Siri 'Eyes Free' Coming to 2014 Chevy Camaro, Volt, Malibu and More

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Siri "Eyes Free" mode will be coming to the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro, Volt, Malibu, SS, Cruze and Equinox via the Chevrolet MyLink service, GM announced today. Earlier this year, the Chevy Spark and Sonic were the first cars to get Siri "Eyes Free" mode, and the car company cites its popularity with customers for its expansion across their car line.

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In June, BMW announced Siri "Eyes Free" mode, which allows users to interact with their devices without looking at their phones, would be arriving in all of its cars from 2014 and beyond while Honda had announced the feature would be coming to several of its 2013 models earlier this year.

Apple has made an effort recently to get its technology in automobiles with Siri "Eyes Free" being announced last June and iOS in the Car, which allows iOS devices to be seamlessly integrated into cars' in-dash entertainment systems, being announced at this year's WWDC. At their third-quarter earnings call in July, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that having something in the automobile was "very important" for Apple.

Article Link: Siri 'Eyes Free' Coming to 2014 Chevy Camaro, Volt, Malibu and More

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My bluetooth already does this? Waiting for the iOS in the car.

I have to see this one work.

A lot of inexpensive-looking plastic in that Chevy dashboard.

A $10 Bluetooth headset from the groc store can already activate Siri. It's inexplicable that most head units are unable to do so and simply unlocking this capability is considered to be some sort of breakthrough.

sransari said:

A $10 Bluetooth headset from the groc store can already activate Siri. It's inexplicable that most head units are unable to do so and simply unlocking this capability is considered to be some sort of breakthrough.

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Yeah, but it is not only about activating Siri. If phone is connected in this "Siri Eyes Free mode" there are some differences, eg. iPhone screen stays black and Siri refuses to show maps or web searches but can read you Wikipedia article. And single click of a button act as touching this siri microphone icon. Using my Plantronics Voyager PRO+ i couldn't ask Siri second question - i needed to close it and start again.

I am using it everyday in my car. And my car is... Fiat Uno that is 13 years old. You may ask - how did I did this? Solution is: new Pioneer car radio (X5600BT). It is not perfect (sometimes audio quality is very poor) but it works as it should for about 120€ with tax (in Poland).

Do the Holden Barina and Barina Spark have it now?

And does this mean that the Holden Volt, Malibu, Cruze and Commodore will get it?

This isn't that big of a deal. I think most everyone is waiting on news of iOS in the car.

Where's our "iOS in the Car" ?

oopl said:

This isn't that big of a deal. I think most everyone is waiting on news of iOS in the car.

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Yup. My wife's Sonic could activate Siri fine prior to the "Eyes Free" update, now it just says that it can't perform the action for anything that would normally generate something on the screen. It's a good idea from a safety and liability standpoint, but why it gets so much press here I will never understand.

The iOS in Car thing I'm interested in, but the complete lack of information about it has turned it from the feature I was most interested in in iOS 7 to a "meh".

Again iOS in the car is what I want, but not just on new expensive cars. I want Apple to release its own if need be or open up to allow 3rd parties to develop kits to retrofit iOS in the car to current vehicles.

Chevy redesigned the Silverado for 2014, wonder why that car wasn't included. So long as it gets iOS in the car it's OK with me.

Any reason why a brand new 2014 model wouldn't / couldn't be iOS in the car compatible?

My next car will have some sort of Apple / iOS integration.

I often wish my big navigation touch screen could echo and input to my phone's display.

Display and interactive integration with ALL types of smartphones should've happened years ago.

Car makers should sit down and hammer out a global spec.

Car manufacturers don't get it

All they need to do is provide app integration to show the app on the screen. My two biggest annoyances with this announcement:

1. My 2013 Volt should be software upgradable to get this, but they will never do that. As high-tech as that car is, and as much as I love the EV powertrain tech, the level at which it's iOS integration sucks can be infuriating. Not offering a software upgrade to fix those problems is a big middle finger to existing customers.
2. Notice that there's no navigation talked about in their announcement. That's because they are wanting people to pay $50 for their OnStar "BringGo" navigation app: http://www.chevrolet.com/culture/article/bringgo-app.html Good grief, GM, are you so greedy that you don't realize that everyone is just going to continue propping their phones up in front of your LCD screens, using Waze, Apple Maps, Google Maps or one of the dozen other FREE GPS app's?

Things like this make me seriously wonder if I'll replace my Volt at lease end next year with another one or jump to something else. The first EV or plugin hybrid with the ability to put Waze on the dash will probably win my business.

kdarling said:

I often wish my big navigation touch screen could echo and input to my phone's display.

Display and interactive integration with ALL types of smartphones should've happened years ago.

Car makers should sit down and hammer out a global spec.

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I doubt that will ever happen simply because the value is in the differentiation; at least for the device makers. A global spec would mean they would have to limit their devices to what is in the spec which reduces them to a commodity product; something they want to avoid. I bet you see multi-manufacturer compatibility where you can use iOS or Windows on the same car before you see a global spec.

kdarling said:

I often wish my big navigation touch screen could echo and input to my phone's display.

Display and interactive integration with ALL types of smartphones should've happened years ago.

Car makers should sit down and hammer out a global spec.

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100% this. Without a global specification that's platform agnostic, none of the Apple/Android integration makes sense long term. Have any of the car companies addressed updates? IDK but I haven't heard of any.

Beyond having an auxiliary port for my devices, I can't think of any valid reason to have the OS integrated into my car. It just seems like it's more trouble than it's worth. My biggest concern is the depth of integration; if the OS has a crash does it interfere with the safe operation of the vehicle or do functions tied to the OS just cease? Too many questions for me to feel comfortable with the idea.

Maybe I'm just old.

/Metamucil... shaken and stirred.

I wonder...why not S voice or whatever that thing is from google?

kdarling said:

I often wish my big navigation touch screen could echo and input to my phone's display.

Display and interactive integration with ALL types of smartphones should've happened years ago.

Car makers should sit down and hammer out a global spec.

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Agreed. And the ability to update firmware so that when iOS 10, 11, and 12 come out 5 years later, my Siri integration still works. I would even pay a reasonable fee for this upgrade just like some do with navigation map upgrades.

While factory integration isn't the best, it sure beats the hassle of installing aftermarket stuff for the mass market.

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FirstNTenderbit said:

100% this. Without a global specification that's platform agnostic, none of the Apple/Android integration makes sense long term. Have any of the car companies addressed updates? IDK but I haven't heard of any.

Beyond having an auxiliary port for my devices, I can't think of any valid reason to have the OS integrated into my car. It just seems like it's more trouble than it's worth. My biggest concern is the depth of integration; if the OS has a crash does it interfere with the safe operation of the vehicle or do functions tied to the OS just cease? Too many questions for me to feel comfortable with the idea.

Maybe I'm just old.

/Metamucil... shaken and stirred.

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I would hope if the vehicle comes to a crash, the integration can dial 911 and provide your location info (accurately). This will help rescue personnel to find you in areas that may be more rural. Every second counts in a near-fatal accident.

This should be the ultimate goal for a 3rd party dev or Apple/Car manufacturers. Also, the ability to report mileage to the vehicle manufacturer to diagnose things would be great. It's almost like the report to Apple when something crashes. The manufacturer can then use the diagnostic data that has been recorded for the last 50, 100, or 500 miles to determine what the cause may have been to offer a fix.

Much more interested in iOS In The Car and how it'll work with my AppRadio 3.

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unplugme71 said:

This should be the ultimate goal for a 3rd party dev or Apple/Car manufacturers. Also, the ability to report mileage to the vehicle manufacturer to diagnose things would be great. It's almost like the report to Apple when something crashes. The manufacturer can then use the diagnostic data that has been recorded for the last 50, 100, or 500 miles to determine what the cause may have been to offer a fix.

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In less than 10% of cases is automotive issues related to something monitored by the ECU. Not really all that worth wild to report that information in most cases.

Come on Mercedes, make it happen for Smart!

If the Sonic and Spark can get it, this sounds like an exceptional experiment to throw at the new Smart ForTwo.

FirstNTenderbit said:

My biggest concern is the depth of integration; if the OS has a crash does it interfere with the safe operation of the vehicle or do functions tied to the OS just cease? Too many questions for me to feel comfortable with the idea.

Maybe I'm just old.

/Metamucil... shaken and stirred.

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I think each manufacturer has their own solution to this, but it is one that they have likely thought of and considered.

I can't answer to what others do, but I remember watching a Ford Sync interview on a podcast that specifically said that the electronics for all the dashboard entertainment and communications is completely cut-off and separated from the electronics for the car engine and the computer driving system. I don't remember the details, but it is possible that the only connection between the two electronic systems might be their use of the same car battery.

It's sort of like how the new A7 Touch ID enclave is separated physically with a barrier from the rest of the processor, or like how iOS features app sandboxing to protect the security and stability of iOS. If one app crashes, then the others continue to run perfectly fine.

I would recommend asking the manufacturer of the car you are interested in how they engineered their electrical system.

SkippyThorson said:

If the Sonic and Spark can get it, this sounds like an exceptional experiment to throw at the new Smart ForTwo.

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I just got the new Smart EV. Great little commuter car, and it has a decent Bluetooth setup built into their touch-screen system. It plays nice with my iPhone, but I was expecting more for the additional cost. Why can't I call up playlists on the dash, rather than have to grab my iPhone and activate them? The system knows where my music is (and annoyingly will always start off playing either random tracks or the last one it remembers that I selected, with apparently no way to control that behavior). It also displays track names. So it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to show all the songs and let me choose them.

I agree with the previous statement that what's needed is a global standard that all electronic manufacturers can follow. But seeing as how so many interests are fighting for a piece of that pie, I don't see it happening very soon.

Can't wait for iOS In The Car, especially since I plan on buying a car next year. But don't forget that it won't be appearing until next year, which means *2015* models. It's not surprising that the lead time had to be a full year+. Car manufacturers have to lock stuff like that off very early, and they're probably deep into dealing with the integration of it right now.

I'm still glad that Apple announced it so early because I might have bought a new car before then. I'd rather wait and get full dash integration.

OldSchoolMacGuy said:

Much more interested in iOS In The Car and how it'll work with my AppRadio 3.

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In less than 10% of cases is automotive issues related to something monitored by the ECU. Not really all that worth wild to report that information in most cases.

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Who says the ECU is going to monitor this?

Sure it may not be worth the trouble or expense, but OnStar does a decent job of monitoring things already. Now if we can expand that and maybe offer driving statistics that can provide feedback to the driver to change driving habbits. Maybe a what-if analysis shown on the drivers display or iPhone.

Of course, tying into traffic patterns and traffic light systems would make my idea more worthwhile and I know several companies such as Audi are already doing this.

But imagine, the car reporting that we noticed you brake too early/too late, and by changing your braking force and timing, you could save x amount of mpg. Or we noticed you drive at 8:05am to 8:30am to work every day, but leaving at 7:50am can reduce your time traveled by 4 minutes and save you $2.10 in gas (at current market prices in your area).

Also, technology that can allow you to speak to other vehicles within 30-50 feet of you or the ability to alert another driver if that vehicle has its turn signal on the same side as you.

Those would be things that are worthwhile to a driver - ability to save time, save money, and be safer on the road.