New Vehicle Owners Largely Satisfied With Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

[pesos]

Love the carplay implementation in my wife's beetle convertible... Touchscreen is very handy.

Hate the carplay implementation in our GLC - no touchscreen and it has some ridiculous bug where it forces re-initialization every time we switch to the other person's phone... and you have to put the car in park to do it.

Digging the carplay in my new i3S - no touchscreen but idrive is usable enough and unlike the other two the implementation is wireless. Very nice!

Wouldn't lease another car without carplay for sure.

 

[djlythium]

Wireless CarPlay exists...

You know what I mean...

 

[StarShot]

I still think there's a way to go with Apple CarPlay. Those who have used Waze a few times will know that you cannot return to Apple Maps.

Not sure what you're saying. I have Apple CarPlay on my new vehicle and don't see anyway to connect it to CarPlay with Waze. At least getting Waze to appear in my car's video screen. That said, Maps works fine and it a lot easier than trying to use the car's GPS system which works fine EXCEPT it's a mystery to load an address into the car's navigation system. I've found this to be true in almost every vehicle I've owned since built-in GPS first appeared.

The other great thing about Car Play is incoming texts which are converted to the clearest voice I've ever heard for audio texts.

Not sure it's true for all CarPlay systems, but my Genesis requires my phone to be cabled to use CarPlay. No BT that I can see. Of course, I've only discovered CarPlay about 2 weeks ago.

 

[StoneJack]

Wireless?

Wireless?!

Wireless!

WIRELESS!

C'mon, Apple!

it is already wireless. Buy an Alpine unit, its wireless. Wired also has good side as charging the phone (which is needy if you use phone's GPS)

 

[woodynorman]

Except now new cars have wireless charging. So, it’s not necessary to plug in the phone to charge it.

Not ALL new cars do. I just bought a new Challenger and it doesn't have it. It will be quite a few years, if ever, that ALL cars will have wireless charging.

 

[PictorGuy]

When driving a rental with Ford Sync, I love CarPlay as an option. The same is true for Jeeps and I wish the Mazda's, Nissans, Infinity, and Hyundai that I've driven had CarPlay. However, when driving cars with more advanced human interfaces, CarPlay really shows it's failures and over reliance on touch screen input which is less than ideal for a driver. Modern BMW's with 8" or 10" screens and HUD will put CarPlay to shame. CarPlay doesn't use the full screen leaving most of the display unused, it cannot make use of the HUD, cannot make use of the touch input device on the iDrive Controller and relies too much on touch screen input which requires eyes off the road. BMW does allow use of Siri AND Dragon Dictation without CarPlay which is useful but on the 2017 and newer BMWs I will fully disable CarPlay every time.

 

[jdawgnoonan]

I wish Apple would work with Google and bring Google's data and intelligence to the Apple Maps UI. Any service that relies on Siri is inferior, and Apple maps relies on Siri. Siri should be abandoned and Google Assistant should replace it. If this were to happen, Apple maps would be dramatically better. Apple maps cannot even sort the locations that it actually knows about (The AI is so bad that it doesn't know about most things) in order by distance. Apple maps often thinks that places I ask it to navigate me to are 1000s of miles away. The system sucks.

Apple is so far behind that it is a pipe dream to think they will ever catch up. Google was better at this stuff in 2010 than Apple is now.

Other than Siri and Apple Maps, I think CarPlay is better than Android Auto. But if I could drop Siri and Apple Maps in CarPlay for Google Maps and Google Assistant I would in a heartbeat. I like iOS and do not plan to go back to Android, but when I have to use Siri for anything I find myself questioning that.

Apple should quit wasting their time on Siri and move to Google. Invest that time into something innovative. Siri is terrible.

 

[_Refurbished_]

With self-driving cars on the horizon, there won’t be a need for either platform - we’ll just use our phones in our car. It will be needless within 5 - 10 years.

Until then, I’m happy with Bluetooth and a mount for Google Maps. I can use my phone, as intended, when safe to do so. While I’m driving I use my steering wheel controls. Just say no to Apple Maps.

 

[Nozuka]

I only use it for long distance driving. It's too much of a hassle to connect it with USB everytime.
I wish the wireless carplay adoption was faster.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Duh!
[doublepost=1523577284][/doublepost]
And another Duh

Oh sorry... I only y knew CP from real life experience, I didn’t know how it is different from let’s say Bluetooth functions offered by the car computer.

Okay, that is rather interesting, and kind of cool that I got the idea that I didn’t get it, haha.

But you got to admit that the interface is altered in such a way that’s giving you the impression that your device is not the same, if you are acting like simple Joe Not Techsavvy? Also, it is stripping your experience to Apple only, with the exception of Spotify, if I am not forgetting another one.

Is support for using an app in the Carplay UI a developer engagement, or is it in co-op with Apple then? Are we to be optimistic about it maturing to a full blown relevant and user oriented experience? I mean, oriented in the way of it becoming a UI that will evolve to a higher satisfaction then we have already?

There are non-Apple apps for CarPlay like Spotify, Pandora, Overcast, and Pocketcast but they have to convince Apple to let their app into CarPlay.

 

[0924487]

Too fenced in, too proprietary

 

[sirozha]

“Here’s what I found on the web for ‘Where is the nearest gas station’.”

I know. Drives me nuts. Never happens to Google Assistant.
[doublepost=1523605901][/doublepost]

Oh really, does Apple Maps warn you about an object on the road ahead, or that traffic is building up? This is a serious question, as I haven't used Apple Maps for car navigation in a long time.

No, it doesn’t. Waze is king in that respect.
[doublepost=1523606063][/doublepost]

Not ALL new cars do. I just bought a new Challenger and it doesn't have it. It will be quite a few years, if ever, that ALL cars will have wireless charging.

Did I say ALL? Not all cars have CarPlay or Android Auto either. You choose your car based on features. This is one of these features. By the way, you may want to check with the manufacturer. Some cars that come without wireless charging can be retrofitted with it, using manufacturer optional part.
[doublepost=1523606428][/doublepost]

I wish Apple would work with Google and bring Google's data and intelligence to the Apple Maps UI. Any service that relies on Siri is inferior, and Apple maps relies on Siri. Siri should be abandoned and Google Assistant should replace it. If this were to happen, Apple maps would be dramatically better. Apple maps cannot even sort the locations that it actually knows about (The AI is so bad that it doesn't know about most things) in order by distance. Apple maps often thinks that places I ask it to navigate me to are 1000s of miles away. The system sucks.

Apple is so far behind that it is a pipe dream to think they will ever catch up. Google was better at this stuff in 2010 than Apple is now.

Other than Siri and Apple Maps, I think CarPlay is better than Android Auto. But if I could drop Siri and Apple Maps in CarPlay for Google Maps and Google Assistant I would in a heartbeat. I like iOS and do not plan to go back to Android, but when I have to use Siri for anything I find myself questioning that.

Apple should quit wasting their time on Siri and move to Google. Invest that time into something innovative. Siri is terrible.

I agree on almost all points except for that Google Maps was better in 2010 than Apple Maps today. If I recall correctly, Google Maps didn’t have turn-by-turn navigation in 2012. I had to use NAVIGON for turn-by-turn on my iPhone in 2012. When people saw in 2012 you could navigate off an iPhone they were amazed. Back then, most people used standalone GPS units. As soon as Google Maps came out with turn-by-turn, that was the end of stand-alone navigation units mounted on dashboard.

 

[OllyW]

The Seat hire car I rented in Spain last week had a CarPlay system. It was easy enough to use but I'm glad I took my TomTom sat nav with me because you couldn't rely on a consistent phone signal while driving in the mountains, which rendered Apple Maps as pretty useless.

 

[sirozha]

Only place my 7 charges is in the car so no hardship, you gotta plug it in somewhere...even when wireless charging hits you have to secure it near the charger...
[doublepost=1523585258][/doublepost]

LOL! Best answer ever!
[doublepost=1523585587][/doublepost]

The phone still has to be secured near the wireless charging point doesn't it? Don't think wireless charging works in your coat pocket on the back seat does it???
[doublepost=1523585688][/doublepost]

LOL I couldn't recall Ohm's law the other day (school has been a while), Siri duly obliged in my case

You don’t navigate when you are in the back seat. In the front, wireless charger is installed in a compartment under the dash where the phone won’t slide, so no reaso to secure it. Wireless charger doesn’t mean contactless charger. The phone has to be in contact with the charging service, but you don’t have to plug a cable into the phone.
[doublepost=1523607134][/doublepost]

The Seat hire car I rented in Spain last week had a CarPlay system. It was easy enough to use but I'm glad I took my TomTom sat nav with me because you couldn't rely on a consistent phone signal while driving in the mountains, which rendered Apple Maps as pretty useless.

Apple Maps and Google Maps normally preload the entire route in the beginning of the trip specifically to be able to navigate when there’s no signal.
[doublepost=1523607301][/doublepost]

With self-driving cars on the horizon, there won’t be a need for either platform - we’ll just use our phones in our car. It will be needless within 5 - 10 years.

Until then, I’m happy with Bluetooth and a mount for Google Maps. I can use my phone, as intended, when safe to do so. While I’m driving I use my steering wheel controls. Just say no to Apple Maps.

This world may not exist in 5 to 10 years, or it may be thrown back centuries, based in the way it’s going.
[doublepost=1523607760][/doublepost]

I've used CarPlay in two different vehicles (OEM in a new rental Prado), and via an aftermarket Kenwood in my daily driver. On both the Siri voice-to-SMS recognition was chalk and cheese from my previous non-Carplay head unit connected via BT using the older Made for iPhone BT technology. Like 20% success rates on SMS dictation became 80-90% (success defined as don't need to re-dictate it on the first attempt). Made me think that maybe the CarPlay noise-cancelling on the mic is better (the actual mic was unchanged as I had moved JVC-Kenwood)...or some pre-processing in the head unit was helping the iPhone out....?
[doublepost=1523585029][/doublepost]

Yet you still end up with a crappy cable running up the dash

Your 12 inch head unit that runs full android takes 30 to 45 seconds to start up. Hence, it’s a major pain because you don’t get the backup camera view unless you sit in the car for a while waiting for the Android Unit to start. Also, you have no internet connection on the unit unless you manually tether it to the iPhone. It’s not a great solution. I’ve researched it for my 2006 Lexus GS, and it’s not worth it IMHO.

 

[Tsuchiya]

I default to CarPlay in my E Class, but it's very hit or miss.

With my iPhone 7 Plus it would frequently crash, or not play audio which is very frustrating when you want to just get in and go. Thankfully it is fine with my iPhone X (generally).

Also either Apple or Mercedes hasn't implemented it very well with the cars controls and screens. The touch pad on my steering wheel is rendered useless when CarPlay is active, the drivers display won't show upcoming navigation turns like the COMAND system does, and the massive infotainment screen won't do split screen to show media/navigation at once.

Finally, only Apple Maps kinda sucks. Would nice to have the option for Google Maps or Waze.

 

[pdmpolishing]

Please Apple, let us use third party navigation apps on CarPlay.

 

[sumsingwong]

Yet you still end up with a crappy cable running up the dash

That's for my radar detector. I could also use Waze if I wanted to warn me of hidden police if someone has already reported it. It can also mirror my iPhone X wirelessly.

 

[Geurt]

I like CarPlay, Apple Maps is not bad in NL and includes realtime traffic by TomTom. I would like Apple to open up a little for third party apps though. It already was my first system of choice in my cat after two weeks of struggling with the internal system.

Is it flawless? No. But it will improve even more in time.

 

[fairuz]

Rented a 2018 Dodge Durango with CarPlay. Can't say I was very impressed. It was kind of a mess, unless I just wanted to listen to Apple apps. A few times it almost caused me to lose control of the vehicle, just trying to do something simple I could do on the iPhone directly with no issues at all.

Same, 0/10 experience in the Chevy Suburban. I gave up and used the aux port instead. This can be something great but has a long way to go.

 

[sumsingwong]

Your 12 inch head unit that runs full android takes 30 to 45 seconds to start up. Hence, it’s a major pain because you don’t get the backup camera view unless you sit in the car for a while waiting for the Android Unit to start. Also, you have no internet connection on the unit unless you manually tether it to the iPhone. It’s not a great solution. I’ve researched it for my 2006 Lexus GS, and it’s not worth it IMHO.

Not sure where you get your info from but I do not have to be tethered in to the headunit to connect to the internet. If you look closely enough, you can see the wifi and bluetooth icons at the very top of the screen that is connected to my phones hotspot automatically. The backup cam works before full bootup.

 

[sumsingwong]

Edit: You've gotta be kidding me - now THAT looks friggin dangerous.

Why would you think it's dangerous? Not sure if you're being sacrastic.

 

[afd]

have Been holding off replacing my Mini until they offered CarPlay. They now have it but are charging £900 for it because you have to get navigation too. I think I’ll wait till the new Fiesta ST comes out. £900 to upgrade a stereo? I don’t think all the Hifis, and speakers in my house add up to £900.

 

[djlythium]

it is already wireless. Buy an Alpine unit, its wireless. Wired also has good side as charging the phone (which is needy if you use phone's GPS)

What I meant was that it should be wireless from the factory, within OEM installs. Whatever the hang up, and I suspect it’s on Apple’s side, it needs to change.

 

[nebo1ss]

Not to mention the price of this ‘option’ in the Volvos and on other cars like BMW. Additional money down the drain if you ask me.

Agree with this assessment. I have a new BMW and CarPlay was an option but the additional cost does not justify the benefit. The navigation and media capability of the vehicle is excellent without spending additional money. There is wireless charging in the vehicle so i just slot the phone in the console and it connects via bluetooth and all music and contacts are available for media and navigation.

 

[_Refurbished_]

You don’t navigate when you are in the back seat. In the front, wireless charger is installed in a compartment under the dash where the phone won’t slide, so no reaso to secure it. Wireless charger doesn’t mean contactless charger. The phone has to be in contact with the charging service, but you don’t have to plug a cable into the phone.
[doublepost=1523607134][/doublepost]
Apple Maps and Google Maps normally preload the entire route in the beginning of the trip specifically to be able to navigate when there’s no signal.
[doublepost=1523607301][/doublepost]
This world may not exist in 5 to 10 years, or it may be thrown back centuries, based in the way it’s going.
[doublepost=1523607760][/doublepost]
Your 12 inch head unit that runs full android takes 30 to 45 seconds to start up. Hence, it’s a major pain because you don’t get the backup camera view unless you sit in the car for a while waiting for the Android Unit to start. Also, you have no internet connection on the unit unless you manually tether it to the iPhone. It’s not a great solution. I’ve researched it for my 2006 Lexus GS, and it’s not worth it IMHO.

Not sure if you’re talking about the status of our world, as in there will be WWIII or if you’re implying that two recent self-driving accidents are an indication that the technology isn’t coming.

If it’s the latter, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Self-driving IS coming. Not really up for debate in my mind, but I can see why people can’t acknowledge this. It’s inevitable.

CarPlay won’t exist in 10 years, I’ll bet the house.