Why do people use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto?

[borski]

Yup, saw that today. What a shame...

Nah - there was no way to make the margins work for them. Apple’s margins are so high on all of their other products that in order for a car to make sense comparatively, they’d have had to sell it for like $500k lol. Would’ve been a beast though, that I’m sure of lol

 

[xponents]

Nah - there was no way to make the margins work for them. Apple’s margins are so high on all of their other products that in order for a car to make sense comparatively, they’d have had to sell it for like $500k lol. Would’ve been a beast though, that I’m sure of lol

Its Apple, so I'm pretty sure that it would become the bestselling car in the world even with a 500k price

 

[blueice89]

They have the best selling headphones I see in the gym and those are 500$ plus a piece I believe it

 

[xponents]

They have the best selling headphones I see in the gym and those are 500$ plus a piece I believe it

My point exactly! Airpods pros are 200, but if you meant Airpods Max(which are actual headphones as opposed to earbuds), then yes.

Maybe 500k is a stretch, but you get the gist. At 100k Apple would get a lot of sales... (although most of those would be on a 120 month finance or something crazy like that).

 

[DeaneG]

...Maybe 500k is a stretch, but you get the gist. At 100k Apple would get a lot of sales... (although most of those would be on a 120 month finance or something crazy like that).

Pulling money out of the pockets of the cool contingent.

 

[xponents]

Pulling money out of the pockets of the cool contingent.

Oh believe me, as a high schooler I see plenty of this. Try to look for an Android phone anywhere (actually, just try to look for ANYTHING not apple) and you will probably get lost while searching the dumpster, the last remaining place to check. Then, try asking somebody who has an iPhone why they bought it and keep going until you find somebody with a valid reason other than following the crowd, and you will end up never exiting the school.

 

[DeaneG]

Oh believe me, as a high schooler I see plenty of this. Try to look for an Android phone anywhere (actually, just try to look for ANYTHING not apple) and you will probably get lost while searching the dumpster, the last remaining place to check.

With Apple having so much money already, you'd think that osmotic pressure would pull money from Apple and put it into the cool crowd's pockets. But it goes to Apple. Weird.

 

[borski]

Oh believe me, as a high schooler I see plenty of this. Try to look for an Android phone anywhere (actually, just try to look for ANYTHING not apple) and you will probably get lost while searching the dumpster, the last remaining place to check. Then, try asking somebody who has an iPhone why they bought it and keep going until you find somebody with a valid reason other than following the crowd, and you will end up never exiting the school.

A lot of people also just prefer it because of the seamless UX. I have used both, and Apple’s ecosystem (if you buy into laptop, watch, phone, Apple TV) is unparalleled. Everything just works, and works well, and everything works with everything else.

Moreover, it doesn’t hurt that nearly everything gets released for iOS first, and sometimes for iOS only.

People love to bitch about the walled garden, but man, I haven’t had to debug my mom’s shit once since I bought her an iMac. It was a weekly phone call with Windoze.

If I bought her an Android I’d never hear my phone stop ringing.

That’s not to say you can’t make Android work well or seamlessly; but because of the fragmentation and lack of vertical integration, it is a pain to get right, and sometimes you just can’t. When MightyText came out it was a big win, and now there are other solutions, but they are all basically workarounds for a lack of vertical integration.

So yeah, I guess that means it’s made for “cool” people lol; really I just think it’s made for people who want their stuff to *just work* the vast majority of the time.

Is it less flexible? Absolutely. And that’s just fine, because it just works.

(Yes, there are times it doesn’t; but comparatively those are far fewer than on Android)

The mistake people make, imho, is trying to go half-in; if you do that, you miss out on the whole point of the vertical integration. The iPhone isn’t inherently a better device than an Android device. They’re pieces of glass with some cameras and some other sensors. It’s the vertical integration that makes it better, and if you just buy an iPhone and use it with Windows and a Samsung watch, you’re gonna be a frustrated human.

Now, sometimes people still don’t like it, but usually that’s because they are trying to make iOS work like Android, which is a recipe for disaster.

 

[blueice89]

I won’t buy some Apple devices like the watch cause it doesn’t benefit me but I used a Fitbit to track steps

 

[Amster]

A lot of people also just prefer it because of the seamless UX. I have used both, and Apple’s ecosystem (if you buy into laptop, watch, phone, Apple TV) is unparalleled. Everything just works, and works well, and everything works with everything else.

Moreover, it doesn’t hurt that nearly everything gets released for iOS first, and sometimes for iOS only.

People love to bitch about the walled garden, but man, I haven’t had to debug my mom’s shit once since I bought her an iMac. It was a weekly phone call with Windoze.

If I bought her an Android I’d never hear my phone stop ringing.

That’s not to say you can’t make Android work well or seamlessly; but because of the fragmentation and lack of vertical integration, it is a pain to get right, and sometimes you just can’t. When MightyText came out it was a big win, and now there are other solutions, but they are all basically workarounds for a lack of vertical integration.

So yeah, I guess that means it’s made for “cool” people lol; really I just think it’s made for people who want their stuff to *just work* the vast majority of the time.

Is it less flexible? Absolutely. And that’s just fine, because it just works.

(Yes, there are times it doesn’t; but comparatively those are far fewer than on Android)

The mistake people make, imho, is trying to go half-in; if you do that, you miss out on the whole point of the vertical integration. The iPhone isn’t inherently a better device than an Android device. They’re pieces of glass with some cameras and some other sensors. It’s the vertical integration that makes it better, and if you just buy an iPhone and use it with Windows and a Samsung watch, you’re gonna be a frustrated human.

Now, sometimes people still don’t like it, but usually that’s because they are trying to make iOS work like Android, which is a recipe for disaster.

All true, and that's why I've never gotten into the Apple thing. I've only had individual pieces, never the ecosystem. I had to have PCs at home for work, back when 386s were new technology, so I just used it for other things as well. I had an iPod when they first came out, and it was kind of frustrating keeping that updated through the PC instead of a Mac. When I finally decided to jump in and get a smart phone, there were things I wanted to do with it, which I just couldn't do on an iPhone. There have been apps I've wanted over the years that were only on iPhones, but never anything serious, until this car thing.

 

[hellolucid]

Wait, you can get video on the Lucid screen?! I wasn’t aware of that. Or, are you talking about your phone?

oh i didn't realize that (i never tried to play a video).

 

[Navstar57]

I’m wondering why people use Apple CarPlay? have been using the Lucid interface and everything is working great. I can use the gps, I can listen to Spotify/usb/bluetooth from my phone, answer /receive calls. I can ask Alexa to change the song, get the weather etc. not sure why even bother using Apple CarPlay with the iPhone. Am I missing something? Does CarPlay offer any advantages that I’m not aware of?

This question is almost comical for me:

As a person of foreign background, Alexa doesn't understand 75% of my "call xxx". AA rarely gets it wrong in the wife's Volvo.

Alexa doesn't text reply well, and doesn't have Whatsapp reply capabilities ( good for international chatting)

Google maps or Waze I agree with all of the above.
Alexa doesn't make the car a mobile workstation via meetings, calendar integration etc... actually writing all this makes me wish I did less work from my vehicle !!

YMMV...
That said, I really enjoy driving the car, space, comfort, and other features, and I don't NEED AA... But I don't find Alexa helpful for my needs. Better texting support would be a game changer IMO.

 

[hellolucid]

My point exactly! Airpods pros are 200, but if you meant Airpods Max(which are actual headphones as opposed to earbuds), then yes.

Maybe 500k is a stretch, but you get the gist. At 100k Apple would get a lot of sales... (although most of those would be on a 120 month finance or something crazy like that).

i believe Bloomberg broke the news originally about the Apple car project. they also said it's rumored to be less than $100k.

 

[chris]

Unfortunately I do not have the ability to even try Apple car play and have zero interest in switching over to an Apple phone from my android.

What I personally do not like about the Lucid NAV is how it always insists on putting me on toll roads instead of surface streets.. because it saves me a whole minute or 2. Even google maps has a setting to 'avoid tolls' but our Lucid NAV has no such option and it really bothers me! I hate having to pay tolls when surface streets are easily available and not that much slower anyway (typically the toll road is out of the way but still 'faster' due to highway speeds and its completely unnecessary!

 

[segbrk]

Unfortunately I do not have the ability to even try Apple car play and have zero interest in switching over to an Apple phone from my android.

What I personally do not like about the Lucid NAV is how it always insists on putting me on toll roads instead of surface streets.. because it saves me a whole minute or 2. Even google maps has a setting to 'avoid tolls' but our Lucid NAV has no such option and it really bothers me! I hate having to pay tolls when surface streets are easily available and not that much slower anyway (typically the toll road is out of the way but still 'faster' due to highway speeds and its completely unnecessary!

Lucky you, I chose to disregard the Lucid nav and get on a (parallel) toll road once. Lucid nav spent the next 30 miles or so telling me to take every exit, loop around, and get back on the main road where I could see heavy traffic.
Look up the Carlinkit if you want to use your Android phone with the Lucid, it sounds like it's working out great for some other owners.

 

[BS8899]

I’m still in the camp that automakers should just let CarPlay and android auto take over integration. They can supply basic software such as navigation and bluetooth audio, I feel it’s a waste of their resources.

Right on!

 

[no gas]

My point exactly! Airpods pros are 200, but if you meant Airpods Max(which are actual headphones as opposed to earbuds), then yes.

Maybe 500k is a stretch, but you get the gist. At 100k Apple would get a lot of sales... (although most of those would be on a 120 month finance or something crazy like that).

And you could have used your apple card and get 0% financing along with 3% back.....

 

[BS8899]

Besides what others mentioned above, the biggest reason is that at some point, all systems stop being maintained. Having the ability to use your phone as the entertainment systems keeps the vehicle more useful.

Fictitious Example: You buy a 10 year old BMW. The built in system only had a 3G radio, so that is no longer supported on any cellular network. It only supported Napster and Zune music anyway. BUT, the car has Carplay, so your phone is able to stream all the newest apps and connect at 5G speeds. You get modern routing (not outdated DVD based navigation from 2014). That's why it's important.

All EV manufacturers will inevitably adopt CarPlay and Android Auto in due time.

I used to have a 2017 Lexus RX450H. Beautiful infotainment system. Bug-free, and a large screen. 3 years later, a new bridge in Long Beach opened and a number of the connection point routings changed. I talked to the Lexus dealer about getting a map update. The Lexus dealer recommended against it. It would have cost $400+, and the (then available) latest map was already outdated. And Lexus (Toyota) is the largest car manufacturer in the world!

It is fool-hearty that boutique EV companies will succeed on their own in developing, debugging, and sustaining a proprietary navigation system. In general, for many of the reasons cited by other posts, the entire info/nav system is better served by CarPlay/AA. If there is a way to "pretty it up", by all means. None of the EV/ICE companies can afford the development, validation, and sustaining of these systems.

As I noted in another post, it is akin to the computer manufacturers in the early days (1980s/early 1990s) where everyone tried to customize their own OS/Chipset/GUI. It is now mostly Apple/MS on PCs. and Apple/Android on phones. The outcome for EVs, autos in general, will be the same.

 

[DeaneG]

All EV manufacturers will inevitably adopt CarPlay and Android Auto in due time.

Carplay - yes.
IMO there's not much reason for Android Auto on cars that are running AAOS/GAS with an app store. Many EVs being introduced from several manufacturers already have this combination. We've been using AAOS/GAS in our Volvo EV for over two years. It has Carplay but not Android Auto, and we've never missed AA.

 

[chris]

Carplay - yes.
IMO there's not much reason for Android Auto on cars that are running AAOS/GAS with an app store. Many EVs being introduced from several manufacturers already have this combination. We've been using AAOS/GAS in our Volvo EV for over two years. It has Carplay but not Android Auto, and we've never missed AA.

That's you.. I miss my android auto big time in my Lucid after using it many years in prior ICE cars! I've also never had or wanted an iPhone(apple)