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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 think the future vehicle your looking for is this.
https://www.slate.auto/en

It doesn't even come with a stereo, you have to supply your own Bluetooth speaker.
 
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CarPlay is a deal breaker. It has to be supported and work well. CarPlay Ultra is a shiny thing that would be cool, but that's such small beans it's not even on my shopping list as I start to look for a new car.
 
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Legacy OEM's are so far behind Tesla and Rivian in software they really should heavily consider heavy Apple integration. I saw a Lexus ad on tv yesterday them showing you can find your car in a parking garage when you forget where you parked with their app...that was the entire sales pitch lol. Legacy OEM's are dead in the water without superb software going forward.
My 2022 Tesla M3 Nav/info system operates flawlessly now for 90k miles. Use it everyday.
My 2023 F150's Carplay system is very unreliable. Usually connects wireless or plugged in, but many times it doesn't. Also disconnects randomly during a nav session. The first time it did this I didn't notice for about 10min and left me hanging in a large urban area while pulling a trailer. Not fun.
 
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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?
well CarPlay works consistently for starters, unlike manufacturer UIs that freeze, lag, or break if you just look at them. They're also full of unless gimmicks that serve no purpose. Apple Maps is better at navigation, something car's evidently still can't do. CarPlay also interfaces all your personal data with the car without exposing it to the manufacturer, preserving your privacy from manufacturers itching to harvest it for profit.
 
I’ll take that bet.

Consumers are not gonna be “demanding” that an Apple interface takes over their entire car.
Yeah I really don’t see a reason for people to demand Ultra. CarPlay got popular because it provided maps where OEMs charged a thousand dollars for the option. Then that grew to getting access to media apps that OEMs were unable to match. But does Ultra provide any functionality that’s otherwise unavailable or paywalled?
 
I have so many thoughts where this is leading us.
  • Are we going to get so integrated that I can't drive the car if I forget my phone? At what point is phone integration going to replace keys?
  • If the phone is capturing the GPS data, the infotainment data, plus the car performance data - which apps are capturing that data and what will they do with it? ("According to driving data analysis captured by the State Farm app, drivers accelerate an average of 4.3 mph when "Magic Carpet Ride" is playing." "According to Waze, Drivers who listen to NFL games while driving are 6.73% more likely to miss a GPS directed turn within 92 seconds of their team scoring a touchdown.") Next thing you know, your insurance rate will fluctuate based on what you have on the radio.
  • Apple has experience with data security and preventing hacking attempts on consumer electronics. Ford, not so much. So tell me again why I want my car this connected? You have seen the videos of remote hacks on cars, right? Right?
  • I am so tired of subscriptions and purchases for everything. Prove to me that Apple/car manufacturers aren't eyeballing more subscriptions/fees. ("For a limited time, you can feel what it's like to drive an F1 car. For $5.99 you can download the F1 themed dashboard display today. Just say 'agree'.")
  • And we wonder why car prices keep going up, maintenance costs keep going up, insurance costs keep going up...
I'm starting to wish I still had my '91 Ford F-250 with the AM radio and manual windows. (It had a car phone too, but that's a whole 'nuther discussion...)

edit - typo
 
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Apple has a good thing with CarPlay. They are going to screw it up and ruin partnerships with auto makers because Apple got too greedy.
 
I own a Ford and their Sync 4 software is abysmal! It's slow, unresponsive, buggy and most useful features are locked behind a paywall.

I've barely used it and rely on Car Play as standard. I would welcome Car Play Ultra in a heartbeat in my Focus Estate.
 
well CarPlay works consistently for starters, unlike manufacturer UIs that freeze, lag, or break if you just look at them. They're also full of unless gimmicks that serve no purpose. Apple Maps is better at navigation, something car's evidently still can't do. CarPlay also interfaces all your personal data with the car without exposing it to the manufacturer, preserving your privacy from manufacturers itching to harvest it for profit.
You only have to read the past two pages of comments to find people who have stability issues with CarPlay too. In general, it’s great for me but I’ve had times where it froze up and stopped responding and the only solution is to restart the phone.
 
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.
That has nothing to do with the product and everything to do with people politically grandstanding. Mountains of quality software is required even if you have a lot of physical buttons. The screens aren’t going away.
 
I don’t necessarily think CarPlay Ultra is the solution, but software in vehicles is overall bad. Increasingly, our vehicles are becoming computers with wheels, but with what appears to be little effort to create a good and reliable UI/UX. Locking down the software to limit customer choice is not a good way forward.
In my brief time with Tesla,a model y, I thought the software was probably the best I’ve interacted with but it’s another walled garden. No option to download a podcast player of my choice or even use CarPlay. I’m supposed to trust auto pilot but can’t be trusted to choose the way I’ll interact with the only screen in the car. SMH
 
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Locking down the software to limit customer choice is not a good way forward.

Agreed ... and I definitely want nothing to do with Apple in this space (beyond CarPlay as it already is) for exactly this reason.

The company fighting worldwide jurisdictions to defend their ludicrous "30% of everything" cut on iOS is exactly who I don't want running my car OS.
 
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I actually get the CEO's point, it makes sense. The counterpoint is that these companies are very slow when it comes to making progress on their internal systems, and their internal systems tend to be horrifically bad. So nobody wins.
 
I'm with those that would rather Apple focus on making existing CarPlay more robust and unobtrusive and really good at the functions the phone is well suited for (phone, messaging, streamed music/podcasts, maps, etc.), and leave the rest to auto manufacturers.

It's a multi-ton vehicle I'm responsible for when I'm driving, not a "phone with wheels".
 
well CarPlay works consistently for starters, unlike manufacturer UIs that freeze, lag, or break if you just look at them. They're also full of unless gimmicks that serve no purpose. Apple Maps is better at navigation, something car's evidently still can't do. CarPlay also interfaces all your personal data with the car without exposing it to the manufacturer, preserving your privacy from manufacturers itching to harvest it for profit.
I used CarPlay for years on my '21 Outback. CarPlay is not glitch free but in generally works really well. I agree maping is better than most cars. I would not trade my Tesla Google Maps and UI for CarPlay. There does seem to be more of a focus on the UI in the fancier cars with multi displays, though no experience with them to say how well they run. All in all it is pretty basic stuff, if Tesla can do it and have the basic apps for music, audiobooks and other things then really any of the other manufactures should be able to do it as well.
 
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