My experience with regular CarPlay has been so horrendous in how unreliable it is, I'm with Ford. Apple can go take a hike, I don't want it touching my gauges. When buying my current vehicle, CarPlay support was a must-have. My next vehicle is likely not to even support it, and I won't miss it.
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Ford CEO Provides Update on CarPlay Ultra
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How does CP-ultra connect to the car? Having the phone control critical car UI seems like a poor solution. I share my car with my wife. If I drive, it will use my Phone. If I decide to let her drive and I'm the passenger, what happens? Will my phone auto-connect and show my personal UI? And then if she drops me off and keeps the car does the UI change to her settings? Just seems awkward.
Android Automotive is leaps and bound better for UI but also manufacturer integration.
Let’s all pray apple figures out that an apple car was the real path forward… if you build it we will come!
Which is why it'll be DOA for most all manufacturers ultimately.
Apple should have made CarPlay Ultra be more like Android Automotive: built completely into the car, no phone required. If you have an iPhone, you get some extra integrations, but it could also work with Android phones with Bluetooth.
My GM EV has no CarPlay, just Android Automotive. I prefer the look and app selection of CarPlay, but Android Automotive works very well and doesn't depend on a phone. Ideally, I'd want a car that has both, but GM is only letting you do that in ICE vehicles and the Cadillac Lyriq EV, which makes no sense to me.
My GM EV has no CarPlay, just Android Automotive. I prefer the look and app selection of CarPlay, but Android Automotive works very well and doesn't depend on a phone. Ideally, I'd want a car that has both, but GM is only letting you do that in ICE vehicles and the Cadillac Lyriq EV, which makes no sense to me.
Apple just needs to focus on the regular CarPlay because it seems like a majority of these car manufacturers don't want Apple to fully control the experience. On top of that, most of them want to create their own software so customers will have to pay premium to get it. It all feels like they are putting dollars before the user experience...which I totally get...
I really like the idea of CarPlay Ultra, but it still feels timid. Apple’s pitching it as the future of car integration, but to me it doesn’t go far enough. My phone (whether Apple or whatever) shouldn’t just project apps, it should be my driver profile.
When I unlock a car with my phone, it should instantly know it’s me. Seat, mirrors, steering feel, driving mode, AV presets everything set up exactly the way I left it. If I drive multiple cars, or switch between city and off-road use, my phone should hold all those profiles and hand them off seamlessly. The car should be dumb hardware that molds itself to my stored preferences.
Where CarPlay Ultra really falls short is in the ownership experience. Why can’t I see my driving history the way I see my runs in Fitness? Why not average cost per mile for each vehicle? Why not service reminders tied directly into my Reminders app? If I look up an address on my phone, it should tell me whether I’ll need gas or a charge in each of my vehicles. Or, heresy, I know, actual diagnostic codes sent to and stored on my phone, with timestamps and environmental data (outside temp, engine temps, speed, altitude, conditions, etc...) tagged to the event.
Auto makers need to stop designing a unique interface for every brand and model and year combination and accept that some people prefer a consistent experience across brands, models, and years. It’s the same reason people plug an Apple TV into an LG (or any brand) display that already has the same apps, they don’t want to relearn how to use a TV every time they replace one or use a different one.
Imagine sitting down in a rental car and it instantly knows you’re 6’2” and like your cabin ice-cold. Imagine not hunting for the gas cap release or digging through menus just to find your remaining range.
This doesn’t mean ditching physical controls. You should always be able to drive without a phone. But if I do have my phone, the car should recognize me and tailor itself around me.
When I unlock a car with my phone, it should instantly know it’s me. Seat, mirrors, steering feel, driving mode, AV presets everything set up exactly the way I left it. If I drive multiple cars, or switch between city and off-road use, my phone should hold all those profiles and hand them off seamlessly. The car should be dumb hardware that molds itself to my stored preferences.
Where CarPlay Ultra really falls short is in the ownership experience. Why can’t I see my driving history the way I see my runs in Fitness? Why not average cost per mile for each vehicle? Why not service reminders tied directly into my Reminders app? If I look up an address on my phone, it should tell me whether I’ll need gas or a charge in each of my vehicles. Or, heresy, I know, actual diagnostic codes sent to and stored on my phone, with timestamps and environmental data (outside temp, engine temps, speed, altitude, conditions, etc...) tagged to the event.
Auto makers need to stop designing a unique interface for every brand and model and year combination and accept that some people prefer a consistent experience across brands, models, and years. It’s the same reason people plug an Apple TV into an LG (or any brand) display that already has the same apps, they don’t want to relearn how to use a TV every time they replace one or use a different one.
Imagine sitting down in a rental car and it instantly knows you’re 6’2” and like your cabin ice-cold. Imagine not hunting for the gas cap release or digging through menus just to find your remaining range.
This doesn’t mean ditching physical controls. You should always be able to drive without a phone. But if I do have my phone, the car should recognize me and tailor itself around me.
I'm honestly over CarPlay at this point. I drive a 2025 GMC and their integration with all things Google is far superior in my opinion. I can use car play if I want but most of the time I don't.
Although Apple's SW might be miles ahead of what car manufacturers can produce, the Ford CEOs point is valid - there is obvious value in the integration of the entertainment system with the car's own safety and driver assistance systems
The irony here is that Apple is usually on the side of vertical integration where they control the HW and SW, so the CarPlay situation presents an odd situation for Apple - how to have control of the UX without owning the HW?
The irony here is that Apple is usually on the side of vertical integration where they control the HW and SW, so the CarPlay situation presents an odd situation for Apple - how to have control of the UX without owning the HW?
What you're describing is the promise of total vertical integration of SW and HW. Since Apple doesn't control the HW in cars, for once they cannot be the ones to offer the integration.
Perhaps down the line we will see the OS-ification of cars around a few SW platforms like we have in computers and phones, but until then, the dream you have seems like a practical impossibility in today's fragmented OEM based car market.
Not that they've given out many details, but I'm pretty sure this is exactly how CarPlay Ultra works. It will be a framework that automakers can use to build out their own infotainment systems, that isn't entirely dependent on having an iPhone. Android is just so far ahead of the game at this point.
Volvo uses some version of Google's system and it's fine. Certainly better than the old locked-in systems that never get upgraded. And regular CarPlay works just fine within the Android system to integrate your iPhone.
Agreed. I very much wish my car supported CarPlay, but I don't love the idea of having *everything* in the car be CarPlay, or whatever trashy "brand experience" the auto manufacturer cobbles together, for that matter. Having my iPhone available via the center console would be great. Everything else should be physical and analog.
People here are probably going to laugh, but I'm increasingly convinced that at some point soon, there's going to be a market opening for a car manufacturer—assuming it's not one of the mainstream ones—to offer a cheap, mostly analog model that has a USB port for music and that's about it.
I really don't hate technology, or even CarPlay. I love my iPhone. I just don't want to drive in something crammed with upsells, subscription models, and brand-engagement garbage.
I don't want all of my car's controls on a touch screen. While it may look slick (Tesla), it is impractical and dangerous. The last thing we need driver's doing is tapping around to find the temperature slider on-screen. Aren't we working to get people's off their phones and on the road? Instead, we're giving them a larger phone?
I drive a '25 Toyota Tundra. They really nailed it with the ratio of controls on-screen vs. physical buttons/paddles. With wireless CarPlay, I get all the info I need on -screen: Maps and Music. All other controls, like temperature, are all physical buttons/paddles.
I can understand why it's adoption has been lukewarm.
I drive a '25 Toyota Tundra. They really nailed it with the ratio of controls on-screen vs. physical buttons/paddles. With wireless CarPlay, I get all the info I need on -screen: Maps and Music. All other controls, like temperature, are all physical buttons/paddles.
I can understand why it's adoption has been lukewarm.
I'm pretty sure with CarPlay Ultra, you need to have an iPhone in order for it to work. Without an iPhone, you just get the default OEM interface. With Android Automotive, it is the default OEM interface, with no phone required. Manufacturers love it because it pushes people towards paying for a data plan through them instead of just using the data your already paying for on your phone.
Android Automotive works fine, I just prefer the Apple design of CarPlay. Also, I find some of the on screen controls in Android Automotive are too small or not as well thought out as CarPlay is.
Ahead how? They just do the same thing with a sometimes better UI. I generally like Apple's design language but I do find their CarPlay Ultra to feel and look pretty basic. Is Apple actually adding anything that the car cannot do already?
That is not how CarPlay Ultra works. It's still a projection layer, whereas Android Automotive is a full blown independent operating system that does not need a phone to work. CarPlay Ultra does reach deeper into the car's non-infotainment computers for things like speed/tach, transmission mode, climate controls, locks, etc., which is customized by the actual carmaker, but it still requires an iPhone to be present to operate whereas Android Automotive requires no phone at all.
Have you seen the latest sales figures? At least in Europe, the legacy carsmakers EV sells quite well as opposed to Tesla and Rivian. In fact, people want physical controls back and not more software...I agree. It´s a car not a phone.
Very happy to see the EU mandating a return to physical controls for many functions.
It's flat out a safety issue.
I spent 3 years stationed in Germany and I ws not all that impressed with German vehicles. BMW, Mercedes, and VW are the German equivalent of Chrysler, Ford and GM in the USA. I saw plenty of junker BMW, Mercedes, and VW cars going down the autobahn that were in as bad of shape as American jalopies here.
On topic, I don't mind how CarPlay is currently implemented with the Ford SYNC 4 system. I would not have a problem with CarPlay Ultra as long as I have a choice to go back to the standard Carply if I want to.
I’ll take that bet.
Consumers are not gonna be “demanding” that an Apple interface takes over their entire car.