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> CarPlay is amazingly good As someone who recently rode in a car with CarPlay and saw two young technology professionals try to use it, I disagree. One of th

by ken 7y ago

> CarPlay is amazingly good As someone who recently rode in a car with CarPlay and saw two young technology professionals try to use it, I disagree. One of them owned the system and drove it every day it still didn't seem like either one really understood it ("Why's it doing that?" "Maybe because ..."). I agree that all the built-in systems I've seen are terrible, but CarPlay seems like merely the "least bad" implementation at this point. If that's as good as we can do, I'd say we're still in the "research project" phase. Nobody riding in my (ancient) car has ever had trouble finding the big red/blue knob to change the temperature, or understanding "Here's my 2006 iPod if you want music, or unplug it and plug in your phone if you want". This is a solved problem.

inetknght 7y ago
> "Here's my 2006 iPod if you want music, or unplug it and plug in your phone if you want" Well, your 2006 iPod still uses a 3.5mm analog port. But that newfangled phone over there needs a new $400 Apple USB Thunderlightning Wireless Port. And your car doesn't seem to have an interface for that.
- tjoff 7y ago
  The solution is to not buy a phone without a 3.5mm jack.
  - alex_anglin 7y ago
    With the 3.5mm jack, you need to handle your phone for the uses the parent mentioned. This is much more dangerous than using phone integration in the vehicle and illegal in many jurisdictions.
- frosted-flakes 7y ago
  Tiny bluetooth to aux adapters cost $10–20 on Amazon and work amazingly well. Just get one that has a constant power source (no battery), and try to plug it in to a switched power outlet so it disconnects when you shut the car off.
  - brokenmachine 7y ago
    >bluetooth... work amazingly well. No. Bluetooth is slow to change tracks, slow to pause, slow to connect, has annoying pairing issues, has lower sound quality, and is just generally subpar. >Just get one that has a constant power source (no battery), and try to plug it in to a switched power outlet So it's wireless, but with wires. I rarely use either though, my car has usb and I have a 32Gb stick of music that stays in there.
- chipotle_coyote 7y ago
  The Lightning to analog headphone adapter is $10, and IIRC, I had a USB port in my 2002 Acura RSX in a $200 third-party head unit anyway. But, pretending everything Apple makes is a kajillion billion dollars and incompatible with everything is sure a lot more fun!
gerbilly 7y ago
Why is carplay even a thing? Geez, can't people stop fiddling with their phones? They've become like a kind of soother, a techno nanny that people can't do without. The sooner people put those things down, the better off we'll be.
- judge2020 7y ago
  So you can use your preferred maps app in your car, so you can choose music using your favorite music app, so you can send and receive text messages without taking your eyes off the road. Without it, people would just be looking at their phones anyways. Guess we should go back to paper maps and listening to AM radio.
  - gerbilly 7y ago
    Thanks, you're just making my point for me. I mean you said app twice in it. Ten years ago, nothing was mediated via an app, somehow we managed to survive. Now almost everyone has been turned into a phone zombie. You're wasting your lives people! FOMO is entirely backwards, you shouldn't be afraid of missing out on something in your phone, you should be afraid of missing out on your entire life.
    - ad-hominem 7y ago
      Thanks, you're just making my point for me. Thirty years ago, nothing was on the internet, somehow we managed to survive. One hundred years ago, nobody took antibiotics, somehow we managed to survive. Five hundred years ago, nobody read books, somehow we managed to survive. Ten thousand years ago, nobody farmed grains, somehow we managed to survive.
    - Johnny555 7y ago
      10 years ago we still had in-car GPS's, but instead of being an app it was a standalone device, I don't see how that makes anything better. Having my car read a SMS from my wife reminding me to pick up eggs from the store on the way home hardly seems like being a zombie. We survived without a lot of things we have now that we didn't have 10, or even 100 years ago, but that doesn't mean we were better off without them.
coryfklein 7y ago
I just had my first experience with CarPlay this weekend and it was not positive. What I want? An empty shelf just to the right of the steering wheel where I can charge my phone and connect it to car audio. I don't want to hand-off my navigation or music selection to the vehicle, just allow me to put my phone in a prominent visible location.
- namdnay 7y ago
  I'm a huge fan of Carplay. Instead of having to listen to FM radio or fiddle with a phone screen on a silly dashboard sticker things, I get a massive screen with my phone on it. I can listen to podcasts and Spotify, follow Waze, dictate messages, all without fiddling
  - coryfklein 7y ago
    Maybe I don't switch back and forth between stuff while I'm driving as much as you do? I set everything up before I need to focus on the road, and then I just drive. If I need to change to a different playlist, or switch from music to the news, I pull over, make the switch, then start driving again. If CarPlay makes it more tempting or productive for me to do non-driving things while I am driving, then it is not a good driving UX.
    - magduf 7y ago
      It's generally illegal to pull over on an interstate highway unless you have a true emergency. Pulling over in traffic, and then accelerating and merging again (in the absence of an actual acceleration lane as with on/off ramps) is dangerous.
      - coryfklein 7y ago
        Yes. In this case, if changing my audio source right at that time is that important, I'll get off on an exit. But I don't think that has ever happened to me.
    - 7y ago
gnopgnip 7y ago
Carplay would just be for music, navigation, and phone calls. It is only replacing the infotainment system. You should still have buttons or knobs or sliders for the AC/heat, cruise control, defrost, window heaters, seat heat, seat A/C, traction control, and anything else.
ubermonkey 7y ago
>One of them owned the system and drove it every day it still didn't seem like either one really understood it Is it possible your friends are dumb? Because my 79 year old mother doesn't have an issue with CarPlay. The only potentially confusing thing is that it becomes your phone screen, and things you do on the phone influence what's on the CP screen. The possible confusing-one-time scenario would be, say, driver using AppleMaps to navigate somewhere, and passenger using phone to look up the capital of Nebraska or whatever. When passenger pushes the home button to go to the browser, CarPlay will exit navigation and show ITS home screen, too. Nav is still happening; you just have to switch back to it, just as you would on the phone. And, again, this should really only be surprising once. >Nobody riding in my (ancient) car has ever had trouble finding the big red/blue knob to change the temperature, or understanding "Here's my 2006 iPod if you want music, or unplug it and plug in your phone if you want". This is a solved problem. CarPlay makes no effort to provide anything other than phone integration, so your climate control knob is safe. Throwing shade on CarPlay by saying the problem was solved with an aux cable is pretty laughable, honestly. Sure, you could fiddle with your phone and play music, but there's no access to nav, no access to voice controls, and you have to grabble with your phone to change anything. CarPlay provides a large screen in a static location that simplifies the music approach, plus gives you access to other functions. This is materially better than an aux cable.
satyenr 7y ago
Are you sure you are talking about CarPlay? I could understand Android Auto to an extant -- it can be slightly confusing to the uninitiated, but CarPlay is just about as simple as you get -- at least in my experience. (Please do not start a iOS vs Android battle over this comment -- this is simply my experience -- I use both on a daily basis -- your mileage may vary)

by ken 7y ago

inetknght 7y ago

> "Here's my 2006 iPod if you want music, or unplug it and plug in your phone if you want" Well, your 2006 iPod still uses a 3.5mm analog port. But that newfangled phone over there needs a new $400 Apple USB Thunderlightning Wireless Port. And your car doesn't seem to have an interface for that.

tjoff 7y ago
The solution is to not buy a phone without a 3.5mm jack.
- alex_anglin 7y ago
  With the 3.5mm jack, you need to handle your phone for the uses the parent mentioned. This is much more dangerous than using phone integration in the vehicle and illegal in many jurisdictions.
frosted-flakes 7y ago
Tiny bluetooth to aux adapters cost $10–20 on Amazon and work amazingly well. Just get one that has a constant power source (no battery), and try to plug it in to a switched power outlet so it disconnects when you shut the car off.
- brokenmachine 7y ago
  >bluetooth... work amazingly well. No. Bluetooth is slow to change tracks, slow to pause, slow to connect, has annoying pairing issues, has lower sound quality, and is just generally subpar. >Just get one that has a constant power source (no battery), and try to plug it in to a switched power outlet So it's wireless, but with wires. I rarely use either though, my car has usb and I have a 32Gb stick of music that stays in there.
chipotle_coyote 7y ago
The Lightning to analog headphone adapter is $10, and IIRC, I had a USB port in my 2002 Acura RSX in a $200 third-party head unit anyway. But, pretending everything Apple makes is a kajillion billion dollars and incompatible with everything is sure a lot more fun!

gerbilly 7y ago

Why is carplay even a thing? Geez, can't people stop fiddling with their phones? They've become like a kind of soother, a techno nanny that people can't do without. The sooner people put those things down, the better off we'll be.

judge2020 7y ago
So you can use your preferred maps app in your car, so you can choose music using your favorite music app, so you can send and receive text messages without taking your eyes off the road. Without it, people would just be looking at their phones anyways. Guess we should go back to paper maps and listening to AM radio.
- gerbilly 7y ago
  Thanks, you're just making my point for me. I mean you said app twice in it. Ten years ago, nothing was mediated via an app, somehow we managed to survive. Now almost everyone has been turned into a phone zombie. You're wasting your lives people! FOMO is entirely backwards, you shouldn't be afraid of missing out on something in your phone, you should be afraid of missing out on your entire life.
  - ad-hominem 7y ago
    Thanks, you're just making my point for me. Thirty years ago, nothing was on the internet, somehow we managed to survive. One hundred years ago, nobody took antibiotics, somehow we managed to survive. Five hundred years ago, nobody read books, somehow we managed to survive. Ten thousand years ago, nobody farmed grains, somehow we managed to survive.
  - Johnny555 7y ago
    10 years ago we still had in-car GPS's, but instead of being an app it was a standalone device, I don't see how that makes anything better. Having my car read a SMS from my wife reminding me to pick up eggs from the store on the way home hardly seems like being a zombie. We survived without a lot of things we have now that we didn't have 10, or even 100 years ago, but that doesn't mean we were better off without them.

coryfklein 7y ago

I just had my first experience with CarPlay this weekend and it was not positive. What I want? An empty shelf just to the right of the steering wheel where I can charge my phone and connect it to car audio. I don't want to hand-off my navigation or music selection to the vehicle, just allow me to put my phone in a prominent visible location.

namdnay 7y ago
I'm a huge fan of Carplay. Instead of having to listen to FM radio or fiddle with a phone screen on a silly dashboard sticker things, I get a massive screen with my phone on it. I can listen to podcasts and Spotify, follow Waze, dictate messages, all without fiddling
- coryfklein 7y ago
  Maybe I don't switch back and forth between stuff while I'm driving as much as you do? I set everything up before I need to focus on the road, and then I just drive. If I need to change to a different playlist, or switch from music to the news, I pull over, make the switch, then start driving again. If CarPlay makes it more tempting or productive for me to do non-driving things while I am driving, then it is not a good driving UX.
  - magduf 7y ago
    It's generally illegal to pull over on an interstate highway unless you have a true emergency. Pulling over in traffic, and then accelerating and merging again (in the absence of an actual acceleration lane as with on/off ramps) is dangerous.
    - coryfklein 7y ago
      Yes. In this case, if changing my audio source right at that time is that important, I'll get off on an exit. But I don't think that has ever happened to me.
  - 7y ago

gnopgnip 7y ago

Carplay would just be for music, navigation, and phone calls. It is only replacing the infotainment system. You should still have buttons or knobs or sliders for the AC/heat, cruise control, defrost, window heaters, seat heat, seat A/C, traction control, and anything else.

ubermonkey 7y ago

>One of them owned the system and drove it every day it still didn't seem like either one really understood it Is it possible your friends are dumb? Because my 79 year old mother doesn't have an issue with CarPlay. The only potentially confusing thing is that it becomes your phone screen, and things you do on the phone influence what's on the CP screen. The possible confusing-one-time scenario would be, say, driver using AppleMaps to navigate somewhere, and passenger using phone to look up the capital of Nebraska or whatever. When passenger pushes the home button to go to the browser, CarPlay will exit navigation and show ITS home screen, too. Nav is still happening; you just have to switch back to it, just as you would on the phone. And, again, this should really only be surprising once. >Nobody riding in my (ancient) car has ever had trouble finding the big red/blue knob to change the temperature, or understanding "Here's my 2006 iPod if you want music, or unplug it and plug in your phone if you want". This is a solved problem. CarPlay makes no effort to provide anything other than phone integration, so your climate control knob is safe. Throwing shade on CarPlay by saying the problem was solved with an aux cable is pretty laughable, honestly. Sure, you could fiddle with your phone and play music, but there's no access to nav, no access to voice controls, and you have to grabble with your phone to change anything. CarPlay provides a large screen in a static location that simplifies the music approach, plus gives you access to other functions. This is materially better than an aux cable.

satyenr 7y ago

Are you sure you are talking about CarPlay? I could understand Android Auto to an extant -- it can be slightly confusing to the uninitiated, but CarPlay is just about as simple as you get -- at least in my experience. (Please do not start a iOS vs Android battle over this comment -- this is simply my experience -- I use both on a daily basis -- your mileage may vary)