I got reminded of my thoughts here in the after-show of the latest MPU, where they talked about CarPlay of course being essential. But I’m looking at buying a new car now – and I find myself not caring much about whether it has it or not.
Now, I completely understand that it’s a terrific hotfix for terrible car software (which is most of it). But I think people are missing some of the cons of it, compared to a great built-in system (or, underestimating the pros of the latter).
The largest con only applies to EVs, though – so keep that in mind. I’m thinking of the poor integration with the battery system:
On the vast majority of cars, the CarPlay system doesn’t know about the state-of-charge.
And there are no cars, I believe, where CarPlay can tell the battery to pre-heat for charging.
And these things are quite large cons – especially if live in a colder climate (Norwegian here), and if you, like me, fast-charge several times a year.
Am I insane for not caring that much about it? Do I have unrealistic expectations of carmakers not sucking? What are your main reasons for wanting CarPlay (or Android Auto)? Or, are there anyone else that doesn’t feel the need to have it?
I went into more detail in a blog post yesterday, written while I couldn’t sleep. It has more information on my stance – but here’s the conclusion:
If I were to sum it up, I think there are two main points I want people to think about:
I want more people to be aware of the significant cons of CarPlay when it comes to EVs.
And I think it would be more nuanced if people went from saying “my next car has to have CarPlay” to: “My next car has to have CarPlay – unless the built-in software is great”.
And I kind of get why car company CEOs chooses not to integrate it:
As the ceiling is higher on integrated systems, it can become a differentiation.
And if they don’t have CarPlay to lean on, they have to work harder on making their own software great. I mean, imagine the pressure on GM to deliver a software experience customers like!
Perhaps you could say that, people who are really serious about making hardware should make their own software?
I don’t have an EV, so I have a question. Why does CarPlay not telling a battery to pre-heat matter? I don’t think CarPlay is meant to be a replacement for the entire car’s operating system, so I’m not sure why it needs that feature.
As for not knowing the battery state of charge, if that’s the case that’s too bad. It would be nice to see that integrated with maps.
As for why I like CarPlay, it’s because I’ve yet to find a car’s system to be really nice, especially for using my own apps. I don’t want to have to use pure Bluetooth for every audio thing I use on my phone. And I greatly prefer Apple Maps (or even Google Maps) to the stuff that comes built in on the cars I’ve owned.
What I really value about CarPlay is the navigation system. But if a car has a good navigation system, that might give me 95% of what I value about CarPlay.
I’ve never had a car with CarPlay. I quit buying new cars decades ago, and prefer to purchase 1 to 3 year old cars and keep them as long as they remain reliable and not expensive to maintain. I currently looking for my next vehicle and CarPlay won’t be a factor.
Your comments suggest you’ve not used CarPlay, as you suggest it’s a replacement for the in car system when that’s not the case.
Neither of these need to be present in CarPlay, I drove a Tesla for 12 months and would have loved to have had Carplay in it. I didn’t need either of things you mentioned available in carplay and could do either through the Tesla screen or the app.
Having driven combustion cars for years, driven Hybrids for 4 years, EV for a year and now back to combustion with CarPlay. I will not buy another car without CarPlay.
The thing is that CarPlay doesn’t replace the system in the car or the instrument display (if the manufacturer doesn’t want it to) it’s a layer on top of the Entertainment system. They can coexist and there’s nothing to stop Tesla or Rivian from working with Apple to add CarPlay in 3/4 of the screen and keep 1/4 for the Instrument display.
I see no Cons on carplay and the two you’ve mentioned, for one (state of charge) petrol or diesel similarly suffers in colder temperatures and for Pre-heating the battery this can be done in the Manufacturer’s app.
While I like your analogy to Apple that Manufacturers should make the hardware and the software. There’s also the point that to do so, you need the best people, the best hardware, and the ability to think outside the box and Car Manufacturers have been universally pretty terrible at making software, put cheap hardware in their cars and charge significant amounts for what is a poor product.
When you use the Tesla’s navigation system and it plots a course to allow you to charge on route at a super charger, it prewarms the battery to allow fast charging. This is useful and saves you time (faster charging) there’s nothing to stop you manually telling the battery to pre-heat itself though.
the map and navigation is great, and picks up events from my calendar automatically,
I have radio right there,
and I’m logged into my Tidal account (which changes to my wife’s if she’s driving).
The only things I don’t have access to, is things like podcasts and audiobooks. But when I’m alone, I just listen with my AirPods (on transparency of course!) as I go in and out of the car. And if I’m with someone else – that’s the only time we use the bluetooth connection to the phone. So, yeah – having access to those things would absolutely be a little bonus of having CarPlay. But it’s really minor!
Could a factor be that, since we’re not English natives (and these tools are much worse in Norwegian), there’s some voice stuff I’m missing? For instance, if some like having access to texting by voice. Genuinely confused!
To me (someone living in a cold climate, and taking several long drives a year), not having those features is a pretty major downgrade to the navigation system of the car. And that’s supposed to be one of the pros of CarPlay, right?
Regarding other cons, again from the blog post:
Let’s take navigation as an example:
My car has only one massive screen. And I really like that when I use navigation, it takes up a lot of space. It’s a bit like how the iPhone revolutionised things, by being able to prioritise area.
Another nice example, is a car that has a decent screen in the middle, a smaller screen behind the steering wheel, and a HUD (head-up display). While navigating, you’ll get a decent showing in the middle, while you also get some information behind the steering wheel. When you should make a turn, you also get notified in the HUD.
Compared to both of these, just having navigation in a little, disconnected CarPlay window, seems like a substantial downgrade.
With an integrated system, every part of the software (also the non-infotainment ones) can be cohesive. Apple fans should be able to see the appeal in that!
My current navigation is:
(updated) Google Maps (both that and Apple Maps work fine for m ),
with traffic information,
helps me with charging,
and has all the space it wants.
Can’t you see why I struggle to see the great appeal of having it instead be
good and map implementation, yes
but tucked away in a little, disconnected window,
while not being able to help me with charging?
Having the navigation seamlessly on various screens + HUD, also seems way nicer.
It’s not that I categorically disagrees with this. But I think it should be apparent that the ceiling is higher if you, instead, can use all the screen for a coherent experience. But, as you mention, it isn’t easy, and requires expertise. But so does building a car – I think it’s good if car companies invest in software chops, and don’t just punt it to Apple and Google.
And regarding this (this refers to things like pre-heating batteries):
I’d much rather always use one the same type of car navigation (the built-in – if it’s good) all the time, and not having to switch from CarPlay to the built-in when I’ll go on longer drives.
What you talk about works, of course — but I’m talking about what’s potentially the nicest experience.
That being said – it’s not that I don’t see serious pros of CarPlay! Especially in the actual reality we live in.
I listed these in the blog post:
I stand by the idea that the ceiling is higher on integrated systems – but the floor is much lower. And, in general, carmakers are far from having earned our trust, when it comes to creating good software.
As someone who uses a more niche music streaming app, in Tidal, in lucky that my car supports it natively. CarPlay provides a much larger variety of services.
It also, probably, provides more longevity – compared to the very real fear that the carmaker just “forgets” about your car.
I’ve already mentioned the benefits if you’re borrowing or renting a car.
And it’s also way easier to create more thorough integration with things like messages, calendars, etc.
And as my most important con regarding CarPlay is exclusive to EVs, I genuinely understand it being important if you’re buying an ICE car.
But to me, compared to my current car at least, these don’t weigh enough (especially as I find the navigation downgrade to be quite heavy) for me to get why it’s a requirement for so many. (Again, if the built-in system is good — which is a big if.)
I’ll probably have it my next car, and I’ll probably think it’s OK, though! I’m not trying to say that it sucks, or anything.
It really would depend on how the manufacturer implements its own functions/buttons around/next to CarPlay I think.
I love CarPlay in the cars that supported it. Particularly going from one rental to the next, CarPlay makes that so much easier (since I use nav a lot and thereby don’t have to get used to yet another implementation of it). The whole car to iPhone ecosystem being the same or having a very similar experience, I am all for it.
I can only speak for Tesla’s EV experience, I don’t know how others built up their infotainment/nav. In the Tesla’s I rely quite heavily on navigation and wh/mile usage (I often go to places without chargers so have to be aware of my usage a bit more than normal). CarPlay could be implemented in a Tesla so it would coexist perhaps but why? The Tesla navigation and car displays specifically for the car are made to fit the car (duh!) and do that quite well. CarPlay in a Tesla would be annoying or providing functions already implemented well by Tesla.
I can envision how CarPlay and Tesla software could be made to play well and not be a constant switching between two contexts but at the moment that doesn’t exist - a current CarPlay support (via e.g. Carlinkit T2C or similar) is weird to me.
Having said that, Tesla’s software could use a little refinement Apple is well known for - dialog popups are a bit jarring, I am not a fan of their Apple Music implementation either.
The media that I listen to (books, podcasts, and music) follow me around. I listen in the car, at home, while out for a run, on airplanes, and so on. I tend to download things to my phone because ubiquitous cell coverage just isn’t a thing yet. CarPlay lets me use my preferred apps for such things while I’m driving, and things like playlists and downloaded media remain consistent.
Add to that the fact that car companies have some of the worst privacy practices that I’m aware of, and CarPlay becomes something of a required feature for me.
I’m lucky enough that there’s always data — so having playlists etc. synced is all I need. And:
The only things I don’t have access to, is things like podcasts and audiobooks. But when I’m alone, I just listen with my AirPods (on transparency of course!) as I go in and out of the car.
But I completely understand why CarPlay is a must-have for you! (My point is more that I don’t quite understand why it’s so universal.)
The problem is that car software experience is all but universally awful — it’s almost a mistake to compare the others with CarPlay. Different leagues.
Would it be nice to have, say, a charge mileage display in the Maps app or cold charging attached to the EV battery? Sure. But those are just single features out of an entire ecosystem, ones that you can always drop into the car’s apps for if necessary.
Plus, as the expected improvements continue with Siri’s conversations, there’s even less reason to use something else.
I drive an MG4 - CarPlay featured in my purchasing decision (well, company car, so my choice of car).
I got the longer range model which includes sat nav - which I’ve never used, as the person dropping the car off to me used the sat nav and got lost. Not something that Apple Maps or Google Maps has done when trying to find my house. Therefore, do I trust it’s inbuilt sat nav, with charger search function? Not really - I use another app for that (in fact, multiple apps).
I would potentially agree with you if I’d gone for the Tesla route or a higher end EV, but for the slightly more budget MG4, CarPlay (and apps) cover some of the shortcomings of the in car systems. However, I do agree with you on CarPlay not knowing the SoC of the battery - that’s partly why I’ve been considering purchasing an OBD2 scanner and ABRP and trialling that. However, I hear the navigation side of the app isn’t great…
So far, I’ve never pre-heated the battery even for fast charging. In fairness, I’ve had the car for just over a month, so not really long term experience, but I’ve not really had any issues fast charging so far without it - and I’ve done so far over 1000 miles in work travel and therefore have required a number of fast charging stops. Yet, it’s not the coldest climate in the UK compared to Norway, so that could be the reason.
Hadn’t gotten a new car in many years, briefly enjoyed CarPlay in rental cars for brief use.
When I got my new (but used) EV, I thought I would really miss having CarPlay, but I found the integrated single-screen environment of everything in one place was really convenient.
I don’t miss CarPlay and quite honestly, I found CarPlay to have a cartoon-ish UI, and actually be very limited in functionality.
If you are not a power user, and actually want to drive and not do a ton of other things, the only thing I need is audio and my car does fine with both Spotify and Apple Music (only) built-in.
I think consumers, not power users, don’t want a system that is a mash-up of the manufacturer controls plus CarPlay or Android Auto bolted-on for music and nav. It is too confusing.
Is it Apple or Google that is trying to build a modular nextgen car system where both the hardware and infotainment is integrated?
I think car manufacturers have seen what Apple did to the music industry with iTunes and Apple Music and don’t want to give up everything to Apple or Google. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…
CarPlay is the same reason why I have an Apple TV. I really really do not want to deal with X Manufacturers bloatware. Apple tends to have the cleanest UI and I really do not want my car to be yet another screne advertising to me.
Carmakers are great Carmakers but not great software makers. They should metaphorically and literally “stay in their lane.” If it is not Android Auto or Carplay Id prefer a more tactile dashboard like the cars of yesteryear and a dash mount for a phone/GPS.
I drive Volvo XC40 which comes with Android Auto infotainment system. This also opens up possibility to download many android apps on car which is big plus! Plus Volvo puts out software updates every 2/3 months.
Android Auto is fine to use on its own, though bluetooth player sometimes acts funny (showing incorrect time remaining for a song if its replayed etc)
Though I still use Car Play purely because, it allows me to change songs playing, select podcast or audiobook to play etc without touching my phone. In previous car with only Bluetooth I had to pullover if I wanted to shift from podcast to audible etc, so I find CarPlay convenient in this regards. I don’t use Apple Maps as I find Google maps to be superior for my region.
It’s partly because car software is very nearly universally wretched. CarPlay (and Android Auto) represent a known quantiy of UI and functional excellence that car manufacturers seem to eschew with an enthusiam that borders on religious.
“At least if it has CarPlay, I can make it work well enough to not want to stab people”
I do wish that Apple had a “CarOS” and it was more than just projection. My iPhone 15 is probably my last smartphone - going minimalist like the light phone - but I do like the idea of the apps being inbuilt. Ill have to look into Android Auto having that functionality.
It has more information on my stance – but here’s the conclusion:
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