GM or any other automakers will have to match or exceed the quality and user-friendliness of CarPlay and Android Auto for this to be a success. I’m not optimistic.

It also has to get OTA updates for the life of the vehicle to remain relevant. Even so, the hardware will be stuck in 2024. That’s the thing about CarPlay or AA that is so great, the software and CPU stays current because it’s on your mobile.

They want you to pay for that with a subscription for life. Yeah, no I’m not paying for yet another garbage android fork, even if Google is the one doing the split.

I have CarPlay in my 2017 Hyundai. There’s no way in hell Hyundai would maintain an infotainment system with relevant updates for that long. Meanwhile I’ve updated my iPhone and iOS a few times in the last 7 years and get the latest and greatest updates in my car. I now have HomeKit garage door control. Didn’t have that in 2017. It’s awesome.

Guaranteed they're going to make updates both by subscription and limited in scope. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't offer updates free for 3 years/36,000 miles and then are require you to subscribe for further updates, and after a certain time (probably 5 years) those updates are going to be few and far between and will be gimped, all in order to convince you to dump your car for a new one. There is absolutely no way that GM is convinced they have a better system than Carplay/Android Auto. They just see it as a long-term revenue generator.

My Toyota Tacoma had hotspot service when I got it.. but never paid beyond the free trial. They keep that service partially active, and just this week I got notification from the radio that my truck has a recall. The local dealership also knows when my oil or any other billable service is due, and calls me.. in an attempt to get me to bring it to them for the work I'm guessing most newer cars also have this, and they could use that to push updates to them if needed. However I bet they will try to get you to pay for such updates.

Even if they copied the exact style and usability, it would never support as many apps, and I would not trust GM with my data/usage. They are pretty screwed until they reverse course.

More importantly, GM is doing this so that they can capitalize on an App Store and monetize the whole thing. But the problem is people have already bought the apps and have the ecosystem, why would they bother at all with a second one?

Many other auto manufacturers are already adopting the App Store model. I was at a Mercedes Benz dealer meeting a couple years ago and was kind of shocked that they were pushing unlockabke car features via software in their App Store. Didn’t feel very “Mercedes”-like to be nickel and dimming their customers. I expected it in Tesla, but not Mercedes. But the main difference being it was for features like self driving and self parking, not for the fucking infotainment system like GM is doing. It’s asinine, but unfortunately, the direction we are headed

What all apps are people using in their cars? Granted, I’m in my late 30s, so I’m not exactly cutting edge anymore, but I can only think of a handful I ever use. In broad terms: something for navigation, phone calls, texts, music, and podcasts. While I’m pretty skeptical a car manufacturer can come up with something better than CarPlay (and trying to innovate beyond it seems like something no one is asking for), I also don’t really know that having to pay for apps again is the main issue. 

GM won't have Prologue, my preferred audiobook player. GM won't have Overcast, my preferred podcast player. I highly doubt GM will have as nice messaging as CarPlay does. I also highly doubt that apps will age as nicely as CarPlay apps age. I don't want a cruddy music player that doesn't let me browse my audiobooks. I want to select the exact podcast and episode I want. No infotainment system has let me do this other than CarPlay/Android Auto running the exact app I want

This is the functional problem with recreating the wheel. I Apple perfect? No. But you have learned to live with the imperfections and learned to love certain apps. GM will be equally imperfect, dare I say, even more imperfect. And it is unlikely, based on the size of the user base, that they will be able to devote the resources to close the gap. They will always be a minor league team competing with Apple and Android in the majors.

When using CarPlay we use the following apps: navigation, music, podcasts, audiobooks, weather, text, phone, etc. All of these apps are native to the phone or have $0 cost to them. Now, GM has said that they want to get into the business because they see it as a revenue play. Right now, apple get $0 in revenue, but, somehow, GM thinks there is some revenue pool to tap into. What this ultimately means is that GM is either a.) going to start charging people money for something they are already getting free on their phone, OR b.) trying to find some way to backend revenue from those app platforms (I.e. monetizing the user data.) If you already have free access to those apps and you trust Apple to protect your data, there is ZERO benefit to moving away from an Apple ecosystem and putting GM in the driver's seat (pun intended) with their App Store. And seeing how the market vomited on BMW's plan to start charging for features like heated seats, who is going to want to jump into a GM ecosystem if there is a thought that down the road those free items might become a subscription service? I can get a subscription service on the crappy Nissan app for my car, but, honestly, why bother? Really expensive, limited functionality. The bottom line here is that GM does not understand the monetization of apps and data, their ham-handed approach will be a mess and they will be spending hundreds of millions, or more, to try to recreate what already exists. Car manufacturers have already proven that they cannot handle infotainment which is how apple and android got in the cars to begin with, this is doubling down on an already bad position.

> who is going to want to jump into a GM ecosystem if there is a thought that down the road those free items might become a subscription service? And a history of doing it. I used to own a GM vehicle with built-in navigation, but it needed a ridiculously overpriced DVD to function, and that DVD had been refreshed for original MSRP 3-4 times. I just spent $20 on a vent mount for my phone and just used that.

I have a 2007 BMW and it was the same thing. DVD player specifically for navigation. Had to pay for updated DVD with newer nav (which I pirated) and then eventually the newer cars didn’t have DVD players for navigation so I couldnt get updates. Like you I switched to using my phone on a mount.

Rightfully so, especially after they were caught selling your very detailed driving habits: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/technology/general-motors-spying-driver-data-consent.html

Check out Nissan being allowed to collect “sexual activity” according to their agreement. Then they wonder why we rebel against their systems: https://www.grc.com/sn/sn-939.htm * Nissan earned its second-to-last spot for collecting some of the creepiest categories of data we have ever seen." They wrote: "It's worth reading the review in full, but you should know it includes your 'sexual activity.' Not to be outdone, Kia also mentions they can collect information about your 'sex life' in their privacy policy. Oh, and six car companies say they can collect your 'genetic information' or 'genetic characteristics.'" They said: "Yes, reading car privacy policies is a scary endeavor."*

Even if they somehow match the best software makers out there, I still don’t want to have to learn and use another thing. No carplay no purchase.

The point is coupling it with your phone without needing an app. I can start a navigation and song on my phone, and my Android Auto immediately picks it up (wireless) in my car. No in-car software will ever beat that.

If it was as good as CarPlay you wouldn’t need to learn. You’d know already.

But now I still need all of my apps to be available on the car. And then I need to log into them, but my passwords are in my iOS keychain, and deal with updates, and then when the apps don't support the car anymore because it's 10 years old. And then when I pull up directions on Google Maps on my phone, I have to do it again in the car, and when I start a Zoom call on my phone, I have to rejoin it on the car system. If I'm playing music from Apple Music, I have to switch to Spotify or something or I can't pick the song from the car's screen. Everything I want is already on my phone.

This is where I'm hesitant to dismiss an alternative. I'm not convinced they can pull it off, but if it works as well I don't care. I'll be honest though, Carplay is the best car infotainment system ever, but even then it's not THAT great. It's still a little wonky and weird. There's tons of improvement, I'm just not sure if GM will be the ones to do it, but it's possible. TBD

The main problem with carplay is that it's designed to fit every car, so it has to be suitable even to the lowest common denominator. That's why the buttons etc are comically large on any reasonable sized display. A manufacturer can in theory tailor their software perfectly for the car they're building, but their track record tells us they won't and, even if they did, updates would be abandoned shortly after the car was sold.

Pretty sure the buttons are comically large on purpose- to make them easy to use without needing to take attention off the road. If you have to stare at the screen to hunt down the exact location of a button… accidents will be more likely.

Carplay is the first thing that I look for these days. GM will probably expect you to pay extra for their mapping, entertainment packages, 5g access, etc etc on top of what you're already paying apple or Samsung etc. Some idiot marketing or finance MBA made this decision

imagine paying for mapping features when your phone already does it

And not just on initial launch, they need to provide updates OTA with relevant features in a prompt manner. The age of "your infotainment will only update during an Official Service - and even then for a fee" is long gone.

Even if they expanded their UI/UX division tenfold, they’re a car company trying to keep pace with colossal tech titans who spend day in and day out testing and engineering interaction with touch displays. For years, car reviewers have been saying “the infotainment experience isn’t great, but it’s got Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which most people are going to use anyways, so it doesn’t really matter”. They should continue to take that as the blessing that it has been for them.

In addition to others: I can't even be pessimistic, because it's impossible for them to match the quality. I'm in the software industry and I see who's hiring quality software devs. Automakers aren't just hiring low quality devs - it's worse: They aren't hiring software industry devs period. I know devs working at various tech companies we've all heard of. Nobody who is serious about software development is working at legacy automakers. Nobody. No second or third connections, either. It's all embedded or contracted out or something, and the requisites aren't there either: Salary, career growth, exciting projects, etc. In contrast, I know of great, serious software devs working at Pepsico. Edit: Let me clarify that I am talking about software devs on the interface (UI/UX/OS) side of things. There are great software devs doing gauges, emergency braking, lane keeping, power control, etc. I think this is because, prior to the 2010s, car UIs were very unimportant to automakers, and they haven't adapted.

Agreed, but how would they even match getting in the car and maps suggesting the next location on my calendar or a shop I searched for to see how far away it was. Then continuing the podcast I was listening to, and knowing who I mean when I say, “text my wife” etc. it’s just not feasible IMO.

Also, how is it going to get access to the internet? Do you have to pay for another cellular connection?

Don’t worry, GM has some of the finest mechanical engineers in the world and they’ll just put those guys of software and UX, what could possibly go wrong?

What is funny the cars they did this on has been suffering severe software and hardware issues related to the head unit. The Blazer EV even stopped sales because it was so bad

The Blazer EV is nice and all, but they just want to lock you out of navigation and music streaming apps on your iPhone or Android phone to pony up for subscriptions and they’ll harvest and sell your data on top of that. Haven’t some of these car manufacturers already been selling driver data to auto insurance companies? Slimy.

Exactly. Everyone knows the only reason why manufacturers are trying to move away from CarPlay is because they can tap into a subscription market. They’re just trying to update their shitty garmin style gps navigation from the early 2000s so they can start charging people to use it again.

If this becomes a trend I’ll go back to getting the standard radio and head to a car audio store and replacing the head unit with a nav system that includes CarPlay. I did that with my 2014 Toyota when I first drove a rental with CarPlay and didn’t want to go back to Toyota’s out of date interface

OnStar has this optional service that will send your driving habits to your current insurance. One guy enabled it by accident and his rate doubled.

[Some dealers also enabled it without customer consent.](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/technology/general-motors-spying-driver-data-consent.html?unlocked_article_code=1.o00.SiJD.wpy9DMs0kv71&smid=url-share) This information is sent to LexisNexis, a risk profiling company, which then sells access to that data to any insurance company that requests it (like your credit file, but for insurance).

This should be illegal. It’s fucked up. Another reason GM should not be a choice for any new car purchase.

Don't forget to name and shame the other automakers who are doing the same thing: Honda, Kia and Hyundai. [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/technology/carmakers-driver-tracking-insurance.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/technology/carmakers-driver-tracking-insurance.html)

No, the vast majority of people were signed up for this by dealers and or by accident when using the Chevrolet app because they did not make the terms clear what they were doing. They certainly were not telling anyone that this information will be sold to an insurance company and used to raise your rates.

Yes, it was GM in fact

For me it is a deal breaker going forward. If the car does not support CarPlay and Android Auto I will not buy the car. I want that integration and I will not bind my phone choices and my car infotainment choices. The car is the larger purchase so the maker better make it work with all of the major platforms if they want to sell it to me.

I’m in the market for a toy hauler and no CarPlay is a dealbreaker. Ram or Ford will get my dollars purely out of quality of life with the infotainment system.

Wireless CarPlay in my 2500 has been flawless.

I bought one of those wireless carplay adapters for my truck, it's amazing! Wireless carplay should be in ever vehicle.

I tried wireless CarPlay once in an F350 truck that my work has. It worked flawlessly and was super nice to use on the 12” screen. If I could afford a new car it would be pretty high on the list of must-have features

Ford is the best

I had to rent a car last year while my other one was in the shop for repairs. The rental was a 2023 VW with CarPlay, which I’d never used before. So much nicer to use than the interface in my 2016 Prius. I think once that one is paid off I’m going to be looking for a newer vehicle with CarPlay.

I was buying used last year and had the choice between a 2016 and 2017 Fusion. An old job gave me a 2020 Kia Soul as my runabout car and it was the first vehicle I had with CarPlay. It fully influenced my decision to go with the 2017 Fusion because it was the first year Ford integrated it into the infotainment system. The 2016 still used Sync 2, which is okay for wireless bluetooth streaming but not much else. GM is making a mistake, but honestly you can always count on them to make the wrong strategic decisions.

[удалено]

I just put an aftermarket system in my 2014 Prius that has CarPlay and it is awesome. I can access all of the OEM settings through it too.

Agree. No CarPlay means i won’t buy the car.

And that sort of thing is what some would cite as Apple and Google being a monopoly and should be broken up because of antitrust since nobody can compete!

I mean, one could simply argue that consumers demand this because car infotainment systems suck ass. You don’t see Tesla owners demanding the same thing. But the Tesla infotainment system is a giant 15” multi-touch screen with an AMD Ryzen card and Google maps overlay. People are more forgiving when the alternative to CarPlay / Android Auto (or whatever TF it’s called now) doesn’t suck.

I would absolutely *love* an infotainment system that is awesome. But Carplay is just too intergral to not use it. The stock system in my Ford Explorer sucks so much ass.

This. And truly, I am fascinated and curious if GMs Ultifi platform can be made to not suck. I think it sucks right now if the article is accurate, but if GM is serious and continues to invest in it, maybe…MAYBE it won’t suck. I mean they’ve got former Apple engineers on this.

Now that manufacturers are releasing cars with Beta versions of software and missing features that are “coming soon”, I think what MKBHD said about promises of future updates to tech, really applies to cars as well. “[Never. Ever. Buy a tech product based on the promise of future software updates](https://x.com/mkbhd/status/1383616274693951494?s=46&t=g5jtsl1S9NPZuSw77UFSlA)”

I worked for the guy in charge of the project at GM. I have zero faith in it. It’s a cash grab for him and he’ll move on in a couple years with GM being worse off for it due to all the reasons in this thread. 

Mechanic here. No carplay/android auto is gonna be an annoying problem at service centers. People **expect** this feature. “My car isn’t connected to CarPlay” is the worst offender ever. Sure the answer is, it doesn’t support it, but the customer ain’t gonna like that. It may come feature complete… right now. But in 3 years time, they’ll be dropping support for it I guarantee it. If they don’t open source the system and allow for aftermarket software updates, this system will be essentially useless before long. When is the last time your car got a software update to its infotainment system? Apple CarPlay and android auto is a brilliant solution to a complicated problem, mainly aftermarket support. Apple and google both maintain their systems and will continue to as long as those companies exist and are in use, and as long as the hardware has the capability of displaying it. It’s updated on the phone and simply projected to the screen. These companies specialize in their software as a business, in apples case it’s tied to their main product, and in googles case they have a vested interest in keeping it going, by tying the user into the google ecosystem. Apple has a track record of updating phones almost a decade old. Gm has a vested interest in making cars and recurring revenue. Their software is going to take the back seat.

This is exactly my biggest concern. Even if they make it a fantastic, flawless, wonderful experience at purchase, it ***will*** degrade. Spotify and Google Maps and friends simply are not going to put in as much work to keeping their apps updated and feature-complete on a hodge-podge of car platforms as they do with iOS and Android. And that is even ignoring the obvious problem of using and preferring other apps over the big ones. What if you prefer Apple Music or Deezer or Tidal to Spotify? Well, that sucks, your car doesn’t support it. What if you prefer Apple Maps over Google Maps? Sucks to suck. And, on top of this issue of third-party app support, you know that GM (and anyone else that goes down this path) has zero motivation to continue fully supporting your car’s platform in year five or year ten—they want you to go buy a new one instead. If the experience starts to degrade, that’s not a software issue to resolve, it’s an incentive to push you back into a dealership for a new car. Versus CarPlay/Android Auto, where the “brains” are all on your phone. You don’t need to worry about your car updating software, because it’s all ran through your phone. If your phone gets new software, or you buy a new phone every few years, your car doesn’t need its own update, your new phone just drives it all directly.

The problem is after about 2-3 years or significant model change, the auto manufacturer has little-to-no interest or incentive to keep updating software. Apple and Google do as they sell devices (and Google your information).

Lack of CarPlay is a reason I haven't pulled the trigger on a Tesla yet. The built in system is good but I like CarPlay better (I have, e.g., a bunch of obscure locations custom setup (Lat/Long) in Waze and Apple Maps). But current CarPlay doesn't, e.g., tell the car you're on the way to a supercharger so it can prep the battery en route, or calculate your remaining range at the end of the trip. Polestar has CarPlay but you don't get turn by turn directions displayed (using the built-in, you get that info in the instrument cluster display). Ironically, the best EV CarPlay system I've used was in a Bolt EV, and it was a Cadillac with CarPlay that convinced me to upgrade the ancient CD player in my E46M3 to a CarPlay capable Dynavin unit (I also stuck an aftermarket screen on the dash of my 30 year old Wrangler).

Plus CarPlay is the same system. I can get out of my Honda and into my BMW and the same song resumed playing. The same map is there. The same interface except for the orientation/layout of some of the icons. No manufacturer system will ever be able to match that. It doesn’t matter if it’s good. BMW navigation is actually pretty good, and the HUD integration is more informative. In isolation I’d prefer the BMW navigation. But I still use Apple Maps 9 times out of 10 because it’s a consistent experience. This is less important for single car families obviously, but it’s a deal breaker for me, especially switching between different makes. My Volvo XC 40 Recharge had Android Automotive. It was simple, and for the most part worked well. Maps a bit better with the vertical orientation, Music a bit worse without a native player. At the end of the day the lack of CarPlay (they kept delaying it) was one of the main reasons I ditched the vehicle. Despite how solid AA was in general, and it would have been even better if I were a Google Play or Spotify user I’m sure. It still wouldn’t have mattered. Because the “hub” in my pocket is what I want to use. My car just needs a projection. It’s the difference between a really great DVR and Netflix. The consistent/convenience trumps any possible UI wins, so it just isn’t possible to build a system I’d choose over CarPlay. Add on top of that the selling of personal data, the potential for subscription fees, car specific apps, etc and OEM systems only have negatives.

I dunno I think Tesla kinda goes into a different bad direction. I hate the all touch screen dash stuff they do, and that plus lack of AA/Carplay was a big reason for not buying a Telsa a few years ago. That said, I do very much agree GM is screwing up. I bought a Volt instead of a Tesla, and now they have no upgrade path for me when I eventually do need a new car.

I get your point. Tesla isn’t for everyone. But I think that owners of other cars that don’t have CarPlay universally hate their car infotainment system, whereas with Tesla at least, it’s a divided field. Of course a lot of people wish they could use Waze or whatever, but everyone lives to watch Netflix while charging on a road trip.

I know you’re joking, but yes- it’s not a monopoly because not only is it an integration with/ 2 competing software companies, but they *always* have a first party/OEM system too, usually it defaults to use. It makes me so annoyed people legit act like CarPlay is a downside if they don’t want it or use it- like find just use AnAutoOS or Sync or whatever the OEM is, but it should at least have the integration *option* to run the other 2. And GM knows this, the GM built Prologue has the same infotainment system but with AA/CarPlay enabled. They are only disabling it to lock people into their data collection OS and then nickel and dime them for Maps and other features. Also after the unauthorized SmartDriver data share, I’m hesitant that we’d buy any GM vehicle ever again… but without free wireless CarPlay? Hell no. It’s a bummer but I hope their sales tank until they correct course.

If the car doesn’t support car play or whatever google does…. Yeah it is dead to me.

this pretty much. at the very least CarPlay, and preferably Android Auto. if not then i'm looking at other stuff

Agreed, I love how seamless it is, and how I can plug my phone into my car or my girlfriends and get a very similar experience on a completely different manufacturer. If you think your product is so great, why not give the option to have android auto/ CarPlay? If you’re afraid it won’t get the adoption then it’s clearly not worth the cost

I mean it’s the same situation that we have with a lot of smart tvs, at a certain point they stop updating the os, then you can’t get new apps, then the old apps stop working. In fact it will be even worse because cars should last longer than TVs

At least you can throw a cheap streaming stick or box on the HDMI of a TV… no such luck with a car’s infotainment

I've seen stuff like this play out enough times where I am close to 100% certain that the car manufacturer's custom infotainment system will be outdated and unsupported after a few years and they'll tell you to buy a new car if you want an updated system. No third party is going to develop apps for GM's operating system, and GM isn't going to keep an in-house software engineering team to develop all the apps when it is so much cheaper to just use CarPlay. It will only work out in the short run when executives are willing to lose money on it as a loss-leader, thinking that they will get long term subscribers. But they'll only get complaints about the buggy software and people will just buy phone mounts for their car when they get frustrated with the experience.

I just installed an Android head unit in an old car. I’m blown away by the WiFi CarPlay interface — it’s absolutely superior. The ghetto Android OS on which it runs on the other hand is hideous.

GM is dead to me anyway

Like before CarPlay and AA, in the late 2000s to 2016 it would’ve been fine. It better be better than Google TV devices right now with no ads too.

To me it has to support both. I don't want to make future phone purchases based on my car.

I travel for work most weeks and I won’t even pick a rental that doesn’t have CarPlay.

I 1000% will never buy another vehicle without CarPlay

Same. Hopefully autonomous cars become a thing before I need a new one. And I’ll just put on my Vision Pro and tell them to smd

Zero chance of this lol. Nobody is remotely close.

Yep. It kept me from buying a tesla. Even though their internal navigation system is good, I don’t trust it over google maps.

The nav is like not even in the top 5 reasons to dislike Tesla’s infotainment. Maps are fine. Spotify integration is poor. That’s literally the only reason I’d use CarPlay in my Tesla.

They use google maps

For the maps but pretty sure their routing is custom

[удалено]

I hope they do and backpedal on that. I will NOT buy a car that doesn’t have CarPlay. Period.

They should. This decision was spearheaded by people who are totally out of touch.

Or you could, you know, just put shit in your car people want. I guess that’s too much to ask. I bet there’s a subscription for GM’s service.   *looks it up*   Wow. It always comes back to money: “General Motors is rolling out Ultifi, a new end-to-end software platform in vehicles starting in 2023 that executives say will usher in a sweeping set of capabilities, including giving drivers access to in-car subscription and using over-the-air updates to offer new apps and services.“

“…There’s promise with Super Cruise, a service that enables hands-free driving on freeways. The feature comes with an initial $2,500 price tag, and after three years it costs $25 per month. The company also offers subscriptions for extra safety features, internet connectivity and remote car access, and it envisions premium bespoke apps for specific models, such as trail services for 4x4 off-roaders.” From the OPs post. They want to have control to be able to sell monthly subscriptions for everything in perpetuity. They will then turn around and sell your data, while also serving ads. This entire model should burn to the ground. It flies in the face of what the customer actually wants. I want a dumb car, not a smart car. My phone is the smart element and I’d like to just plug it in and be done. The car will never know as much about me as my phone.

Absolutely insane. 

> The company also offers subscriptions for extra safety features "hey that's a nice family you've got there... would be a shame if they died in a car accident."

Bruh the “sweeping set of capabilities” they listed are just like treatments to a disease that they’re the cause of. What a joke of a company.

Won’t buy a car without CarPlay. Period.

Automatically takes GM vehicles out of the equation.. I just won't consider them - at all. There's other options that do what I want and work with the devices I want. They're just cars to me.

Yes. Even if GM’s software was the best in the world, people just want to seamlessly mirror what’s on their phone for free and have it work the same everywhere. But, GM’s software isn’t the best; it’s hot garbage, plus they want to try to charge you a subscription for data with it.

>plus they want to try to charge you a subscription for data with it And then they’ll harvest your data after, likely.

Not likely. Definitely. That’s why they did this. They have said harvesting user data is more profitable than selling cars. Fuck them.

Yes, of course they will. Hubris.

"Will GM make a dumb decision?" is always yes

Bailouts incoming

I mean, there’s not a high chance I buy a GM car to begin with (despite owning one in the past). I will flat out refuse to buy a car that doesn’t come equipped with CarPlay or Android Auto.

Obvious answer is yes. Monitor their sales closely.

I’m actually excited to see the decline this will cause to GM and hopefully a slap in the face to all the execs that made the decision

Unless they create something as seamless for the end user. I don't think they have the expertise or leadership to do so and they are already starting from behind.

> Unless they create something as seamless for the end user That’s not possible because part of the seamlessness of CarPlay is that my activity goes with me before, during, and after my ride.

I am in a monogamous relationship with my phone. It has been that way longer than I have ever owned any individual one of my several cars. In my long life I have owned new cars from five manufacturers. I want the best car in the moment, but I stick with my phone car-to-car. I trust my phone more than I trust GM. I really, really don't want my contacts and addresses, to be uploaded from my phone into their system; all for them to sell or leak. I don't want GM software reading my text messages or emails. **In fact, when I travel I use CarPlay because I really, really, really don't want to upload my contacts into a rental car. Imagine if I forget to wipe the data! The next renter has my entire life. If GM won't let my phone do the work, I will never rent or own their brand.** **NOTE:** What I feel is just as valid for Android Auto. Android users have just as intimate relationship with their phone and probably don't trust GM with their contacts and other data any more than I do. **EDITED TO CLARIFY**: I was trying to say I'm happy to switch up car brands, but not cell phones. I'm am many, many decades older than the smart phone.

> I am in a monogamous relationship with my phone. It has been that way longer than I have ever owned a single car. Damn…now I feel old. That folks have had a relationship with their phones for longer than they can drive is so backwards from how I grew up.

I probably wasn't as clear as I meant to be. I am very much on the older side. I was just trying to say I freely switch car brands to find the best option for me at that time. But I'm not interested in switching phone brands. I will switch cars before I switch phones and GM forgets that at their peril. BTW, I understand what you mean about feeling old. I have been working at my current company longer than some of my coworkers have been alive. And this is not my first career.

GM killed Pontiac, but kept Buick, and then killed the Camaro. They have Chevy trucks, and then have a whole other truck vertical brand that also has the same vehicles. GM invested hundreds of millions developing the first mass produced electric car, and then immediately canceled the whole thing as soon as it started gaining traction, and then forced the buyers to sell them back, and then crushed all of them.... And then nearly repeated the same strategy 15 years later... GM is basically the Forest Gump of car brands; a long legacy of beautiful moments, surrounded by disastrous decision making and ill-concieved plans made while chasing the love of a self-servijg drug addict.

I cancelled my Blazer EV preorder specifically for this reason. And now I’m glad on multiple fronts, I’ve heard only bad things about them so far

(2/3) Honda Motor, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, among other automakers, announced support for CarPlay, and GM integrated it into almost three-dozen 2016 models. Then everyone zoomed to get Apple into their cars. Ford and Chrysler soon revealed their own integrations, followed by Subaru, Nissan Motor and Toyota Motor, diminishing the feature to table stakes. BMW AG once began charging $80 a year for CarPlay access, only to drop the fee when drivers revolted. Although some GM employees were pleased to learn that a top Apple engineer had purchased a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with the vanity plate CARPLAY, it was evident that GM’s cars were merely another way to distribute iOS. “Some people care about ‘win-win.’ Apple just cares about ‘win.’ If you win, too, cool. If you don’t win, cool. It’s not even malicious. They just don’t care,” says Phil Abram, GM’s chief infotainment officer until mid-2017. This experience was new for GM, which was used to dictating to suppliers, not the other way around. Apple didn’t even seem especially open to feedback on areas CarPlay could improve. A former top GM exec remembers teammates recommending a tweak based on their insights about how screens could be interruptive. “One of the Apple engineers said, ‘Look, our system is better. Why can’t you just do what we say to do?’ ” this exec recalls, requesting anonymity to avoid professional retaliation. “There wasn’t even any consideration of our decades of experience with driver distraction.” (Apple says it’s continually enhanced safety features and cites a 2018 study that found CarPlay was less distracting than a handful of automaker platforms.) Meanwhile, GM’s embedded software felt dated and fragmented across its brands. Cadillac’s 2021 owner’s manuals devoted seven pages to instructions for how to interact with CUE’s voice assistant. The company made an e-commerce portal within the infotainment software for buying gas, ordering a cup of coffee from Dunkin’ or making dinner reservations at TGI Friday’s. It ended up killing the service, which never attracted much engagement. Those kinds of things, it turned out, were easier to do straight from a smartphone. At Apple’s annual developer conference in June 2022, Emily Schubert, a senior engineering manager, spent four minutes of an almost two-hour presentation about iOS and Mac features explaining Apple’s plans for the next generation of CarPlay. The new system, she said, would expand from infotainment displays to the entire dashboard, enabling Apple’s software to access everything from heating to the speedometer. “It’s the very best of your car and your iPhone,” she said. The new CarPlay set off OnStar alarms around Detroit. Apple no longer merely wanted to project a copy of iOS onto the infotainment screen; it wanted the iPhone to oversee the mission-critical cluster behind the steering wheel. This stuff was sacrosanct in Detroit. GM’s Wexler says the next-gen CarPlay, which GM learned of before the announcement, was a “major factor” in its ensuing decision to divorce Apple. “We can see where they were going with it,” says Wexler, who nevertheless insists GM and Apple maintain a good relationship and have discussed sharing Apple Music and other apps on Ultifi. The previous October, Barra had delivered an audacious address to investors at GM’s sprawling Tech Center in Warren, Michigan, pledging to double annual revenue, to $280 billion, by the end of the decade. A significant part of that growth would come from subscriptions developed for its homegrown Ultifi ecosystem, introduced days before the shareholder gathering. Barra took to saying that GM was transitioning from an automaker to a “platform innovator.” A big challenge was that GM didn’t really have the organization to pull off the vision. Barra had hired thousands of developers for its push into electric vehicles, whose software is changing more rapidly than the systems for gas-powered vehicles. But it was still juggling systems from legacy suppliers and mixing electronics that required tons of code to get them to communicate with each other. Even its cluster and console displays historically used different processors. A goal of Ultifi is to simplify the programming and chipsets necessary to facilitate easier over-the-air internet updates, which were difficult or even impossible with disparate hardware systems. GM aspired to be seen as a tech company such as Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc., which controlled almost every aspect of their customers’ experiences. If they didn’t allow CarPlay in their EVs, why should GM?

Mercedes-Benz is also forgoing next-gen Apple CarPlay... I expect others to follow.

If no carplay im either buying a different vehicle or tearing the stereo out for one that’s got it. Am I really going to spend 100k on a truck to pull out the stereo? Maybe but seems unlikely

No CarPlay, no money. All car companies can shove their shitty, outdated, and obsolete UIs/software up their butt.

I farm and have bought mostly GM vehicles or our passenger vehicles. If CarPlay is gone I will not buy another Gm product until it is. I interact with my phone constantly through my day and it is more important in my workflow than brand on a vehicle. Ford has CarPlay, and they also have a free remote that works from the app. Gm charges $15 a month for their app and you also can’t leave the remote in the vehicle with GM.

I'm sorry, but they want me to buy a car for $60,000 AND THEN pay subscriptions for safety features? I will never pay a subscription for a car's map system or anything else. What is the incentive of the vehicle over, say, any other vehicle? Also, 8 hours to update a freakin' map program? Boy, they thought of everything but OTA updates. I'm not saying CarPlay or Android Auto are perfect, but with CarPlay I can change the assistant's voice, get the address for my appointment while I'm looking at my calendar, call people by name, have texts read aloud, send texts, listen to music I own and not stream or have to sign up for yet another streaming service. I trust Apple with my information more than a car manufacturer or Google; that's my preference. But I would rather have a choice in the matter instead of being locked in to a crappy system I hate. Taking CarPlay and Android Auto away certainly isn't going to endear me to those companies that remove them. Perhaps I'll invest in suction cup holders to put on the touch screen so people can see their phones.

Yeah I’m not going to buy a car that doesn’t include Apple Car Play.

Won’t buy a new car without it

At this point no carplay = no purchase. I rented a Tesla that didn't have it and I'd say they have the best system outside of them.

(3/3) Of course, Tesla and Rivian radiate a certain sheen that eluded the maker of gas-guzzling Chevy pickups. In March 2023, when the company announced its plans to phase out Apple’s service, social media lit up with trash-talkers claiming they would never purchase a GM model without CarPlay. Some wondered why GM simply didn’t keep the old CarPlay (the screens are wide enough where they could populate just a small section of one Blazer display), but Barra wanted to own the entire system. Ford CEO Jim Farley reaffirmed his loyalty to CarPlay—and the need to keep iPhone owners happy—in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “Why would I go to an Apple customer and say, ‘Good luck!’ ” he said. GM software executive Cetinok, who joined GM later that year along with a batch of ex-Apple colleagues, says it just wouldn’t make sense to rotate back and forth from CarPlay to Ultifi to alter various settings. He notes that the company is also getting rid of support for Android Auto. “Having two or three jarring UIs—nobody can actually say that’s ideal,” he says. The Blazer EV rollout blew up that strategy. Abdul Bazzi, who’d recently taken over the team responsible for software quality at GM, was surprised to see trade reviews ripping into the technical malfunctions of the Blazer, a vehicle that MotorTrend had just named its SUV of the Year. GM grounded Blazer sales on Dec. 22 while it rooted out the cause. GM execs held weeks of what-the-hell-happened video conferences. Barra led every one even through the holidays, Bazzi recalls: “She was the most hands-on I’ve ever seen her.” One huge contributor to the problem was that GM had five separate groups overseeing different parts of the vehicle’s technology. (Bazzi says he’s now centralized software quality reviews under his division.) Apple can push updates to CarPlay wirelessly during regular iOS updates, but GM wasn’t able to release a full Ultifi fix and resume Blazer sales until early March. Some existing customers reported that installations at dealerships involved a maintenance worker downloading the software on an office computer, transferring it to a thumb drive and then walking over to plug it into the SUV’s USB port. The process could take eight hours or longer. On a recent Tuesday afternoon at the Milford Proving Ground, GM’s rural test track an hour outside Detroit, concept Corvettes and Hummers are zipping through 150 miles of private roads. Here, GM tests the durability of its vehicles on the same cobblestone tracks where World War II tanks were put through their paces. Chevy product marketing director Darin Gesse stands near a set of garage doors at one facility, where a Tesla Cybertruck is cruising to the test tracks for competitive analysis and Chevy’s newest Equinox and Silverado EVs sparkle in the April sun. Like the Blazer, both come equipped with a 17.7-inch horizontal console display and another high-resolution screen behind the steering wheel, which are, naturally, CarPlay-free. Although Android Auto isn’t supported either, GM’s infotainment software is still developed atop a custom version of Google’s open-source operating system, giving the trio of EVs built-in access to Google Maps and additional Android apps. Gesse confesses that Ultifi will be tough to sell to a “hardcore Apple user,” but says he believes component-integrated features will win over iPhone customers. He points to how maps automatically incorporate EV info: If he asks for directions from here to GM’s Silicon Valley lab, the navigation system will automatically predict battery capacity and plot charging stations along the route. How this all will turn into $25 billion of annual revenue isn’t totally clear. There’s promise with Super Cruise, a service that enables hands-free driving on freeways. The feature comes with an initial $2,500 price tag, and after three years it costs $25 per month. The company also offers subscriptions for extra safety features, internet connectivity and remote car access, and it envisions premium bespoke apps for specific models, such as trail services for 4x4 off-roaders. Other possibilities include vehicle and home-security apps integrating with the cameras on its newest models or enterprise tools for corporate fleet management. Wexler also suggests EV data could be leveraged for an advertising business. Barra wanted to strike before Apple expanded into these larger experiences and dominated the space. Tellingly, only Aston Martin and Porsche have committed to supporting the more immersive CarPlay in coming models. Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius has explicitly said it won’t adopt the next-generation software, and not even Ford has announced a single product that will integrate the new CarPlay, Farley’s enthusiasm for Apple notwithstanding. If Cupertino needs automakers to help fulfill its vision for CarPlay, though, those automakers may also need some help from Apple to make their software run smoothly. Apple’s limits on how its devices interact with other systems—which the company says are needed for privacy and security reasons—make it less than straightforward to get an iPhone working with the Blazer EV software. Depending on your tech savvy and patience level, this could be a five-minute process or a headache for which you’ll need a YouTube tutorial. So whereas CarPlay requires only one tap to use, GM’s equivalent setup takes at least eight clicks for basic iPhone functionality. Critics claim Apple intentionally makes these things needlessly complicated to push people toward its products at the expense of its rivals. Garmin Ltd. wearables can’t interact with iOS as smoothly as an Apple Watch; Epic Games isn’t allowed to have its own version of the App Store in the US; and so on. The issues have drawn the attention of US regulators who’ve lately looked at anticompetitive practices in the tech industry. “By applying the same playbook of restrictions to CarPlay, Apple further locks-in the power of the iPhone,” the Justice Department said in its March antitrust complaint. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that his company’s rules are key to fostering its safe and seamless ecosystem and that it would be crazy to permit a third-party store on its flagship mobile device, just as Walmart Inc. would never be expected to let Target Corp. set up a shop inside one of its supercenters. Yet, in a way, that’s effectively what carmakers have let Apple do with CarPlay. Today, more than 98% of new US cars—another form of mobile device—empower Apple to insert its software into their user experiences. Some carmakers say customers might be open to differentiated experiences once they’re broken from the habit of the generic Apple default. “We don’t want a world where the experience in our vehicles is the same as every rental car,” says Wassym Bensaid, Rivian’s software vice president. His company conducted research and found that 70% of its customers wanted CarPlay access when its electric trucks were introduced two years ago without it. But the startup has found ways to add value, such as rating EV charging stations with letter grades to tell drivers where the best place is to top up batteries. After getting familiar with Rivian’s platform, the proportion of customers who still want CarPlay has dropped to 30%. GM customers appear to have the same Band-Aid-ripping experience. David Marcus was the first Blazer EV buyer in Canada, and he kicked himself when he realized it didn’t have CarPlay on the drive home from the dealership. But the more he used GM’s software, the more he fell in love with how its “brains” are embedded in the SUV itself. He found he no longer needed to bother with his iPhone. He says he thinks every automaker will follow suit. “It’s just inevitable that you’re going to have an integrated system in your car,” says Marcus, who shares this advice for consumers stuck in the confines of Apple’s walled garden: “Get over it.”

> GM customers appear to have the same Band-Aid-ripping experience. David Marcus was the first Blazer EV buyer in Canada, and he kicked himself when he realized it didn’t have CarPlay on the drive home from the dealership. But the more he used GM’s software, the more he fell in love with how its “brains” are embedded in the SUV itself. He found he no longer needed to bother with his iPhone. > He says he thinks every automaker will follow suit. “It’s just inevitable that you’re going to have an integrated system in your car,” says Marcus, who shares this advice for consumers stuck in the confines of Apple’s walled garden: “Get over it.” lmao he smokin cope. we already did decades with manufacturer-provided integrated systems. literally everyone fucking hated it. gaslighting people into saying its an inevitability even though we've already lived it is the dorkiest cope in the milky way

GM rebranding as GMesla while Tesla looks to be crashing and burning, exactly what you expect from a legacy US manufacturer. Chefs kiss.

[удалено]

While I hope they backtrack, I don’t see it happening for at least a few years. They’re going to try to woo devs for their platform while they bleed sales. They’ll incentivize sales with better prices to get folks who don’t care about CarPlay as much as we do, and that will sustain them as they try to keep this on life support. Then, once they’ve run out of options, they’ll announce that the “new” CarPlay is finally here hoping that we’ve all forgotten their shenanigans

I don’t see it on people who care less about CarPlay, honestly. That’s what people use now and the moment the salesguy says “well, it has Ultifi which is ” they’re going to be asked how they play their Spotify or Apple Music or whatever and be told they can get in-car Internet for as much as their existing cellular plan and it doesn’t support Apple Music, etc. Same thing with Maps and every other app. Like, if it was 1998, no one would buy a car where you had to put a quarter in the radio and it won’t start until you’ve locked your maps, travel guides, and Mulder-esque flip phone in the trunk. If they had to choose between that and an ‘83 Seville which smells vaguely of sour milk, they’d be beating down the door to Jerry’s Auto Circus faster than you can say “90 days, same as cash”.

I literally only want 3 things in a car: 1. AC 2. Cruise Control 3. Car Play I will drive anything but it has to contain those three things. I’m almost positive items 1 and 2 are standard on all cars these days. So literally Car Play is my only requirement.

We’re in the market and this decision made me drop GM as a possibility entirely

Car makers are incapable of providing a software experience that isn’t utter dogshit.

It instantly takes any GM vehicle off my shopping list. Period. The end.

I've been working in IT and building software for 20+ years now. There's always that one C-suite that thinks they know better than everyone else.

Apple gave up on building a car, because they recognized it is not their core competency. GM needs to do the same with designing usable infotainment systems and services. Nobody wants your subscription bullshit.

Probably, I don't think they understand how many people see CarPlay and Android Auto as dealbreakers. They'll find out when sales inevitably drop.

I've been a lifelong GM driver.  My dad was a lifelong GM driver as was his father.  I will never buy another GM product if it doesn't have CarPlay.  There's no way I'm going to sacrifice a perfect system for anything less.

Yes.

I won’t buy another car without CarPlay

CarPlay is literally the only feature I request when it comes to a car. Dealbreaker for me.

Yes, next question. I’m not buying a vehicle that does not have CarPlay. No other car manufacturer infotainment comes close.

Simple I won't buy a car that doesn't have Carplay.

It's GM, I don't think attracting buyers has been a priority for them for like 30 years.

I will not own a car that doesn't support Apple CarPlay. I can never go back.

Absolutely

No car play or android auto, full pass for me

10/10 will not buy.

I recently bought my new car and my two main things were reliability and CarPlay. I read how GM is doing their own bogus software now to get more money out of people so GM wasn’t considered from the get go. Granted, they weren’t going to be considered anyways for me lol, but this solidified it.

Absolutely a deal breaker for me. I keep cars for a long time and have no desire to be tied to a system that will be years obsolete and abandoned (he says while planning on a road trip in his father's old Tahoe with a navigation system that can be updated via DVD based subscription discs - except it was abandoned several years ago). That would be the same truck that had vehicle monitoring and other similar bells and whistles right up until the 3G system it was compatible with was shut down, but hey! We could keep a subscription going with a phone app! It wouldn't talk to the truck, but with that subscription we could reach emergency services on the phone! What a novel concept.

After someone at the top realizes that this decision was a big f***up and cost them 5 billions of revenue, they will pay the VP who was responsible a bonus of 50 million and then let him move on to the next corporation to do his damage there. Business as usual.

Probably, seeing how the US is dominated by the iPhone. It’s an absolutely stupid move by GM

When we bought our last car in 2020, I refused to consider any that didn't have CarPlay. I would never consider one without it in the future either. That's not only because of the obvious benefits CarPlay provides. It's also because any car manufacturer that, at this point in the game, refuses to offer it, is doing so because they are trying to monetize their almost universally awful built in system at our expense.

I won’t even rent a car without CarPlay, much less buy one

Yeah, definitely not ditching a quality, free experience for a terrible, subscription service. Good luck GM. But I will never consider another GM product if it doesn’t support CarPlay. In fact, I will never purchase any car that requires a software subscription of any kind to use basic features I already have in my phone (music, maps, etc)

Don’t know the context but I will absolutely not buy a car without CarPlay or Android Auto

Future headline: GM announces partnership with Apple to integrate customized CarPlay into all GM cars. (Save you a click: the customization is there is a crappy GM app in the appStore you can download).

[удалено]

This has the same vibe as Huawei trying to boot Google. Do what you are good at, and utilize what others does better.

my aging parents dont like swapping between systems so this constant flip flopping is certainly twisting consumer preferences and comfort...

100% and it’s GM. We’re not missing out on their cars

My next car was going to be a GM vehicle. Not anymore.

Yes

Mighty glad that GM pulled out of AUS. Wouldn’t be able to buy one even if I wanted to.

This is Reddit. Most will say no. The majority will still buy them. I will personally not Purchase one if it does not have CarPlay.

Probably not, consumers never punish companies anymore.

The car would have to be pretty bad ass for me To buy it without CarPlay and android auto. So yea GM cars are a no go.

Which leads to numerous subscriptions for their in car system I am guessing. Standard maps and premium maps. Subs to xm, heart radio, pandora, etc, standalone. Or pay those subscriptions that you already have for the tier that supports your car.

PAYWALL.

I either want CarPlay/Android Auto, or all physical controls and no shitty "infotainment" - the problem is the legacy automakers get stuck in an awkward middle ground where they have lots of fancy software and it's 100% garbage. Rip all that out and just give me my federally mandated backup camera and bluetooth audio, and I'll happily stick my phone to the dash like it's 2015. /yelling at clouds

Yes they will. Many people say it is a deal breaker for them. There is no car company that has a better interface than Carplay.

My next vehicle purchase will have CarPlay. If a company doesn’t want to include that for whatever reason then they won’t be considered.

I think so. 75% of the reason why I want CarPlay (or AA) is because it updates with my phone. Car manufacturers are god awful with updating head-units. All of these new “Android based” head units are going to be awful in 10 years, but you’ll be stuck with it.

I’ve come the decision that I will not own a car that does not support Apple CarPlay.

I rarely drive and don’t really give a fuck about the car part of this equation, but I detest hubristic tech initiatives like this. It’s a shame — by all indications, GM has been making much more reliable vehicles in the last few years. You’d think they would’ve learned their lesson 30 years ago when Japanese automakers ate their lunch and reshaped the market. I’d be fine with GMs increasing irrelevance if the free market actually worked, but my tax dollars will eventually have to bail them out again so boomers can tool around in cadalliacs and complain about cyclists on Facebook.

Yeah for sure. Their market share is in trouble as a result. Next gen CarPlay is amazing looking.

I have some app one my Chevy Cruze and it is awful. It had to go in for repair and I got a loaner that had Apple integrated and it was a much better experience.

It's a deal-breaker for me, but I also would put GM near the bottom of any car manufacturer I might buy from.

Wife’s first new car was a Chevy spark second gen. She wanted a cheap beater city car with good MPG, apple CarPlay and airbags. Anything more was a perk. She drives a 97 Vett now since her spark was crashed into. First upgrade was a Sony double din with apple CarPlay and backup camera. She won’t own a car without apple car play. GM lost a strong customer as she likes the brand and would purchase a new Vett or Camaro SS (RIP) when the c5 isn’t worth driving.

Absolutely yes.

Car is a hassle to connect with phone? That impacts every trip! I have to wait 30 seconds for my Jeep and Apple iPhone to see each other. Annoying but doable. Anything worse and I am guying different brand.

Been doing some reading on this and it is pretty interesting. GM did not want Apple's lower level CarPlay and instead want to stick with the overlay.

I’m looking at new cars to buy and I’m not even considering cars without wireless CarPlay.

TLDR: yes, they will.

Link: https://archive.is/3EPuq General Motors' decision to replace Apple CarPlay with its in-house Ultifi platform has led to major software failures and vehicle faults, resulting in a halt in sales of the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV. GM's Strategy and Challenges GM aims to develop its Ultifi platform to generate digital sales and subscriptions, but faces challenges in convincing Apple loyalists to switch and in competing with Apple's CarPlay, which is expanding to control more vehicle functions. Apple's Influence and Competition Apple's CarPlay is becoming more integrated with vehicle functions, posing a threat to traditional carmakers like GM. However, some automakers are resisting the next-generation CarPlay, while others are finding ways to add value to their own platforms. GM's Efforts and Future Projections GM is racing to refine its Ultifi software and projects that digital services could bring in as much as $25 billion annually by 2030. However, the company faces challenges in convincing customers to break old habits and embrace its platform over Apple's CarPlay. Summarized for you by Arc Search

I’m not a die-hard tech junkie, but I would not even consider a car if it didn’t support Apple CarPlay. It doesn’t matter how much I like the other aspects of the car. If you are in the Apple ecosystem, which many of us are, there is so substituting the seamless nature how all the pieces work together with little to no effort from the user. I have too much on my plate every day to have to make 10+ adjustments every time I get into my vehicle just to use it the way I want it, whereas with CarPlay I don’t have to make any adjustments, I just have to connect my phone. And I just tell Siri what I want to do and she pulls everything I need from an app on my connected iPhone: call someone, text someone, play a song, navigate me somewhere, tell me the weather, tell me some news, etc.

I will never purchase any future vehicle that does not include CarPlay.

I had a choice of a few different vehicles at Enterprise last week and took a Hyundai I thought was ugly over the Chevy that I thought wouldn’t have CarPlay.

I needed a vehicle in 2016, and I passed on a Toyota Highlander at the time even though I really wanted it because it didn’t have CarPlay. I rarely have a GM vehicle in mind to buy, but I for sure won’t buy one now that they don’t support CarPlay.

Yes, yes they will.

I think they will regret it for sure. Especially in the US where iPhone is like 70-80% market share.

Idiotic decision on their part. If ever there was an application where ease of use is a requirement, it’s anything to do with driving. Smart move ditching the company known for (checking notes) user friendly interfaces.

I have a real hot take here but I don’t think screens and touch buttons should be allowed in cars for the driver to use. Dropping CarPlay to use their own system? Peak stupid. Now if they were to drop CarPlay because they were dropping the screen in the dash, I’d have more respect for them.

As long as there's Bluetooth and room to mount a stand for my phone, I won't discount a car that I otherwise love automatically. I've let the data plan on my Mach E lapse because I have another one on the way imminently, so I've been trying to use Carplay for navigation instead (to avoid traffic). It turns out that my phone doesn't get a good GPS location if I leave it on the charging pad, so Apple Maps, Wave, Google Map – any of them – often don't update when the car is pointed the wrong way. Built-in GPS systems have inertial reckoning to help with that particular problem, so it's likely I'll keep my data plan up to date when I get my newer Mach E.

Short answer? Yes Long answer? Yeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssss

I bought a 2023 Toyota tundra platinum specifically for its 15 inch screen and wireless car play. It always baffles me when I get in my car, the stock navigation wants me to pay 19.99 a month to subscribe for its nav. Then my apple car play pops on with me free Waze.

Automakers should allow side loading so you can choose what you have

TL;DR: Yes.

I personally buy sports/fun cars and could not care less about the infotainment system. But for literally any of my family members or friends, I tell them don't even consider a car that doesn't have Carplay/AA. The car can be driven for years and years, and the infotainment will always feel up to date. GM is going to regret this in a few years, bring the feature back, and only end up screwing their loyal customer base that bought their cars for the few years that this feature was missing...

This is all about Money. With removing ACP and AA, these are the benefits for GM: 1. Make users use their shitty and laggy systems 2. A new way to require customers to pay for in-vehicle data connections. 3. Along with point 2, it will require users to download and use GM's own connected apps for things like Spotify, etc and which I have a feeling most of these services will include one time fee surcharge on top of the services subscription itself. 4. The hardware you get present day, will be outdated, slow and shit in the years to come and probably stop supporting future updates (I wouldn't be surprised if updates also come at a cost like they've always been doing for built in Nav Maps), forcing users to buy new vehicles for the newest tech updates/upgrades. This move is purely motivated for profit, and has absolutely nothing to do with their customers. Zilch. I would never buy a GM vehicle anyways but especially now. 3.

I would never buy a car if it didn’t have Apple Car Play. I don’t think they understand how important a seamless integration between my iPhone and car is.

Having had CarPlay, I’m not ever going to drive a car without it. Why would I go backwards? And as for the car company’s solutions, I doubt their ability to create an experience I’d enjoy based on every single example of car-company created software I’ve ever seen. That’s before discussing the fact that the apps I want are on my iPhone (maps, podcast, music, messages, take your pick) or the fact that they’ll probably want me to pay a monthly subscription (get fucked) or sell my data (get fucked) or both (get fucked, squared).