Technology

GM says Apple and Android have access to a ton of data on consumer habits in their vehicles that those systems don't share with the auto manufacturer, so they're ditching those systems in favour of their own that gives them direct access to all that user data under the guise of a safety change.

I’m ditching ever considering them for a vehicle purchase for my own sanity.

Fucking OEM infotainment systems are bullshit and I will never buy a car ever again that doesn’t support CarPlay and Android Auto.

This feels like something a C-suite came up with to carve out extra profit and had some bean counters crunch the numbers on, fluffed them up a bit and then had the company roll with it on his idea.

I’m usually disappointed by consumer apathy, but from everyone I talk to who has a car with a screen, if they have CarPlay/Android Auto they couldn’t do without it, and if they don’t have it it’s the biggest thing they wish they had.

What they mean is that you have zero reason to pay GM $20 a month for their substandard, unsecure garbage navigation and cloud services, and that's not allowed.

“We are dropping carplay and android auto because mobile phones distract the driver”

But the dashboard looks like this

Yes, let's trust a corporate that's doing things for our safety out of the kindness of their heart.

This is going to cripple them in the market. Removing features does nothing to make a vehicle more attractive to the average idiot. Maybe GM thinks they can get away with it because the demand for cars exceeds the supply right now, I don't know.

Lmao. Shortly followed by their own systems that are subscription based.

Even if they manage to get big players like Spotify to develop apps for them, a lot of people - at least on the Android side - have smaller, niche apps for audiobooks and podcasts that would never bother to port their apps to GM services. Heck, even Apple Music and YouTube Music wouldn't bother. I smell an upcoming BOGO deal on their overstocked dealerships, just before they get another bailout check.

As if I needed another reason to not buy a GM.

Currently, this a dealbreaker for me. As in I won't buy a vehicle that does this, or charges me a subscription fee for a built in feature like heated seats.

Good reason to continue my GM boycott of their garbage vehicles.

There really needs to be a standardised open protocol rather than Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to use a non-Apple/Google app for my in-car infotainment. Apple and Google just want our data.

Let Android Auto and CarPlay be options in a competing market, rather than zero choice and just having to use whatever your phone provides.

I just want to buy a 90's car without a stupid iPad bolted to the dashboard, an electronically actuated parking brake, or hundreds of worthless, permanently enabled nannies keeping me from doing what I want to with my own car and making repairs hundreds more expensive than they should be.

I don’t want to even rent a car without CarPlay. Good luck with that GM.

Knowing GM they will lobby to ban Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Tim Babbitt, GM's head of product for infotainment, gave MT a better explanation at a press event for the new Chevrolet Blazer EV, the flagship vehicle in the no CarPlay or Android Auto strategy (and our 2023 MotorTrend SUV of the Year winner). According to him, there's an important factor that didn't make it into the fact sheet: safety. Specifically, he cited driver distraction caused by cell phone usage behind the wheel.

How exactly will this disincentivize phone use? Wouldn't this encourage hands-on phone use instead of using a UI that limits interaction?

I feel like this is a solvable engineering problem.

I have a GM vehicle I like. I already don't pay them for OnStar. I'm certainly not going to pay them to replace my phone. And then likely have to pay for cellular access for my car.

The only safe solution is a proprietary GM solution.

safety

Lol

Hyundai and Kia it is, then.

Has anyone jailbreaked one of these cars? Can you install your own OS on them? Seems like that should be doable.

Just put an aux port or a tape deck in. I'll be okay.

Interesting....... 🍿

Great. Now we have nanny companies?

I'll spend my money accordingly.