Phasing Out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

[AugPal]

I saw this coming. Looks like GM is first to totally eliminate Apple Carplay and Android Auto. The automakers can then charge you for their navigation and required wifi and maybe a few other items.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a69124893/gm-gas-cars-lose-apple-carplay-android-auto-report/

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[DrIanMalcolm]

I think this is a fools errand by GM. The thought being to basically funnel something people want (wireless and seamless phone integration) into an application that will: 1. Almost certainly not work as well as the systems developed by Apple and Android and 2. Require a monthly fee direct to GM.

I honestly have zero confidence that a GM system will work even half as well as the phone systems. I’m not a developer, but I understand the complexities that GM would constantly face making systems and updates compatible with different iPhone/android models and system update versions.

Bigger reason for fail in my eyes is the idea that people will be willing to pay for something that they get for “free” in other cars. You can argue that companies like Toyota and others who have really pushed the tech aspect in vehicle the last few years have baked that technology cost into the vehicles, but there is a difference with vehicle consumers when the have to pay substantially for a vehicle and THEN every month for a service. IF the GM system was somehow leaps and bounds beyond CarPlay/Android, they’d have a chance to grab some of this market share. Again, I have no confidence they will develope a system that surpasses the existing ones in terms of usability. As far as modern vehicles have come, there is a HUGE chunk of buyers that prioritize things like CarPlay/Android in their buying decision process, I think GM is underestimating this.

Last and biggest reason: this is a huge money grab and it goes beyond just the monthly fees. In my opinion, this is GM’s way of collecting and sourcing user data that Apple and Android won’t give them. I think GM believes that they will get GM loyalists no matter what and use/sell their data. I think they are really underestimating the chance that this is a step too far for anyone.

 

[hand-filer]

All of the manufacturers are monetizing our data. GM wants to do that and charge you for it at the same time.
Fuk GM!

 

[DrIanMalcolm]

All of the manufacturers are monetizing our data. GM wants to do that and charge you for it at the same time.
Fuk GM!

100% agree. It is my understanding that there is specific user data that car manufacturers have been trying to get from Apple and Android since their platforms became so popular. Ultimately, I hope the consumer wins here because the competition for their data forces a better product to be produced.

https://www.motortrend.com/features/apple-carplay-android-auto-automakers-ditching-them-for-data

 

[Aemonn]

I saw this coming. Looks like GM is first to totally eliminate Apple Carplay and Android Auto. The automakers can then charge you for their navigation and required wifi and maybe a few other items.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a69124893/gm-gas-cars-lose-apple-carplay-android-auto-report/

People will just move on to either 3rd party stereos or those car play devices you stick to your windshield.

A step backward, for sure. I hope it fails, but consumers will always have a choice.

 

[AugPal]

This is odd since Ford already has Google embedded in the Ford app that tracks the following information from your phone. These tracking apps are embedded into just about every app on your phone so you have say Google poaching the same tracking data across apps. This is very common. The worst are Apps like Pandora and Spotify where there's s plethora of tracking appls all grabbing the same information.

Don't get me started as I can't stand this, but as consumers, nodody ever steps up to challenge the app makers and accepts whatever terms are put in our faces. I usually hear, "yeah, but you can't run the app if you don't accept the terms". This is the crux of the problem.

Here's what Google tracks in the Ford app - pretty much everything about you. Now if the OEM's elect to do away with Android and Apple, they will fail miserbly. The strategy didn't work prior to Apple Car Plan and Android Auto. Consumers wanted one simple thing: To project their phone onto the display of their vehicle. That's it. It took Carplay and Andriod to finally step up and this is where we are at today. They won't succeed if they try going back to their old model.

Thanks for posting that. I think I might get a burner phone and put dummy info on it in the future for my auto phone.

 

[stemplar]

I don't see how this won't affect the value of used cars.

I suspect many consumers who buy new won't be thrilled with the lack of carplay and android auto, but the shiny new system and 3-years of service included with a new car will be enough to get the new vehicles off the lot. 3 years later, though, and trade-ins and lease returns will be looking for new buyers who will have to pay $20 or $30 per month just to get directions in the vehicle. As a family that has bought several used cars since 2017 when carplay became an option, I can confidently say that having carplay and Aauto was an important deciding factor. We don't want subscription fees. We know the tech in the car is antiquated by 5 years or so. Upgrading stereos or head units isn't cheap and rarely is perfectly integrated with steering wheel controls or whatever else. We simply weren't interested in cars that didn't have carpay or Aauto.

 

[stemplar]

Don't get me started as I can't stand this, but as consumers, nodody ever steps up to challenge the app makers and accepts whatever terms are put in our faces. I usually hear, "yeah, but you can't run the app if you don't accept the terms". This is the crux of the problem.

I really appreciate your post, and as a consumer-privacy advocate I loathe all-things-google and agree with most of your post. The quoted part above, however, I don't entirely agree with. Google has been caught flat-out lying about data they collect and also continuing to collect data when consumers turn off tracking in the app, but lawsuits have resulted in (what seems to consumers like) large fines levied against google, but to google the fine pales in comparison with how much money they made by breaking the law and screwing consumers that to them it's just the low cost of doing a very lucrative business. All this is to say that consumers and consumer-privacy advocacy groups have held google to task for the shit they do against consumers, but the "punishment" is never nearly enough to change google's behavior.

I couldn't agree more, though, with the notion that consumers need to stop just accepting that google does what it does and there's nothing we can do about it.

 

[They Call Me Bruce]

BTW is there a way to physically disconnect the modem on the new rangers as there is on the super duties. On my 23 f-350 it was located behind the rear seat and has four connections that I disconnected to render it useless to ford, and no ford app for me.

 

[dbhagen]

GM announcing they’re dropping CarPlay is what dropped GM vehicles from my list of possible buys. The large screen CarPlay in the Ranger was a big selling point. Can’t say I’m representative of the whole market, but at least one customer thinks this way.

 

[ShadowDragon24]

I really appreciate your post, and as a consumer-privacy advocate I loathe all-things-google and agree with most of your post. The quoted part above, however, I don't entirely agree with. Google has been caught flat-out lying about data they collect and also continuing to collect data when consumers turn off tracking in the app, but lawsuits have resulted in (what seems to consumers like) large fines levied against google, but to google the fine pales in comparison with how much money they made by breaking the law and screwing consumers that to them it's just the low cost of doing a very lucrative business. All this is to say that consumers and consumer-privacy advocacy groups have held google to task for the shit they do against consumers, but the "punishment" is never nearly enough to change google's behavior.

I couldn't agree more, though, with the notion that consumers need to stop just accepting that google does what it does and there's nothing we can do about it.

The fines should be the current fines PLUS all the money from the sales. not just the profit from the sales, but the full sale. so if the fine was say 100 million, and they sold 500 million worth of data, and profit 400million(just randon numbers) the fine should be 600 million... or more.

 

[cc1999]

I suspect GM will soon see the error of there decision.
it is Such a dumb move, just a few years ago all the mfg were in a scramble to get car play into their vehicles, it was a critical must have feature for a large percentage of consumers. If you product didn’t have that feature it was not on consumers shopping list.

GM has been struggling a lot in recent years, these terrible decisions like this are not helping.

 

[JimG]

It’s really sad that all the companies we come in contact with is able to, 1- collect all this personal data, 2- sell it to the highest bidder, 3- without regard for what we want, 4- without regard for what’s best for us, 5- pay us nothing. Could you imagine if we received even 10% of what every data collector sold our personal information for. We should reach out to the crooked politicians and ask them to require us to be compensated for our information.
Maybe we could stop this pirating of our personal information thru the HIPA laws. We all have searched medical information for ourselves. Doctors can’t share this information with anyone, but Google can sell our information to anyone.
Just because these apps make us agree to their terms and sign our rights away before we even know what that means to us is wrong. According to some lawyer a person can’t sign their future rights away. So how do these tech companies do it.

 

[ShadowDragon24]

It’s really sad that all the companies we come in contact with is able to, 1- collect all this personal data, 2- sell it to the highest bidder, 3- without regard for what we want, 4- without regard for what’s best for us, 5- pay us nothing. Could you imagine if we received even 10% of what every data collector sold our personal information for. We should reach out to the crooked politicians and ask them to require us to be compensated for our information.
Maybe we could stop this pirating of our personal information thru the HIPA laws. We all have searched medical information for ourselves. Doctors can’t share this information with anyone, but Google can sell our information to anyone.
Just because these apps make us agree to their terms and sign our rights away before we even know what that means to us is wrong. According to some lawyer a person can’t sign their future rights away. So how do these tech companies do it.

the way things are going. it strongly feels like cyberpunk 2077 game and the cyberpunk ttg more and more every day to me, finding all the lore about the cooperations, and what they did.... you are hearing about more and more real life

 

[Jason B]

The only way to keep anyone from tracking, is to not use their services.
Delete Ford pass, disconnect the modem in your vehicle, get off the internet, and leave your phone at home. Those services are free BECAUSE they collect user data. I guess we could always go to a paid services, for things like GPS and You Tube.
As for suing Google, there was a $500 billion lawsuit against them concerning "incognito" mode.
Results? Google agreed to delete the data, that's it. no money paid.

I posted somewhere about how phone and car GPS works. Hint, it's all through Google services.

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