[HN Gopher] 'A huge blunder': GM's decision to ditch CarPlay, An...
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       'A huge blunder': GM's decision to ditch CarPlay, Android Auto
       sparks backlash
        
       Author : CharlesW
       Score  : 23 points
       Date   : 2023-04-14 18:58 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.freep.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.freep.com)
        
       | travisporter wrote:
       | Rivian doublding down on this is also a bit disappointing. Not
       | that I can afford one
        
       | mikestew wrote:
       | Picking up our Hyundai Ioniq 5 this afternoon. We were seriously
       | going to wait for a 2024 EV Chevy Blazer[0], but...
       | 
       | [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35391283
        
         | SkyPuncher wrote:
         | You're going to love it.
         | 
         | We have a Palisade. Hyundai has done so much right on their
         | recent cars. I'm sure they've made even better EV's
        
       | jdlyga wrote:
       | Car infotainment systems are terrible. That's the reason why
       | everyone wants CarPlay and Android Auto. It's kind of like going
       | back to flip phones after using smartphones for years.
        
       | pg938hkd wrote:
       | [dead]
        
       | mensetmanusman wrote:
       | They will either write something workable, or this endeavor will
       | fail, and they will go back to the tried and true.
        
       | 1970-01-01 wrote:
       | Short term, this is stupid. GM pulled out too quickly, and
       | without a superior drop-in replacement. Long-term, this is smart.
       | GM will gain complete control of the software stack, and they
       | won't be bullied into anything. Tesla knows this. Others like
       | Rivian know it too.
        
         | CharlesW wrote:
         | > _Long-term, this is smart. GM will gain complete control of
         | the software stack..._
         | 
         | CarPlay (I'm not familiar with Android Auto) doesn't require
         | that GM cede any control over their software stack. As
         | Wikipedia puts it, it just "enables a car radio or head unit to
         | be a display and a controller for an iOS device".
         | 
         | What GM _wants_ is to charge you $30 /month for services, since
         | phones have mostly killed their OnStar cash cow. What they're
         | going to learn is the extent to which "doesn't work with my
         | phone" is going to be a deciding factor for vehicle purchases.
        
         | fzzzy wrote:
         | Well ok, but this is why I will never buy a tesla, rivian, or
         | gm.
        
       | urbandw311er wrote:
       | I do have some sympathy for GM -- as much as the public might
       | want it, continuing down the current path is certainly ceding a
       | fair amount of control over their customer base to two large
       | third parties.
        
         | WorldMaker wrote:
         | Except that in this case GM is still using Android Automotive
         | the kernel (not to be confused with Android Auto, the user
         | feature they plan to disable; thanks Google marketing for two
         | easily confused brand names here). GM is _still_ ceding a fair
         | amount of control to Google and Google apps even if apparently
         | Google is promising GM far more user data sharing.
         | 
         | (Which leaves me somewhat wondering how much Google is paying
         | GM to eliminate Apple CarPlay from the picture? Apple seems the
         | only company inconvenienced here. Most of the inconvenience is
         | born by the users of a loss of key user-facing features.)
        
         | scarface74 wrote:
         | Yes instead of merely supporting Android Auto, they are now
         | fully dependent on Android Automotive.
         | 
         | Meet the new boss...
        
       | lockhouse wrote:
       | I don't understand why they can't have their own system and still
       | support CarPlay. They are not mutually exclusive options.
        
         | scarface74 wrote:
         | And Android Automotive supports CarPlay.
        
       | exabrial wrote:
       | The better option is: remove infotainment completely and
       | _require_ a smartphone for anything other than FM/AM radio.
       | 
       | * Support an open protocol for rendering images/video/animations
       | on the screen. Sorta like... you know, CarPlay.
       | 
       | * Have controls for what events are allowed to be sent to the
       | connected device. Don't want your phone to know your Throttle
       | Position? Turn that shit off. Don't want your phone to know
       | whether it's dark/light outside? Turn that on/off too.
        
       | autoexec wrote:
       | Personally, I wont ever connect my phone to my car at all (if my
       | next car doesn't have an aux port I'll install one myself), but I
       | have to assume that GM is doing this because their own software
       | siphons more data off of our devices than even carplay or andriod
       | auto does.
       | 
       | > "GM is looking to monetize more software and services within
       | its vehicles and is taking a page out of Tesla's playbook,"
       | 
       | Since they're only doing this because they want to take even more
       | of your money after you've already spent a small fortune buying
       | their vehicle, consumers pushing back against this is a good idea
       | even if you don't have strong feelings about what software your
       | car uses.
        
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       (page generated 2023-04-14 23:01 UTC)