A big gamble by General Motors (GM) is causing consternation for its dealers in the all-important race to sell cars — namely electric vehicles.
Volvo has shown that CarPlay is easily integrated into Android Automotive as an app. I have no idea why GM would alienate so many potential customers by not doing the same.
Integrating Android Auto into Android Automotive is even easier than CarPlay, and GM is dropping it as well. It’s quite literally a built-in feature of Android Automotive that has to be actively removed.
(Just to keep the distinction clear: Android Automotive == A Google Android-based interface for car infotainment, Android Auto == An API for projecting your phone screen and relevant apps to an infotainment display)
It’s 100% about extracting revenue from customers by forcing them to use the manufacturer’s infotainment ecosystem and charge for recurring subscriptions to things your phone will do for free (and in an actually upgradeable manner).
Isn’t it basically just a video stream from the phone with a return stream of tap inputs? How the hell is that hard to implement?
Iirc, it’s been said that the reason for them to ditch CarPlay is so that they can add their own infotainment system where they can charge for subscriptions.
It’s not a technological problem, it’s a “we want to extract every penny out of our customers” problem.
Well that’s one way to make sure I never buy a car. If the car does not have Apple CarPlay and the android equivalent I literally won’t buy it. Given if it’s too old to have that technology that’s one thing, then I will still look at it, but if it’s new or newer… yeah no.
For slightly older cars without those features, it’s often simple to replace the radio head unit with an aftermarket one that has them, and a larger screen, and capability to add a reverse camera if you don’t have one.
GM thinks they’ll be able to make an in-house software better than CarPlay and Android Auto… I hope I can eat this words and they make it happen, but seeing the whole car industry trying to change their 100+ years way, has been entertaining.
It’s going to be subscription service. And no way can GM beat Apple or Android at a car interface. This just means I’ll never buy another Chevy again.
GM thinks they’ll be able to make an in-house software better than CarPlay and Android Auto…
Not at all. They think they can make something cheaper that customers will suck it up and endure. This is all about not paying licensing fees. People need to vote with their wallets.
I can’t speak for the licensing costs of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, I have no idea what they are.
But I do work in the automotive industry as an engineer. The sentiment is very much that it’s about getting customer subscriptions and customer data, to build recurring revenue streams that wouldn’t be possible if people are able to just use their phone and its apps on their infotainment display.
GM at least I know is sticking to Android Automotive, which is built by Google and they pay for anyway. Android Auto and Carplay are just additional functionality built on top of Android Automotive (the naming is bad - Android Automotive is the Google Android-based OS for car displays, Android Auto is the projection tech/api), they’re quite literally removing existing features on a product they’re already paying for.
I highly doubt Google is giving them a huge discount to cut those features, and if they are getting any it’s dwarfed by how much they want to make through subscription services to use your car.
Subscription fees are part of this but I think the direct pipeline to the customer data is a bigger factor.
They should be. I sure as hell won’t buy any car that lacks CarPlay.
GM doesn’t have the expertise to pull this off.
This is the like software on TVs. No thank you to software that doesn’t see an update after a year and only support some of the most common apps, but yes thank you for Android and Apple TV.
Meanwhile Porsche are developing an even tighter integration allowing you to control parts of the car through the CarPlay interface.
Most manufacturers have apps for managing customer relationships (servicing, vehicle features etc). I’m surprised more manufacturers have not created CarPlay/Android Auto interfaces for these Apps.
Porsche also refused to enable Android Auto on their vehicles for a very long time because Google were making outrageous demands for vehicle telemetry information as part of licensing agreements.
Porsche also refused to enable Android Auto on their vehicles for a very long time because Google were making outrageous demands for vehicle telemetry information as part of licensing agreements.
Did google or Porsche cave in?
Google changed their policy. Porsche consider their vehicle telemetry to be Trade Secret. Porsche also considered that the demographic of customers that deliberately chose Android instead of IOS and wanted to use an in-car interface were not worth the effort.
They have also rolled out CarPlay to most historical vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz original foray into CarPlay was restricted to certain In-Car Entertainment systems, that were only fitted to certain models. They also had issues with Android Auto licensing early on. Early variants could be configured for Android Auto or CarPlay, but not both. This was fixed in a software update about the same time that Porsche resolved their issues with Google.
I can understand why auto manufacturers don’t want to implement Android Auto/Apple CarPlay into their vehicles — namely licensing costs.
But I have never been a fan of auto manufacturer specific infotainment systems. Clunky. App integration and connection usually flaky. Poor support after 1-2 years.
Usually just end up defaulting to an AUX cord and using my phone for road entertainment.
In the history of capitalism, the only way that a paid service has become successful over a free service has been to create greater value. GM software engineers vs Apple and Android software engineers? Everyone can see where this is going.
This is equivalent of trying to sell a modern TV without support for any smart apps. FOR AN EXTRA CHARGE. Pisses me off that taxpayers will once again have to bail out the failed shitshow that will be a GM backruptcy.
My parents retired from GM, and get a discount on vehicles I can use. So sign me up for a 2024 Chevy Blazer EV. Wait, what? No CarPlay?
We are enjoying our 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 very much, thanks for asking. We especially enjoy the CarPlay integration. :-) It has been disappointing watching GM, year after year, get to the five yard line and then fumble.
Man, I’ve driven a Chevy most my life and it makes me a little sad that I’m going to have to switch for my next car.
My next car will have enhanced CarPlay with the new customization features. Not like an American car brand will be missed anyway.
I guess GM have determined that they will come out ahead by losing potential customers with this move but making more money by going the nickel and dime, subscription service route for the customers they manage to keep.
I suspect they’re wrong.
So they’re throwing their customers under their vehicles for a new subscription model to bleed them dry even more?
Disclaimer, I have a Tesla and pay for the internet connectivity, for YouTube and Netflix and such, however I never pay for a subscription for any of the basic car functions, and the built in navigation and updates are good enough that I don’t really miss CarPlay (much).
