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Apple Says Several Car Makers Still Plan to Support Next-Generation CarPlay
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I am a firm believer in "the right tool for the job". In the case of touchscreens, it is not, in my opinion.
I have always beleived the attention should be on the road and surrounding conditions. Any time taken from that is a distraction that could lead to issues, major and minor. Think of rally car teams - the driver drives, the navigator gives info. Our cars should be the same. So when maps speaks directions, great (so long as correct and on time, not the often witnessed "turn left @" given 3 seconds after passing the street in question).
So knobs, switches, dials, all easy to discern based on feel and location is great. Voice is great. Auditory warnings of proximity are great. Little lights on mirrors to warn of blind spot occupation great (although you should adjust mirrors to not have blind spots, and if it can't be done, then we are dealing with poor car design - something that plagues this planet).
But the design love for flashy, distracting, dangerous, but "pretty in pictures" displays need to die (so that people don't due to the issues they introduce).
/end rant.
I have always beleived the attention should be on the road and surrounding conditions. Any time taken from that is a distraction that could lead to issues, major and minor. Think of rally car teams - the driver drives, the navigator gives info. Our cars should be the same. So when maps speaks directions, great (so long as correct and on time, not the often witnessed "turn left @" given 3 seconds after passing the street in question).
So knobs, switches, dials, all easy to discern based on feel and location is great. Voice is great. Auditory warnings of proximity are great. Little lights on mirrors to warn of blind spot occupation great (although you should adjust mirrors to not have blind spots, and if it can't be done, then we are dealing with poor car design - something that plagues this planet).
But the design love for flashy, distracting, dangerous, but "pretty in pictures" displays need to die (so that people don't due to the issues they introduce).
/end rant.
Google's competing system is "open source" so the auto markers can inspect it and change whatever they want. So Google is not "'taking over".
Apple will find it very hard to compete against an open-source OS for cars.
Same here, never had to tinker with the phone. On my car at least wireless carplay was very robust.
Translates to "we have no idea when, where or if it will ever come to a manufactured vehicle."
Apples Marketing/ Comms dept at its finest.
Apples Marketing/ Comms dept at its finest.
I've never had this experience with my cars or in rentals, it may be down to something else. Is this across any iPhone?
And especially with the quality of touch screens in cars.
It seems Apple is forgetting one of the things that made the iPhone great. For the time, its touch screen was far ahead of anything. Last time I tried Android, it was still this way, though they may have caught up.
They’re both far ahead of the quality of touch screens in most cars I’ve seen. Maybe the really expensive cars have better ones, but it still can’t beat a well designed cheap physical button in a lot of cases.
Agree on the crappy touchscreens in cars. As for screens, my Pixel Fold and S24 Ultra have the same quality screen as my 16 Pro Max, but I'd imagine if you get a cheap phone it stands to reason the screen is cheap too.
Until they relapse and then you’re in for a fun ride.
То be honest, I am actually quite content with current generation of CarPlay. On two our cars, I installed Pioneer headunits with Carplay and they work flawlessly. I am not sure if I am going use widgets on display too much when I am driving. Siri also became better. Visually Carplay is also quite nice. Let's see the gen 2
Can anyone recommend an inexpensive Carplay unit? Idc if it's in-dash or not. I'm flexible on screen size - I'm more concerned with reliability and the UI not having terrible lag.
Was using Android Automotive (the car native solution, not Android Auto which functions like the current CarPlay) for 3 years on a Polestar2 and just jumped back to using CarPlay on a Hyundai.
Feels like a step back to me honestly.
The current CarPlay is just feels too basic and dumbed down to me now. 3rd Party apps are more limited than their AAutomotive counterparts. The Apple Maps integration doesn't feel great to me either, as my navigation route always seems to be way zoomed in and squashed off to the far right of the screen.
That all said, I think AAutomotive integration has caused heaps of hassles for Polestar / Volvo / Geely, which is why the software for multiple models still feel like its in a beta, with numerous bugs. Perhaps having to work with Google rather than keeping it all in house makes things more complicated on that front. Better base user experience, but slower bug fixing and issues that are out of the car manufacturers control.
That all said, im not particularly interested in an Integrated Apple solution, but I would love an updated CarPlay in its current, phone projecting format.
Feels like a step back to me honestly.
The current CarPlay is just feels too basic and dumbed down to me now. 3rd Party apps are more limited than their AAutomotive counterparts. The Apple Maps integration doesn't feel great to me either, as my navigation route always seems to be way zoomed in and squashed off to the far right of the screen.
That all said, I think AAutomotive integration has caused heaps of hassles for Polestar / Volvo / Geely, which is why the software for multiple models still feel like its in a beta, with numerous bugs. Perhaps having to work with Google rather than keeping it all in house makes things more complicated on that front. Better base user experience, but slower bug fixing and issues that are out of the car manufacturers control.
That all said, im not particularly interested in an Integrated Apple solution, but I would love an updated CarPlay in its current, phone projecting format.
Yes!!
This is the single biggest failing of CarPlay, Android Auto or Tesla interfaces.
A well-thought out and implemented combination of real buttons + touch screen is the way to go in cars.
Here's hoping we see that at some point
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I'm a fan of the new Car Play, but the total lack of buttons is a terrible UX in cars.
In the attached image, there seem to be no buttons except on the steering wheel - not even a knob for volume.
I recently drove a Chinese rental car that had CarPlay but no physical buttons.
The only way to disengage CarPlay and access the car's settings on the touch screen was to unplug the phone.
Also, not being able to adjust the volume from the front passenger seat meant that I constantly had to ask my wife to turn it up or down from the steering wheel.
In the attached image, there seem to be no buttons except on the steering wheel - not even a knob for volume.
I recently drove a Chinese rental car that had CarPlay but no physical buttons.
The only way to disengage CarPlay and access the car's settings on the touch screen was to unplug the phone.
Also, not being able to adjust the volume from the front passenger seat meant that I constantly had to ask my wife to turn it up or down from the steering wheel.
Android automotive is open to carmakers to tweak so carmakers have the possibility to differentiate itself. Something not possible with a closed CarPlay 2.0 system and that’s why it’s DOA and haven’t seen it come if it ever will. Apple has to loosen up and play nice with others if it wants a foothold in the car business.
One has to wonder these days if the delay is actually the car manufacturers or Apple just not being able to get it done or get it right.
I mean there has to be an impact considering 2024 WWDC Keynote functionality will not be delivered completely until mid 2025. We used to use the term "Vaporware" for this.
I mean there has to be an impact considering 2024 WWDC Keynote functionality will not be delivered completely until mid 2025. We used to use the term "Vaporware" for this.