Good for you, but I would guess you are the 1% that feel that way. My CarPlay in my 2017 vehicle works 99.9% of the time and the console display is no more distracting than reading a billboard or looking at the millions of things that are going on around you while driving.
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These Apple CarPlay Ultra Partners Now Say They Won't Support It
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600 million?! Population of the US is 340 million….?Not one of those 600 million US drivers, way too much distraction already let alone a full dash experience.
My ONLY issue with CarPlay is that I have to leave the interface to access local settings like AC and radio. Integrate that stuff, and start there. That’s what I really want.
The other stuff is nice like a more unified experience and just a more modern look. I have a 2 year old car, but the interface looks brighter but not much different than cars from a decade ago. But I could live without it.
The other stuff is nice like a more unified experience and just a more modern look. I have a 2 year old car, but the interface looks brighter but not much different than cars from a decade ago. But I could live without it.
CarPlay is the most consistent software from Apple right now. tvOS being the most inconsistent and flawed.
Why would car manufacturers want a third-party company running their dashboard?
Car manufacturer software is the absolute industry worst but it remains under their control. CarPlay as it exists today is filling those terrible gaps in car manufacture software.
2023 Ford Explorer’s dash and climate controls are a totally minimalist design, very few buttons. CarPlay supplies the rest. Couldn’t have asked for more from a car manufacturer.
Why would car manufacturers want a third-party company running their dashboard?
Car manufacturer software is the absolute industry worst but it remains under their control. CarPlay as it exists today is filling those terrible gaps in car manufacture software.
2023 Ford Explorer’s dash and climate controls are a totally minimalist design, very few buttons. CarPlay supplies the rest. Couldn’t have asked for more from a car manufacturer.
What I really want is actual, physical, knobs to control my AC. Not buttons, not touch-controls, not voice-controls. Knobs.
My '19 VW still has them. Holding out for an EV with knobs.
I MUCH prefer physical buttons for AC. I have a 2025 vehicle, and the instrument cluster looks nothing like cars from a decade ago (since as mentioned it uses a 12.3" screen for that), but still has physical climate control buttons.
BTW, I put a widget in CarPlay for my local news station that goes to its online news stream, and if I'm playing that but then select the Spotify widget to switch to that, CarPlay plays BOTH at the same time. Thanks CarPlay!
To be fair, CarPlay ultra is very unusual for Apple. Everytime they’ve tried to be the brains of someone else’s hardware it’s kind of failed. I think they did the HP audio player back in the day?
I think at the heart of it is Apple are way too opinionated design / functionality wise to partner with any hardware company in a deep way. Whereas Microsoft/Google are those type of companies. They are more b2b whereas Apple is really about the end consumer. Which is an obstacle to doing business with companies that want to own their relationship with their customers.
I think this is going to fizzle out. Apple should augment CarPlay with basic things like aircon controls but that’s about it.
I think at the heart of it is Apple are way too opinionated design / functionality wise to partner with any hardware company in a deep way. Whereas Microsoft/Google are those type of companies. They are more b2b whereas Apple is really about the end consumer. Which is an obstacle to doing business with companies that want to own their relationship with their customers.
I think this is going to fizzle out. Apple should augment CarPlay with basic things like aircon controls but that’s about it.
I agree. Intrusive to the automobile companies that want to make easy money from selling you services.
I agree. Just look at cameras. The very popular mirrorless models were basically all screen at one point, now they have similar dials, buttons and rings as old film rangefinders, although implemented in a modern and customisable way. I think cars will go the same way.
It’s intrusive because now that everything is all screens in car, manufacturers need to express their “brand identity” in different ways. The instrument cluster used to be a very important piece of industrial design to create some sort of emotional connection between driver and car. Now it’s all screens and so the pictures on those screens are aimed at doing the same thing. If they’re too generic, or if the driver has the option to make them too generic, I can see how certain car manufacturers wouldn’t like that.
Which features, exclusive to CarPlay Ultra, would be something auto companies would sell as a service?
"CarPlay Ultra expands to include the instrument cluster, customizable gauges, and control over various vehicle systems like climate and radio" (from Google AI).
Is there any car maker that charges extra for an instrument cluster, and the ability to adjust climate and radio?
I agree with this. I ended up with a rental Mercedes last year. The car was wonderful to drive, but it took a good 5-10 minutes of reading through the manual to figure out the UI. Most cars I can figure it out in under a minute without checking the manual.
I mean it sounds cool, but imagine you're a car maker and now Apple wants you to run their software on your entire car. First thing you'd be worried about is whether they will support your features, display the things you want to display, etc. Now you have a whole new powerful company involved with your car that will constantly provide software updates, features, UI overhauls that you have no control over. Eventually you'll run into an issue where Apple tells you it's your fault for not implementing their thing properly but you're convinced it's Apple's fault, so now users have a non-functional feature and no one knows whose fault it is. So I can see why they're so reluctant.
There's a growing backlash now to excess screens in cars. It was cool when Tesla did that years ago, but now lots of people are saying that physical buttons/knobs are better than going through all the menus just to adjust the A/C.
Personally, I think that too many screens has ruined the aesthetics of many car interiors. Especially Mercedes, which has screens that basically look like a Wal-mart tablet bolted on. It's just lazy design and all of that will look super dated/obsolete in only 5 years.
My vote is for a reasonably sized screen for navigation and handling Apple Music/Spotify. That's 99% of what people actually use CarPlay for.
Personally, I think that too many screens has ruined the aesthetics of many car interiors. Especially Mercedes, which has screens that basically look like a Wal-mart tablet bolted on. It's just lazy design and all of that will look super dated/obsolete in only 5 years.
My vote is for a reasonably sized screen for navigation and handling Apple Music/Spotify. That's 99% of what people actually use CarPlay for.
Are you saying cars won't have their own instrument clusters and that an iPhone is required to get a speedometer?
Time for the governmental stance on competition being vital to cut both ways, this time in Apple's favour.
A damn sight more frequently than they do - CarPlay tends to get annual changes. Many cars stop getting OTA updates after three years, and ones from the dealer at a service require payment. Also, major OS upgrades are almost always locked behind new models of car.
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The car companies are like "We're good. We really prefer for our in car tech to stay five years behind everything else."
"And while we're at it, we're going to keep shipping cars with USB-A."
"And OTA updates? Nah. Bring your car into the dealer and for $1,000 we'll update that software for you. Once every two years."
"And while we're at it, we're going to keep shipping cars with USB-A."
"And OTA updates? Nah. Bring your car into the dealer and for $1,000 we'll update that software for you. Once every two years."
Many automakers are already digitalizing their dashboards more.
The newer Honda & Toyota vehicles are examples of that.
The new 2026 CRV is moving some features from the center console info screen to the driver's console screen which is now digital instead of the mixed console in the 2025, which I have.
It's my first time using Carplay which is nice. Just set and listen to my music or audiobooks while I drive, with the occasional GPS use.
Not everything needs to be included in the driver's side dashboard, just the basics like the speedometer and either odometer (gas) or energy gauge (hybrids/EVs) information. Darn Honda didn't include EFTPS!
The new 2026 RAV4 is similar but has now moved the physical HVAC buttons into digital buttons In the center info screen. Many commenters in the various Toyota boards don't like that.
Apparently, those automakers are putting in tech for tech sake and making it for the newer, younger generations of auto buyers.
Now Apple wants to include Carplay Ultra with its OS/display?
Also, In-car subscription services are just too much, as there's too many other subscription services everywhere.
The automakers should just stick with building cars, hopefully making them (more) reliable and fuel efficient and fun to drive. Drivers don't need any more distractions as they need to concentrate on driving instead of playing with the consoles while driving!
The newer Honda & Toyota vehicles are examples of that.
The new 2026 CRV is moving some features from the center console info screen to the driver's console screen which is now digital instead of the mixed console in the 2025, which I have.
It's my first time using Carplay which is nice. Just set and listen to my music or audiobooks while I drive, with the occasional GPS use.
Not everything needs to be included in the driver's side dashboard, just the basics like the speedometer and either odometer (gas) or energy gauge (hybrids/EVs) information. Darn Honda didn't include EFTPS!
The new 2026 RAV4 is similar but has now moved the physical HVAC buttons into digital buttons In the center info screen. Many commenters in the various Toyota boards don't like that.
Apparently, those automakers are putting in tech for tech sake and making it for the newer, younger generations of auto buyers.
Now Apple wants to include Carplay Ultra with its OS/display?
Also, In-car subscription services are just too much, as there's too many other subscription services everywhere.
The automakers should just stick with building cars, hopefully making them (more) reliable and fuel efficient and fun to drive. Drivers don't need any more distractions as they need to concentrate on driving instead of playing with the consoles while driving!
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