Bold claim when you remember all of the horrific UI that car manufacturers utilized before everyone started using Apple and Google's UI. Sometimes I have to borrow an old car from someone and you just can't find anything. Really, I'm more in favor of bringing back physical buttons for all basic functions, but a good UI will not only make it quick and easy to say change to the next song or view trip details, but it will also prevent you from performing more complicated tasks while in motion. We'll see what GM's solution is, but I have little faith.
this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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Physical buttons are things I don't have to look at when I'm driving. That's good.
Yeah because I'm sure GM's shit will be better. Idek why I'm addressing this: ~~we all know GM doesn't want to pay Apple or Google~~. That this is really about more renting and never owning. They just want more money.
GM, just say that. We know you're a gigantic money-hungry corp. You all don't have to lie and pretend to care about safety. We're not a bunch of idiots. We get it, even if you all suck for doing this.
I'd say I hope GM crashes and burns again, but then the government will just bail them out again.
I thought Android auto was free.
This is all about maintaining and selling your data for themselves. There was just a report out last week about how cars are one of the most data insecure devices you can own because of how poorly all the big auto manufacturers treat their customers.
Do you mean Android Auto, or Android Automotive (what's being used here)?
I assumed/got the impression that the latter cost money to integrators (GM) but I guess I don't know for sure.
Android Auto is "free" to end-users but is different.
Ah I stand corrected on the Android side. I assumed there was some licensing going on. I'll correct that.
I believe there is, for Android Automotive.
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We know you're a gigantic money-hungry corp. You all don't have to lie and pretend to care about safety. We're not a bunch of idiots.
Alas, as long as there is doubt, there are a large number of suckers who are willing to give the benefit of the doubt. We are a bunch of idiots, collectively. That's why shit like this works.
I doubt it’s about paying Apple or Google, so um much as their ability to extort car owners to pay them. Nobody in their right mind will buy the $10/month Bullshit Subscription (TM) from GM when they can just plug in their phone and use Waze.
Edit: seems Apple doesnt charge automakers so it’s definitely about extorting you for money.
They’re going about this all wrong.
Apple car is not the issue. It’s all the other touch inputs that I have on my car to control every basic function like the climate controls and other shit.
Apple car switches on, already the navigation is setup and the music is on… I don’t need to touch it again. I can switch songs on my steering wheel and I can ask Siri for basic shit like finding a playlist.
I don’t need to go through a touch menu or button to change the temperature or any other action setting while in motion.
in fact, much of CarPlay's functionality becomes locked while the car is in motion, making that a moot point anyway, lol. the only things left to distract or endanger would be the OEM stuff, as you mention.
The one unsafe thing in car play for me is the tiny stupid UI element needed to switch betweeen voice directions/alerts only/silent/.
I will quite often want to switch modes while on a long journey - full directions while driving on backstreets, alerts only while on motorways.
Have yet to find the Siri command to switch between them. Anyone know of one?
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To achieve this, GM’s new system — called Ultifi, which is making its debut in the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV — uses Google apps built right into the system, like Google Maps and Assistant, which GM hopes customers will use for more voice controls. It can handle things like calls and texts, and it can control the audio and climate systems.
Now you have an embedded Android device that is never gonna be upgraded for the lifetime of the car.
GM Single handedly keeping aftermarket stereos relevant. I wouldn't buy a car with this solution.
Android auto upgrades with my devices. It's the best solution.
I highly doubt an aftermarket unit will work. Today, most units are integrated into the entire car system. Removing the unit from my car would mean losing access to a lot of functionality. I doubt the car would even accept a 3rd party unit. And this is not a Tesla.
You'd be surprised. Check AliExpress. There are aftermarket units built to fit perfectly into every dumb auto fascia they've come up with to prevent it. A simple harness adapted is usually sufficient to restore steering wheel controls etc.
I've heard of a couple of vehicles where you simply cannot replace the media centre because it doubles as climate control input etc but the simple answer is: refuse to buy those vehicles.
I know all that, the point is modern infotainments do way more than just play music. Look, I wish it was different, but most cars built today have controls in the infotainment that you can’t have anywhere else. Like very specific settings for interior and exterior lighting, consumption metrics, creature comforts, just to name a few. That’s not a simple case of getting the wires correctly installed like it was before. And good luck finding just the right car with a dumb head unit, even simple cars today are fitted with this stuff.
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What's unsafe is having to navigate a giant fischer price interface whenever you want to adjust the A/C
GM doesn't get to sell your data.
Silly me, not thinking of the poor little corporations again
Chevy is still all about knobs, which is the proper way to create car controls. Ford is pretty heavy into a full touch screen control center, which is really annoying as a driver.
"It's unsafe for Apple and Android to prevent us from monopolizing your user data!"
Cool, then I’m dropping GM from my list of cars that I’ll buy or rent. CarPlay is a must have in 2023, just like a backup camera. Literally nobody wants your shitty car OS thing, it’s guaranteed to be way worse than iOS and Android.
Seems like this ought to be a dealbreaker for many.
GM was never on the list anyway, i've tried a couple ones and i was always surprised how much money they want for their cheap ass interior
The fact that cars have touch screens and capacitive surfaces are what makes them unsafe. Physical buttons work with apple car play and android auto and make them safer
Capacitive buttons need to die a painful death. I'm ok with some functions being capacitive or touch screen buttons, like little unimportant ones like accessing my 6th favourite radio station or whatever. Or even Carplay or Android Auto.
But when it comes to operating the HVAC or shifting gears, it shouldn't be allowed that these aren't mechanical switches with proper fail-safe backups. I don't even think those shifter buttons in a lot of modern vehicles, or the shifting knobs, like what's been in the Jeep SUVs for the past decade, are the best idea.
Car manufacturers should get out of the dashboard design business. Just have an API standard for devices to control the car, and a USB port for users to plug in whichever device works best for them. You want a bunch of physical buttons? Cool, go down to AutoZone and buy a button panel that matches your needs. You want a big screen with carplay and a bunch of widgets? Mount your old iPad there.
The regulatory side would be the hard part. Devices would have to meet some safety standards and the car would have to refuse to drive unless an approved dashboard was connected, but it could be done.
But there's no money in that...
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Let's be honest, GM can't make money off owners using this software. They can make their own and have owners pay a subscription like some Tesla owners do now.
You know what's unsafe? Putting a long-ass disclosure about keeping your eyes on the road that you have to close before you can use your infotainment center. We know how to drive, dude. Adding a distraction doesn't improve safety, it makes it worse.
I'm dropping GM, because they are unsafe. I'm not going back to looking down at my phone while I'm driving.
Also, as a former 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt owner, I'd love to have a good chat about safety with the executives of GM. That is, if they aren't too busy creating their new in-dash subscription model. Which is what this is really about, and we all know it.
Maybe they should first focus on their gross manufacturing shortfalls, and their other issues. Maybe take a look at that parking lot in Pontiac that's bursting at the seams with Corvettes stuck in limbo, and their very pissed off purchasers.
Fuck. What a bunch of numbskulls.
Wait your counterargument to this is "it's unsafe to remove the unsafe feature, because now im going to use my phone, the exact thing that's unsafe"
What? "How could you make me do this" energy.
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So I'm assuming that means that they're admitting that they put a safety hazard in all those prior cars and are assuming liability for every accident where infotainment systems may have been involved, right?
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I've a Mazda with Android Auto that doesn't use a touch screen. It's all controlled with a joystick/knob/button setup that is actually really nice. I wish my Nissan had a similar setup all the time.
In the Mazda I know how many physical interactions will get me the result I want, it takes barely more than a glance at the screen to know what's up. With the touch interface I have to put my eyes on the screen to confirm that the car didn't bounce when I went to tap a "button" and/or confirm that the tap was actually registered. I know that GM has to know that Android Auto supports non touchscreen interactions. If they're concerned about how unsafe touchscreens are, just add a knob to the center console that doubles as a 4-way joystick like Mazda has and all those concerns go away. It's really that simple and it IS miles better than using touch for everything.
Yeah, I do enjoy jumping into my wife's Mazda every now and then, for just this reason. Touch screens requires too much attention be diverted away from the critical task of driving, as people need to look at the screen for the purpose of aiming a finger at a control on it.
The steering wheel controls for my Ford's Sync are good for volume, music back/forward, and phone calls, but that's it. It's the reason I still need to use a voice assistant while driving. I really hate using the touch screen except at the start or end of journey.
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It’s a very thin argument about it being buggy and/or users picking up their phones when that happens. There’s no way they have data to quantify that. I use voice commands exclusively and as others have said the only things I wrestle with are climate and non-integrated functions. It’s way safer to do AA or CarPlay in my experience.
It’s GMs bet to lose here. I would immediately pass on a vehicle without CarPlay. My old Toyota had a horrible interface and I was quoted $300 just to update the map, not even a new radio, literally just a software update. No thank you.
Like, could I just have the aux jack back please? I can frig with my phone before I put the car in drive and just push audio through the speakers, I don't need to be able to sort through my playlists or make calls from the steering wheel, I'm distracted enough by billboards, for chrissakes. The only thing I like about my phone being connected to my car is that I can skip forward and back, that's it.
And with proper software support, the aux jack can do some limited pause/forward/back!
I do really like Android Auto, but the reliability of the Aux connection is something I very sorely miss.
Yeah what’s up with that?! My new car comes with a host of connection possibilities, but lacks a simple jack. I still use that 5th gen iPod, is it too much to ask for a connector?
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They are doing it to light up revenue streams.
literally any change or a new feature in any product of any company is only about collecting and selling your data, and never about making something actually better.
Yep beware, any time a company you do business with sends you a letter saying something like,
"Good news! (Our old company name) is now (new company name)!"
You're about to get fucked.
Oh, did GM just step in it this time. Being stupid and removing important features is one thing, but straight-up defamation like this is another.
Google and Apple’s lawyers must be salivating a river right now.
They aren't wrong. Touch controls in a car are a nuisance.
My car is a 2017 and its entertainment system hasn’t been update since then. I don’t want to pay the $250 to upgrade it or whatever the crazy price was.
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Lots of people gonna be dropping GM. I was a Chevy guy my whole life and I got a Tacoma about a year ago. It’s not even a premium model and the quality and reliability is miles above Chevrolet
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