GM Says It's Nixing CarPlay to Make Drivers Safer

[joejoe2000]

When I sold my Tesla and got a vehicle with CarPlay, I thought it would be an acceptable move.

Gawd, do I miss the Tesla UI.

I'll be curious to see what GM comes up with, but based on their track record, they will product something crappy.

Just sayin' that coming from a system that works really, really well (especially voice-rec), CarPlay was a disappointment.

 

[baruch]

Earlier this year, General Motors (GM) announced plans to phase out Apple's CarPlay and Android Auto in its future electric vehicles, with the company instead relying on an infotainment system co-developed with Google. This has not been a popular decision with iPhone users, and today, GM provided some additional insight into the decision in a discussion with MotorTrend.

According to Tim Babbitt, GM's head of product for infotainment, GM has driver safety in mind. CarPlay and Android Auto can have issues like bad connections, slow response times, compatibility issues, and connectivity problems, leading drivers to be distracted from the road with smartphone troubleshooting.

Babbitt claims that drivers will be less likely to pick up their phones with a built-in system that does not rely on a service like CarPlay, leading to improved safety on the road. GM does not have any data to prove that an infotainment system is less distracting than CarPlay, nor has it done any testing.

Babbitt cited J.D. Power data suggesting issues with CarPlay and Android Auto are common complaints from vehicle owners, with customers often blaming the vehicle manufacturer rather than Apple or Google.

The infotainment system that GM plans to adopt instead of CarPlay will have integrated Google apps, including Google Maps and Google Assistant for voice commands, rather than a third-party navigation system. As MotorTrend points out, eliminating CarPlay will provide GM with more control over driver data, and it will allow GM to offer subscription services and apps that allow for purchases of food, gas, and other sundries.

Back in August, GM said that choosing not to offer CarPlay would give it more information about charge state information to assist with navigation routing and provide a better user experience.

CarPlay will be eliminated in electric vehicles under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands. Combustion vehicles from GM will continue to support CarPlay until they are phased out in favor of an all-electric lineup in 2035.

Update: In a statement to MacRumors, GM said the following:


Article Link: GM Says It's Nixing CarPlay to Make Drivers Safer

Do the folks at GM think people will actually believe their BS? This is about one thing, money. Humans and their greed...pretty pathetic.

 

[Tagbert]

LOL is apple's carplay licensing fees that expensive?

LOL, there are no licensing fees for CarPlay .

This is all about GM wanting to control more, get more subscription money, and collect (and probably sell) customer data.

 

[Tagbert]

Who controls the media and software of the car is a HUGE deal, as it is a very central component of the user experience of owning and using a car.

As a result, it's natural that car companies don't want to hang over control of such a key piece to another company - especially one like Apple who has been rumored for years to be building a car of their own.

Owning the entire tech stack is hugely important strategically, which is why "late comers" like Tesla and Rivien can move so quickly: they own their own software.

However, it may not matter what car companies want if the users demand CarPlay or the Android equivalent.

Millions of users are already used to having all the media, contacts, etc from their phones available without having to log in, connect to anything, learn a new interface, or be restricted to one mapping service.

They will be loathe to go back to the world of car manufacturer owned media centers.

In a sense, it's damned if you do and damned if you don't for car manufacturers. Now we just get to see who gets damned the fastest - and my money is on GM.

And yet, they have bought the main OS software from Google. That is the base OS, not the phone streaming software. GM is not really in full control.

Including CarPlay does not mean that the car manufacturer gives us control to Apple. We are not asking them to use the new all inclusive CarPlay that Apple teased last year. I don’t expect any manufacturer to take them up on that. What we want is for them to continue to allow us to stream our phone apps to the car to bring in personalizations. With the new, larger screens it won’t even take over the whole screen. CarPlay will just be one panel inside the larger display.

 

[Tagbert]

I always found it odd that carplay notifies that you have a message but won’t show you the message. I always want to pickup the phone to see the message.

If you tap on the notice, it will read the message to you. After, it will ask if you want to reply and you can do so with voice. Reply with voice only makes sense for short messages like “I’ll call you when I’m done driving”.

 

[Tagbert]

I can definitely see what they're saying, I have issues with my iPhone at times with CarPlay as well while driving leading me to pick up my iPhone disconnect it and plugging back in, sometimes even powering off and on, and I do feel like I'm risking it especially when I'm on the highway. I'm guessing the statistics are showing that CarPlay is just really bad for drivers. The Built-in system seems like a good idea but your only option is to use Google apps at the moment.

You may have a bad USB port on the car or a bad cable. And some vehicle manufacturers aren’t good at software. Most people don’t have connection problems with CarPlay. It works well. If I were having connection problems I wouldn’t try to troubleshoot while driving. I’d just wait until I stopped to try to reconnect. It’s not critical enough to take that risk.

 

[Hammer73]

That's like telling people their favorite dishwasher is not longer supported in future Ikea kitchens... No Swede will but as dumb as GM is about this. I don't understand that car makers think it's not a deciding factor what phones are supported natively in their vehicles...

 

[Tagbert]

GM is making money hand-over-fist. They can afford to dump Apple.
CarPlay was an added expense for GM as well as for the consumer…it’s a win-win.

What added expense? There are no fees for CarPlay. Nor for Android Auto which GM is also blocking. Certainly no expenses for the consumer. Not sure what you have been smoking.

 

[bollman]

CarPlay sux, have no interest. It sure is distracting when I've tried it, will not be missed.

So, I recieved a lot of negatives for this. People who find CarPlay amaaaaazing, what cars are you using it in? I mean, sure, if it's in an aftermarket head unit bc your car is old, or if it's in a car from around 2014-2015 when it was released then it is probably better than what is built in.
Have you looked at modern car navigation and setups? Look at Audi, BMW, Merc, heck, even Volvo. The built in navigations/entertainment are so far beyond limited carplay I see no reason to use it. Integration with headup displays, instrument cluster and generally the car is not something I'd like to miss out on.

 

[Tagbert]

I've tried it numerous times. Every time, I've just disconnected the phone and used bluetooth for audio due to carplay being difficult to use, way too difficult. You have to really look at the screen to do anything. A well designed built-in system with connection to HUD and Main instrument is way easier to use.
CarPlay is designed for a screen in landscape mode. How many cars have that anymore? Every car copies Tesla and uses portrait mode. Then carplay is just displayed on part of the screen which makes it tiny and difficult to use.

Some cars, like BMW and MAzda, have a dial control to moves from element to element on the CarPlay screen. A car with button controls can interact with CarPlay. My car has a play/pause button and skip forward/back buttons. Those work with CarPlay where relevent.

Most of the things that you might need to do with CarPlay while actually driving are done with quick taps on large buttons. It’s not hard to use for those kinds of things.

In most cars with a portrait screen, the screen is quite large. Putting CarPlay in one section of the screen does not make it to small to use. With the larger screens found in more cars recently, you can have CarPlay showing in one section of the screen and other car controls in the rest.

 

[jaytv111]

So, I recieved a lot of negatives for this. People who find CarPlay amaaaaazing, what cars are you using it in? I mean, sure, if it's in an aftermarket head unit bc your car is old, or if it's in a car from around 2014-2015 when it was released then it is probably better than what is built in.
Have you looked at modern car navigation and setups? Look at Audi, BMW, Merc, heck, even Volvo. The built in navigations/entertainment are so far beyond limited carplay I see no reason to use it. Integration with headup displays, instrument cluster and generally the car is not something I'd like to miss out on.

I think the thing is most of the pro-Carplay people are not against built-in infotainment being good. It’s just about choice, you want Carplay it should be there if you use it, and if you don’t, cool, you use the built in system. And Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, they have Carplay, pretty good implementations, even.

What Carplay offers is just the simplicity: no syncing, no logging into the car, no car subscription and data connection, just your phone. Where this has the biggest benefit is when you use multiple cars, across different makes, or rental cars especially.

And in fairness, where Carplay fails is in, as you say, integration, secondary screens, car controls like HVAC. But funny enough they’ve had secondary screens in Carplay for years, BMW supports it, but no one else does that I know of. And similarly, the EV routing feature is in Ford EVs (the routing feature is it predicts battery charge and routes accordingly). And it’s possible to control car functions, Porsche has this, but no one else does. Seems to be a theme, you can’t even get all these features in one car.

What is supposed to fix this is the new Carplay, it basically requires secondary screen support (if you have a secondary screen I think Apple will force car makers to allow Carplay to use it, to be certified on the new Carplay), it supports the Car functions, it probably will require EV routing for EVs (for gas cars they have a gas gauge along with the other gauges). But, the new Carplay seems to be MIA too. Supposed to have cars announced “late 2023”, well 2023’s over in 2 weeks and change. So yeah, looking like it’s delayed, for how long who knows. Probably not going to make its way to too many cars.

So I guess we’re stuck with the status quo on Carplay, the old experience will reign supreme for years to come.

And that’s okay, is Carplay perfect, no, but is it good for what it does, yes, and it’s just an alternative. I don’t hear anyone saying cars should have no built in maps. But I get it too that car makers might feel slighted, they put all this money into developing infotainment and you’re just going to use Carplay all the time, ouchie.

 

[bollman]

And that’s okay, is Carplay perfect, no, but is it good for what it does, yes, and it’s just an alternative. I don’t hear anyone saying cars should have no built in maps. But I get it too that car makers might feel slighted, they put all this money into developing infotainment and you’re just going to use Carplay all the time, ouchie.

Short quote to just give heads-up

Yes, you are right on many points. What I see is that more manufacturer may go the GM-way and nix CarPlay if Apple keep pushing. Manufacturers will have to make their own systems since not everyone on earth have an iPhone.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Short quote to just give heads-up

Yes, you are right on many points. What I see is that more manufacturer may go the GM-way and nix CarPlay if Apple keep pushing. Manufacturers will have to make their own systems since not everyone on earth have an iPhone.

GM is reported to be using Google AAOS, I don't understand the reporting as Apple Carplay works on AAOS. Renault had it for ages. Polestar activated it last summer, and Apple Carplay works across both the center screen, and maps are also displayed in the binnacle (hence it took a little bit longer to integrate the multi-screen features of Apple Carplay).

What there isn't is Android Auto itself. If GM is truly using AAOS it will have Carplay available, how deep the integration is across multiple screens may be a different story.

 

[Tito360]

Luckily, it has been decades since I'd even consider a car from GM. If I were to buy American, it's Ford. Otherwise, I'm all in on Toyota.

No parts of any car are made in America there just assembled now

 

[gank41]

GM is reported to be using Google AAOS, I don't understand the reporting as Apple Carplay works on AAOS. Renault had it for ages. Polestar activated it last summer, and Apple Carplay works across both the center screen, and maps are also displayed in the binnacle (hence it took a little bit longer to integrate the multi-screen features of Apple Carplay).

What there isn't is Android Auto itself. If GM is truly using AAOS it will have Carplay available, how deep the integration is across multiple screens may be a different story.

Whether it is capable of working and will be made available to work are two different things.

 

[Balooba]

This is the dumbest decision by a car manufacturer in the history of decisions by car manufacturers. It’s so obviously a blatant way of wanting subscription fees and google kickbacks at the expense of user experience, and privacy. And having customers pay for it all with their money and personal data.

I will vote with my wallet and boycott GM. There cars aren’t that great anyway.

 

[butcherbird]

I'm surprised car manufacturers haven't already done this. Tesla has its own software and charges us an annual fee for the car's connectivity. If I really want to use my iPhone, I have to use Bluetooth -- not very complicated.

 

[liberte1776]

Buffoon move by GM! No wonder this is another reason I will not buy an EV!!!

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Me, in my new GM car with no CarPlay or Android Auto, looking at the driver in the car next to me staring at the phone in their hand while they've not noticed the light is green and is still sitting there.

So, I recieved a lot of negatives for this. People who find CarPlay amaaaaazing, what cars are you using it in? I mean, sure, if it's in an aftermarket head unit bc your car is old, or if it's in a car from around 2014-2015 when it was released then it is probably better than what is built in.
Have you looked at modern car navigation and setups? Look at Audi, BMW, Merc, heck, even Volvo. The built in navigations/entertainment are so far beyond limited carplay I see no reason to use it. Integration with headup displays, instrument cluster and generally the car is not something I'd like to miss out on.

No, I haven't and probably the majority of people who use CarPlay now haven't because we don't have $70,000+ for a new Audi, BMW, Mercedes or Volvo. You're a bit out of touch with most people.

 

[gank41]

No, I haven't and probably the majority of people who use CarPlay now haven't because we don't have $70,000+ for a new Audi, BMW, Mercedes or Volvo. You're a bit out of touch with most people.

Exactly, I could get two of my fully loaded Impalas for the cost one one of those cars...

 

[theonekcrow]

If it is because of safety, then why does this apply to EVs only? Wouldn’t it be safer to remove it from your gas powered vehicles too?

I’d make the argument that they are after our data… and they are to a degree. But at the same time the same logic still applies. Why the EVs only?

 

[BornAgainMac]

From this point on, if I purchased a car without CarPlay then I would just put in an after market one. When I purchase a new car, I want that CarPlay that covers the entire dash that I saw a few years ago at the Developer's keynote.

 

[MNGR]

They're removing Android Auto also, which should worry anyone who'd ever noticed how long an Android device gets updates for. Best thing about either phone mirroring platform is that you aren't stuck with whatever shipped at the time the car was released.

I wonder if the EU will add GM to the list of companies it will sue..

 

[MNGR]

Is there a way to delete (not just disable) CarPlay from a car? I would not want it in a car.

Huh? You have manually connect CP for it to work... So just don't do it if you a one of the few who do not want it..
As for me, no CP-->no sale..

 

[MNGR]

I really wish Apple would go further with their do not disturb whilst driving feature. IMO your phone should lock you out completely if it knows you’re driving (ie using CarPlay or maps)

There must be a way to make this a reality. I know it can be an issue for passengers, maybe they could force you to do a more complicated tap gesture or something to unlock.

So you don't want to change the music or stations? Disable navigation?