this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
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Can someone explain what exactly carplay/Android auto do? I've seen a lot about them recently but have yet to fully understand what they are, besides that they are for interfacing with a car.
My experience with connecting phones to my (parent's) cars is just using Bluetooth to connect and play music from the car speakers and receive calls and texts over it but that's about it. The cars are both Toyota RAV4s, one fully ICE one hybrid.
My daughter has it. It makes the cars touchscreen a customized extension of the apps interface. So maps or whatever is running on the car's screen. Some of the controls on the side of the screen also interact with the phone. It's more integrated than a bluetooth connection.
It lets you use the apps from your phone on the screen in the car, instead of having to download separate apps for the car system if that is even possible. The apps are installed on the phone but used through the car touch screen.
This is handy for navigation, music selection and phone calls and texting (using voice to text), because you can continue your stuff from where you were on the phone before entering the car.
You can also use the Google Assistant while driving, so you can do everything that it can do. Some people use Google home for various stuff, so f.i. it's possible to start your coffee maker and set the temperatures in your house by talking to your car while driving home. Technically you could do that with the assistant without any connection whatsoever but it makes sense to have it on the screen.
And its legal. Touching a phone is illegal while driving, but touching the car screen is not.. so there's that.
Personally I think it would be easier to just use the phone in a holder. However android auto or Apple car play lets you use the buttons on the steering wheel though. Bluetooth also does that to some degree, but not for all apps.
I think it's a fad, but as of now it's the most complete integration between the car and whatever services you normally use on your phone.
I feel like a big plus of it too is not requiring additional subscriptions to internet, especially to get live info. Once you reach 2-3 years of your included internet with cars then, its time for the subscriptions for internet and other services to begin. IMO most would want to avoid paying for more subscriptions when you have a perfectly good phone in your pocket that can be hooked up to do everything the car is asking you to pay for monthly. Another thing for me is being able to use your phone or phone keyboard to look stuff up, before you start driving, to find stuff much quicker rather than typing on the infotainment system. Also updates don't rely on the car manufacturer to continue updating their system.
Thanks, that seems pretty cool! Not a whole lot more than what I can currently do with my phone on a holder, assuming it isn't using Android auto for the Bluetooth connection and I just don't know. it already reads texts aloud and can do calls from the car screen, and music can be controlled through it too. I think there is a way to speak back to it too but we've never bothered to do the voice recognition training on it
All that bullshit goes away with android auto and carplay. Your car simply is your phone UI, so no more needing to train it, integrate it, sync it, etc.. It just does everything as well as your phone does, because it is your phone.
yeah that does seem pretty nice. definitely looking forward to it on any future cars i own!
This is a way to get consumers to go to a subscription based system for getting features they already have on the supercomputer in their pocket.
Other articles about GM's plan include things like "Google Maps included free for 8 years!"
Well what happens after 8 years? What about if I sell the car? Tesla already has AutoPilot as a non-transerrable item. Even though you might have paid for it, the person you sell the car to has to pay for it again.
"Free" to you likely just means that GM has paid Google for access, and that cost is built into the cost of the car. So it's not really free.
OnStar costs like $30/mo and is probably required for an internet connection so you can use the "free" Google Maps. Or they'll sell you some overpriced cellular plan. Or you'll need to add your car as a separate device on your cell plan for some extra monthly fee.
Do I have to sign in to the car's version of Google Maps?
What if you prefer Apple Maps and have locations saved there?
The car integration lets me use hands free to initiate streaming music. Using a Bluetooth connection for that means I might need to pick up my phone and unlock it while driving in order to be able to.
But really they want to sell you a Sirius XM plan instead.