we have a PAID interface that sucks donkey dick in usability with little to no customization or upgrade ability and will need to be managed completely separately from your phone.
The entire executive team should be escorted out of GM headquarters after receiving swirlies.
I predict no car rental companies will buy these cars because renters would demand a different vehicle.
When I was at a Holden dealer, CarPlay (and Android Auto) would sell cars.
Customers would wander in, drooling over a cars performance, styling, economy, luxury etc. they’re oils then ask about CarPlay (or Android Auto): if the car did not have it, they would go cold straight away and just walk straight out the door, without even thanking the salesman for their time.
Carplay was on a very short list of requirements for me when I bought my car a few years ago, so I totally understand this.
It was basically:
- Is a standard
- Has Carplay
- (of course some other things, but those two were very high)
No car manufacturer’s in-house stuff will be as useful to me. It just won’t.
Same here after dealing with shoddy infotainment software in the past. CarPlay, AWD and preferably a manual was all it needed
Literally everyone in the world can see this is a braindead play except GM
They’re blinded by dollar signs that won’t come to fruition. Complete brain dead move on their part.
GM has previously said that people who buy a new GM electric vehicle will get access to features such as Google Maps for free — for eight years. After that, GM expects people to subscribe for what they used to get free with CarPlay, and ultimately sees it giving GM a potential $25 billion revenue stream.
My ten year old Chevy Volt just lost connectivity a few months ago because of the 3g phase out, leading me to unsubscribe from Onstar. How many years of subscriptions are GM planning to have before the next network phase out?
And anyone who used GM’s in-dash maps knows they can’t be trusted to keep their products updated lol
Yeah that’s some crap. At that point I’d just have my maps on my phone in the cupholder, no chance in hell I’m paying a subscription for something my phone already does, hands free laws be damned.
As someone who dosn’t have carplay but whose next vehicle will 100% have it. Yeah… as much as I dislike using my phone as a GPS sometimes compared to have android auto or carplay in a work truck there is zero chance of me spending money on any kinda of GPS while google maps exists.
There is ZERO chance I’d buy a car without CarPlay or Android Auto. Why would I buy GM when other manufactures get it right the first time?
I just bought a new car two weeks ago for my college aged son. Android auto/carplay was required to purchase the vehicle. I looked at one that didn’t have it and said hell no. The dealer sighed and said that model had been on the lot for 6 months and nobody would buy it. They were likely going to have to mark it down massively to eventually move it in the next year.
My work truck is a Chevy. If they drop android auto or carplay my fleet manager has told the dealership they will drop them as a supplier. This combined with having 7 trucks in the shop this year for faulty lifters. It’s been a big issue. They are about done with them.
I’ve worked in this space in the past, and unless car manufacturers have significantly improved their UX chops this will go terribly. Further, this just seems like an opportunity for GM to further DLC’ify the car. Generally Android Auto and Car Play would be standard on even the lowest models, but now you might have to pay a monthly subscription to access this
And in addition to their terrible UX, they are also horrible software maintainers. This will definitely rot over time.
Yeah. I definitely prefer Android Auto/CarPlay as a car agnostic interface for media and navigation over any built-in thing.
The presence of Apple CarPlay was a factor in choosing my latest car.
I was going to buy a car with either CarPlay, or with a standard Double-DIN radio so I could easily upgrade it.
I ended up with the best of both worlds. The factory radio has CarPlay and adequate user-upgradable factory maps and has a double-DIN form factory. Aftermarket Facias are available to accommodate a standard 7” screen upto a 10” screen.
What car did you end up with?
I traded my bush-pig Grand Vitara and my shitbox TK Barina and bought a new Suzuki Jimny.
I find that it has the economy of the Daewoo and the off-road ability of the lifted Grand Vitara. It has very spartan driver assistance, enough to help but not enough to get in the way.
It will go bad. For my own part, I will not buy a car without AA/Carplay. The whole benefit of AA/Carplay is that I can take my infotainment with me and share a car or two without having to mess around with more logins/security etc. Especially with an inferior interface…
Give what the consumers want! Why are they so stupid? I’m assuming they also ditched Android Auto as well right?
Yup. They’re trying to make it to where you subscribe to their “connectivity service,” which is basically paying an additional monthly fee for stuff your phone already does.
I honestly feel like I the perfect window buying a car in 2017.
Massive amounts of features, no subscriptions or connectivity to push software updates.
Total deal breaker for me. I got to play around with Android Auto for a few minutes and it blew me away. There’s no way GM can do better.
That said, I did have one person tell me that they preferred Ford’s maps over CarPlay’s and another was annoyed that they had to plug in their phone to activate CarPlay.
Wireless CarPlay is out there now too. I just had a rental car that had it, and it was very neat! It would connect to my phone while still in my pocket, and if I was going for a short trip there was no reason to even pull my phone out. And then if I was going for a longer trip and wanted to charge my phone I could pull it out and plug into USB, and it didn’t interrupt the CarPlay at all. Very cool.
another was annoyed that they had to plug in their phone to activate CarPlay
I suspect that isn’t a current restriction, or it may depend on the car model. I have a car from 2018 where I have to plug in my phone for Android Auto work. That car is in the shop right now and I have a new 2023 loaner, and the loaner’s Android Auto integration connects directly to my phone via Bluetooth as soon as I start the car. Having experienced both now, I know for sure that wireless Android Auto is gonna be on the list of things I want in my next car.
I have a 2016 Kia Soul (stay away Kia Boyz, it’s a push button start!) And have been using this for wireless Android Auto…
… It’s fantastic.
I like my FCA maps better than Apple’s because they licensed them from Garmin.
I still won’t buy a car without CarPlay.
The only OEM radio interface that was better than CarPlay and Android auto was Ford (Microsoft) Sync, and it was also compatible with CarPlay and Android Auto so you could choose!
Since then, both Apple and Google have improved their interfaces to be on par with Ford Sync.
Do people not charge their phones while they drive? I always plug my phone in when I’m in the car. But I’m seeing a lot of people complaining about it.
I only charge mine when I’m on a road trip.
Ditching features that consumers desire could lead to lower sales. More at 11.
My first GM vehicle was a C7 Chevrolet Corvette. I wanted it since it was announced in 2014 but held out until 2016 when it finally got CarPlay. I’ve since traded it in for the 2020 C8 Corvette that also has CarPlay. I bought a dongle that enables wireless CarPlay so I don’t even need to plug it in.
I absolutely love my Corvette and would be interested in buying the next generation. However, I will not consider it or any other GM vehicle if CarPlay is dropped. It is a mandatory feature for me.
How well does wireless CarPlay work?
My '21 Malibu had it out of the box. I can’t speak for Car Play, but wireless Android Auto is 95% flawless. There’s that 5% where I get in and the phone won’t connect automatically. But I think it’s an issue on the phone side. I have to unlock the phone then it kicks in.
I find that it works flawlessly in our Mach E. Obviously not a ‘Vette but I think the early wireless CarPlay issues have been worked out.
I recently got a Kia with Android Auto and my Tesla-driving brother is jealous that I can use Google Maps on a big screen, with no extra car mount.
