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I was always pretty skeptical of CarPlay, honestly. Bluetooth audio + maps on a phone holder seemed like it was perfectly fine, and putting myself even further

I was always pretty skeptical of CarPlay, honestly. Bluetooth audio + maps on a phone holder seemed like it was perfectly fine, and putting myself even further into the Apple ecosystem felt unnecessary. In short, I had always considered an auto's entertainment system/software to be something to ignore. Renting a car with CarPlay for a week (and a reasonably long "commute" during that time) completely changed my mind. Typically the only reason I ever used a built in car display up to this point was...to set up my phone in Bluetooth. Suddenly I had familiar applications that made that screen useful: Maps, Overcast (podcasts), Messages (read aloud, not displayed, of course), etc. A phone in a holder is, of course, totally acceptable and fine, but as I'm just starting to consider buying my first car in almost a decade I'm suddenly looking at CarPlay as a requirement. Other notes on this for those that are interested: A lot of cars with CarPlay also support Android Auto, and they always have a base system if you'd prefer not to use either. OP is talking about this from a luxury car perspective, but it's available in a really wide price range from entry to super-luxury.

ex3ndr 7y ago
You don't need car play it is a crap comparing to, for example, Teala's infotament.
- mmcclure 7y ago
  I actually couldn't disagree more, I deeply dislike Tesla's infotainment center. It's a much larger version of "traditional" manufacturer's displays with more functionality that I want shoved into it. I'd much prefer that display be an extension of my personal device. I don't want a new infotainment ecosystem with the manufacturer's choices baked in, I want the an extension of the one I'm going to keep using when I get out of the car, replete with my personal preferences for things like map applications, music, etc.
  - fps 7y ago
    yeah, I've used Tesla's software, it's garbage compared to android auto.
    - myko 7y ago
      i prefer my wife's Android Auto ('18 Nissan Rogue) to my '18 Model S :(
      - singingboyo 7y ago
        Huh, someone else with an '18 rogue. Does your wife's have an issue where once in a while it refuses to go into AA, and you have to hard-reboot the infotainment system? Mine does this thing where AA icon shows up, touching it does does the click animation, but doesn't actually launch AA. That's my only real complaint with the system, actually. Once in a while it just really doesn't want to launch AA. Once I'm in though... works great. (Okay, maybe the steering wheel could use a play/pause button, but that's minor)
        myko 7y ago
        Definitely has a similar issue now and then.
    - ex3ndr 7y ago
      AA is a different beast than CarPlay.
      - persistent 7y ago
        They're both miles ahead of what you get from Tesla.
        revscat 7y ago
        How?
  - CalChris 7y ago
    This is interesting because I rather like Tesla's nav system and music. The browser is kinda lame but I have a phone for that. Perhaps it was my coming from the crime against humanity that is CarWings in my old Nissan Leaf. I liked my Leaf, but there was nothing on the center console that wasn't better on my iPhone.
    - saagarjha 7y ago
      New Nissan Leafs support both CarPlay and Android Auto, thankfully.
      - MBCook 7y ago
        From what I’ve seen most cars that support one support the other. It seems to be rare for a car to only support one of the two. Must be easy to implement both of you do one of them.
        zrobotics 7y ago
        Most of the systems in-car are android based, so android-auto support is pretty much free; and iThings are so common that not supporting them would likely cost sales.
- deleted 7y ago
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- o-__-o 7y ago
  good luck figuring out how to turn on your a/c without looking. I loved my old Ford Fusion because it was a touch interface but with raised and lowered plastic so you knew what you were pressing. https://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/11/2015-ford-fusion-energi-titanium-sedan-temp-control.png https://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/11/2015-ford... the newer fusions replaced controls with actual buttons which looks cheaper and doesn't make it any easier to figure out without looking. probably due to increased failures or simply cost savings
  - natch 7y ago
    It comes on automatically when needed but thanks.
    - kalleboo 7y ago
      Cool, so it has an IR camera to sense my body temperature?
  - kwhitefoot 7y ago
    You can use the menu button and scroll wheel on the steering wheel and see the response in the dashboard.
wcunning 7y ago
I've been waffling on this, but my biggest concern about the center stack display is that it's far away from looking at the road. I've been using a suction cup RAM mount on the windshield for years with Waze up constantly on my phone, podcasts playing to the bluetooth or wired connection, and most importantly, I have to look slightly to the right to see the directions, not down and far away. Even then, it's refocusing on something close instead of staying with my eye focus on the middle distance. Someday I hope to switch to a HUD, but my 2010 Mazda Miata does not leave a lot of dash room to mount such a thing aftermarket.
- nodefortytwo 7y ago
  I agree, I have Android Auto in my 2019 VW Tiguan. Its awesome but its very easy to spend more time than you think picking a playlist from spotify etc. With your phone you know not to touch it when driving but the center console feels acceptable. I had one close call where the car's auto breaking saved me from hitting a car that decided to turn without indicating. now I treat my centre console almost like my phone, I will use the console stopped at lights but not my phone.
  - alexktz 7y ago
    glad to hear you've modified your driving habits! i use voice control and steering wheel buttons only whilst driving, works well enough!
  - maccard 7y ago
    Does your VW have a microphone button? My 2017 golf does, and it works reasonably well with Google assistant.
- csours 7y ago
  To me, the size of display outweighs location by far. Also the fact that I don't have to worry about a suction cup or magnet or whatever letting go while I'm driving; also I don't have to glue anything to my dash. To be clear, I hardly touch the infotainment screen while in motion. I can do almost everything I need to by voice, the only touch command is to choose an option from a list. It would be nice to have a HUD projected on the windshield, but I don't find it distracting to look at the Infotainment screen.
js2 7y ago
Really can depend on the car too. I mostly love CarPlay in my Mazda[1]. My wife hates it in her Chevy Volt[2]. [1] Apple gives the car manufacturer the ability to truncate the length of scrollable lists while the car is in motion, which Mazda does. Nothing like only being able to see the first 15 items in a list of podcasts, or artists, or songs. I hate this. But otherwise the implementation is great, especially the integration between the car's physical controls and CarPlay. There's a steering wheel button to bring up Siri. There's direct physical button access to Maps, Now Playing, and the home screen. It would be nice if Apple allowed me to set Google Maps as the default mapping app, but Apple maps has become good enough most of the time. Aside, my 2016 CX-9 came w/o CarPlay. Mazda made it available as a DIY'able retrofit last year. The parts were a couple hundred dollars and it took a couple hours to retrofit. [2] Once the entire entertainment system froze up and it didn't fix itself till like the next day. I've been meaning to check if there's an update from Chevy.
- wcunning 7y ago
  I'm an Android user, but have been considering switching to Apple, and it turns out that you can make GMaps or Waze the default mapping app for CarPlay. I was just reading about it as part of this thread. https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/24/how-to-use-waze-on-carplay/ https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/24/how-to-use-waze-on-carplay/
  - modeless 7y ago
    That's just putting a shortcut on the screen. It doesn't change any other defaults. Siri will still only open Apple Maps. Same with Calendar, iMessage, Contacts, etc.
    - lparry 7y ago
      “Give me directions to foo” - gives directions to foo in apple maps “Give me directions to foo using Waze” - gives directions to do using Waze This might be new, but it definitely works on the iOS 13 beta, although I’m pretty sure it worked on iOS 12. It would still be nicer if we could just set default apps
bena 7y ago
I think most cars with CarPlay support Android Auto because most systems are essentially Android tablets. And that's one thing I have noticed, Android pretty much owns the industrial market. Every touchscreen device you see in the wild is basically an Android device. Those payment kiosk things in restaurants, CarPlay, etc.
- ofibrvev 7y ago
  Well there’s a good reason for this: In this day and age it’s pretty much the ideal option. In fact I think android makes a horrible phone OS (not because it has no good features) but I’ve never had an android phone that didn’t become a battery sucking and unmanageable nightmare. And are high quality audio APIs available (I gave up caring a few years ago) AFAIC, Android is best suited as an industrial OS. Before android it was Windows CE, which was even bigger garbage than Android, and of course now it is dead. Alternatives are things like custom rolled Linux (and really why?) and RTOS/GUI platforms like vxworks, qnx.. they have their place. 90% of shit can just use stock android and whatever mods you need.
  - joezydeco 7y ago
    Linux serves as the hardware abstraction layer for Android. You’re going to need a “custom rolled” kernel for whatever platform you decide to launch in the car.
  - bena 7y ago
    Yeah, I was just making the observation. It does make sense, it's pretty customizable and a lot of the legwork is done for you.
  - 0x38B 7y ago
    I love Android as a mobile OS on my Pixel 2; especially with apps like MiXplorer (fully featured file manager). I can't count the number of times being able to plug in a flash drive and copy files to it has saved me. Subjectively, running Android 10 on a Pixel 2, battery life has never been better, and apps running in the background sucking up my battery hasn't been a problem. I've used the ubiquitous cheap Huawei and Xiaomi phones, and while they get the job done, the experience isn't nearly as good, as you have to deal with their UI and clutter. Unfortunate.
guan 7y ago
Did the car you rented have a Play/Pause button on the steering wheel? That’s what I am missing the most: being able to quickly pause (and later resume) whatever I’m listening to through CarPlay because I need to pay attention to something that’s happening inside or outside the car. Reading the CarPlay documentation, it seems that it supports such a button, but it’s hard to find a list of cars that have one.
- mmcclure 7y ago
  I believe the steering wheel had some basic media controls, but honestly I didn't end up using them very much. I found myself using Siri more than usual so I wouldn't need to spend too much time looking at buttons to figure out what they did, but I think I could get used to more buttons if it was my own vehicle and not a short term rental.
- MBCook 7y ago
  So on my Mom’s recent Honda we’ve (accidentally) discovered that pressing the volume knob like you would to turn off an old radio plays/pauses what you’re listening to. Give that a try on any car you look at, you may find it works.
  - guan 7y ago
    Thanks; I’ll double-check but I think pushing the volume button turns the whole infotainment system off. Which does pause whatever’s playing, but also turns off navigation or whatever else I had on the CarPlay screen.
- photojosh 7y ago
  Yes, this is one of my pet peeves too. The steering wheel has volume controls with press-to-mute, then right next to them are forward and back controls... a press on that control would be perfect for play/pause, but alas— no.
  - DavidAdams 7y ago
    My volvo's big central volume control has a large play/pause button in the middle and it works to pause anything that Carplay is playing. There's also a play/pause control on the steering wheel. Overall, my 2016 Volvo does a pretty good job with Carplay integration, though it also has a bunch of native software that mostly sucks in comparison, such as a voice control that I've never been able to use.
jsty 7y ago
Also being able to control everything via Siri with actually competent speech recognition is a godsend compared to the several minutes of shouting in various accents that most in-built voice control systems require. The need for internet access is slightly irritating however.
- josteink 7y ago
  You mean Siri is actually usable while driving? Is there a “trick” to this? I’ve yet to have it work a single time, and have just given up, after (in your own words) shouting at the car.
  - cstejerean 7y ago
    In my experience Siri over CarPlay is significantly more reliable (in that it understands me better over road noise) than Siri over Bluetooth audio (in both cases using the mic/speakers built into the car). FWIW phone calls also sound clearer when plugged in via USB. I’m guessing it’s because of poor audio quality for voice over Bluetooth in at least the cars I tried.
  - magoon 7y ago
    Hold the home button briefly (lower-left corner) for Siri on CarPlay. It’s actually fantastic.
deleted 7y ago
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ryanmcbride 7y ago
Really the only issue I have with carplay is 1. That I can't tell siri to play things on spotify, etc, although apparently siri support for spotify is coming. I'm on the iOS 13.1 beta but it's still not there 2. Carplay limits the listing of bands/albums/songs in the menu. I get that they don't want me visually scrolling through hundreds of albums while I'm driving, but since there's no carplay search, and I can't (yet) control spotify with siri, this means to play the music I want I have to pick up my phone and select my music from there. Much less safe than if they just listed all my music on the screen. They list far more albums when the car is at a stop, but it's still not all of it. Scrolling through my artists gets me to about G before it stops listing. Siri support for spotify really can't come soon enough for me.
- clay_the_ripper 7y ago
  I think Spotify needs to implement Siri support so I’m not surprised that it doesn’t work on the beta. I’m also excited for this integration because I loathe Apple Music. Spotify is so much better. It’s annoying that Spotify doesn’t work as wel natively. If Apple Music was just a Spotify clone, I’d happily switch to them just for the first party support, but they insist on making it different. Spotify’s interface and music organization is just so much better.
  - ryanmcbride 7y ago
    Yeah, after the latest beta release if I ask siri to play on spotify she says "Spotify hasn't set up playing from siri yet" or something along those lines. I'm gonna be a happy camper when it starts working.
- js2 7y ago
  The truncated lists are imposed by the car manufacturer, not Apple. I agree it's very annoying. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20833791 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20833791
  - tass 7y ago
    Apple provide the API, so this is just the car manufacturer doing "the right thing". I think the wording may some "certain cars" enforce it because after-market head units may not be connected up to the speedometer and therefore have no way of including this information.
eisa01 7y ago
I find Carplay dangerous for my use case: As the interface follows what’s happening on the phone, you often lose the maps and directions as the guy controlling CarPlay need to check his messages I have no idea how they’ve managed to design it like this, it’s like they only think single driver commuters would use it
- eunoia 7y ago
  This behavior is changing with iOS 13.
- wlesieutre 7y ago
  In iOS 13 they're conceding that this isn't how it's always used - a passenger might hook their phone to CarPlay, or the driver might hand their phone off for someone else to use. That's releasing early next month. Probably a gold master build at the event on 9/10, with wide release following after that.
  - melvinmt 7y ago
    Good, that's one of my biggest pet peeves for CarPlay. I'm also not a fan of Siri, would love to keep it disabled as I normally do, but CarPlay doesn't even start without it :/
- bradknowles 7y ago
  I never thought that anyone other than the driver would want to connect their phone to the head unit in the car, regardless of how many other people might or might not also be in the car. On further reflection, I think it's still overall not a good idea. If the driver wants to change the music being played, or the volume, or whatever, and there is a passenger in the car with them, then I would think it would be okay for the driver to have the passenger do that on their behalf. And that might affect the display. But I guess I can wait to see if iOS 13 can change my mind.
  - cbsks 7y ago
    Anecdote: I have only used CarPlay in rental cars, and every time I start driving while my wife connects her phone and gets directions and music going. It’s annoying that the map disappears when she checks her messages.
ghaff 7y ago
Last year I got a rental with CarPlay. It was the first time I had a system in a rental that didn’t seem more intent on downloading my contacts than on displaying nav info or playing music.
- cptskippy 7y ago
  The first and last thing I do in every rental car I'm in is delete the stored contacts. You're all welcome.
  - dreamcompiler 7y ago
    Same here, but it's often damnably (maybe even purposefully) difficult to figure out how to do it.
- climb_stealth 7y ago
  It's funny you say that, because last time I had a rental with Android Auto it would not let me even start it without allowing access to my contacts and other details. I ended up not using it because of that. The normal car bluetooth systems on the other hand don't mind if you don't give them access to things, and you can restrict it to music and calls only.
  - williamchangnpu 7y ago
    Maybe they just want to facilitate you by letting you voice your contact and send message or call your friends by voice. I don't have a car with Android Auto, can you deny the permission?
    - fullstop 7y ago
      I use LineageOS which has something called PrivacyGuard. I can give the app permission to access my contacts but then deny it at the PrivacyGuard level. I'm pretty sure that it just returns an empty contact list in this case.
underwater 7y ago
As a counterpoint, my VW in-car navigation integrates with the second screen, so I get glanceable navigation behind the steering wheel. And, in Australia, it's very easy to lose mobile reception. Having usable maps on device is a must.
- a-wu 7y ago
  In iOS 13, manufacturers will be able to integrate the second screen with CarPlay. Whether or not they will is too be seen.
- maccard 7y ago
  That feature is my least favourite part of Android Auto - using it on the main display hides the navigation behind the steering wheel. I really hope this can be fixed.
- arethuza 7y ago
  That's the main reason I still use built-in navigation rather than from my phone.
mcguire 7y ago
I really liked Android Auto, but I think a recent update has screwed it up, so that any audio app frequently switches to Amazon Music. (https://support.google.com/androidauto/thread/8646291?hl=en https://support.google.com/androidauto/thread/8646291?hl=en)
- MikeTaylor 7y ago
  Add to the LOOOONG list of "I really liked X but a recent update has screwed it up". It's amazing how often this happens.
- brewdad 7y ago
  This was happening to me (and many others). I disabled notifications in the Amazon Music app and the switching has stopped. I still get an occasional dropout where the song gets really quiet for a few seconds but my Spotify app keeps running and no longer switches to Amazon Music randomly.
ummonk 7y ago
You can always add a CarPlay compatible aftermarket infotainment panel.
- cyxxon 7y ago
  But then you lose the ability to control various parts of your car, because these are often controlled through the entertainment system...
dillonmckay 7y ago
This morning I was searching github for carplay projects. There was one that could spoof an iPad and allow it to be used as the CarPlay display and interface from the iPhone.
- jcurbo 7y ago
  Is it this one? https://github.com/b3ll/Ignition https://github.com/b3ll/Ignition
  - dillonmckay 7y ago
    Yes. :)
jammygit 7y ago
I really just want my car to drive and to last a long time. Aren’t these screens almost entirely bad? In 10 years, screens in cars will be the new smoking, except that they kill other people, and the NYT will be full of editorials about how they snuck up on society and caused so many accidents - who could have known?
- sizzle 7y ago
  I hope we have self driving cars in 10 years...
snaky 7y ago
> CarPlay as a requirement Why don't you loose your requirement to just 2DIN space to install your favourite Car Play compatible gadget into?
- puzzlingcaptcha 7y ago
  If you really want to you can even get it in 1DIN with a detachable screen such as Pioneer SPH-EVO82DAB-UNI / SPH-EVO62DAB-UNI For android DIY folks , another route is to build your own open source AndroidAuto receiver with e.g. http://headunit.viktorgino.me/ http://headunit.viktorgino.me/ + https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-official-7-touchscreen-case https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-official-7-touchs...
- Yhippa 7y ago
  Because a lot of manufacturers put control of the car's settings in the stock head unit. You'd have to swap it out if you want to change a particular setting. What I'd be willing to compromise on is an external screen that will handle CarPlay or Android Auto. I can't seem to find one out there.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
husuget 7y ago
Why not just use CarPlay on your phone with the phone holder? Is it not exactly the same as a car with built in CarPlay? Atleast on android auto I noticed no difference between the App on my phone and connecting my phone to my car's Android Auto.
- TylerE 7y ago
  The whole point of CarPlay is that it’s on the built in screen. Many states have laws now that prohibit operating any sort of handheld device while driving (and yes, a phone or even GPS unit in a mount still counts as handheld)
  - husuget 7y ago
    That's really dumb, phones now have 6"+ screens and are way more powerful than any head unit in a car... "Many states have laws now that prohibit operating any sort of handheld device while driving" I don't believe you, otherwise most uber drivers, food delivery drivers and taxi drivers would be getting pulled over by the police.
    - muro 7y ago
      https://www.germanautolabs.com/blog/mobile-phone-driving-bans-in-europe https://www.germanautolabs.com/blog/mobile-phone-driving-ban... Maybe not the authoritative source but interacting with a phone while driving is indeed illegal in all of Europe.
      - vsl 7y ago
        You are wrong, in the ad absurdum extrapolation in this thread that using a phone for navigation is illegal in “all of Europe”. You presumably meant EU, a part but not all of Europe, but that too is wrong. For example, the law in the Czech Republic, a member state of EU, states that it forbidden to hold a phone (or other handheld device), in hand or otherwise (e.g. between shoulder and ear) while driving (§ 125c / 1f) 1. z. č. 361/2000 Sb.). Handheld devices probably are illegal to use while driving in all of EU while being (hand)held, but absolutely not when mounted and used in the same manner as car’s builtin display. It may be the case in some country, but is not true generally.
jordanbeiber 7y ago
I got a leaf about 6 mo ago and it has carplay/android auto. This makes the infotainment/nav stuff no car maker ever could be arsed to do proper, completely moot. It’s a requirement from now on! :) I keep saying that an EV with carplay has made me look at a car differently - it’s a chassis with a battery. Choose the size of both according to what fits, say, 99.9% of all trips. For someone who lives in a city and have a charger in the garage of course this is a luxury, but to me it just makes so much sense.

ex3ndr 7y ago

You don't need car play it is a crap comparing to, for example, Teala's infotament.

mmcclure 7y ago
I actually couldn't disagree more, I deeply dislike Tesla's infotainment center. It's a much larger version of "traditional" manufacturer's displays with more functionality that I want shoved into it. I'd much prefer that display be an extension of my personal device. I don't want a new infotainment ecosystem with the manufacturer's choices baked in, I want the an extension of the one I'm going to keep using when I get out of the car, replete with my personal preferences for things like map applications, music, etc.
- fps 7y ago
  yeah, I've used Tesla's software, it's garbage compared to android auto.
  - myko 7y ago
    i prefer my wife's Android Auto ('18 Nissan Rogue) to my '18 Model S :(
    - singingboyo 7y ago
      Huh, someone else with an '18 rogue. Does your wife's have an issue where once in a while it refuses to go into AA, and you have to hard-reboot the infotainment system? Mine does this thing where AA icon shows up, touching it does does the click animation, but doesn't actually launch AA. That's my only real complaint with the system, actually. Once in a while it just really doesn't want to launch AA. Once I'm in though... works great. (Okay, maybe the steering wheel could use a play/pause button, but that's minor)
      - myko 7y ago
        Definitely has a similar issue now and then.
  - ex3ndr 7y ago
    AA is a different beast than CarPlay.
    - persistent 7y ago
      They're both miles ahead of what you get from Tesla.
      - revscat 7y ago
        How?
- CalChris 7y ago
  This is interesting because I rather like Tesla's nav system and music. The browser is kinda lame but I have a phone for that. Perhaps it was my coming from the crime against humanity that is CarWings in my old Nissan Leaf. I liked my Leaf, but there was nothing on the center console that wasn't better on my iPhone.
  - saagarjha 7y ago
    New Nissan Leafs support both CarPlay and Android Auto, thankfully.
    - MBCook 7y ago
      From what I’ve seen most cars that support one support the other. It seems to be rare for a car to only support one of the two. Must be easy to implement both of you do one of them.
      - zrobotics 7y ago
        Most of the systems in-car are android based, so android-auto support is pretty much free; and iThings are so common that not supporting them would likely cost sales.
deleted 7y ago
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o-__-o 7y ago
good luck figuring out how to turn on your a/c without looking. I loved my old Ford Fusion because it was a touch interface but with raised and lowered plastic so you knew what you were pressing. https://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/11/2015-ford-fusion-energi-titanium-sedan-temp-control.png https://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/11/2015-ford... the newer fusions replaced controls with actual buttons which looks cheaper and doesn't make it any easier to figure out without looking. probably due to increased failures or simply cost savings
- natch 7y ago
  It comes on automatically when needed but thanks.
  - kalleboo 7y ago
    Cool, so it has an IR camera to sense my body temperature?
- kwhitefoot 7y ago
  You can use the menu button and scroll wheel on the steering wheel and see the response in the dashboard.

wcunning 7y ago

I've been waffling on this, but my biggest concern about the center stack display is that it's far away from looking at the road. I've been using a suction cup RAM mount on the windshield for years with Waze up constantly on my phone, podcasts playing to the bluetooth or wired connection, and most importantly, I have to look slightly to the right to see the directions, not down and far away. Even then, it's refocusing on something close instead of staying with my eye focus on the middle distance. Someday I hope to switch to a HUD, but my 2010 Mazda Miata does not leave a lot of dash room to mount such a thing aftermarket.

nodefortytwo 7y ago
I agree, I have Android Auto in my 2019 VW Tiguan. Its awesome but its very easy to spend more time than you think picking a playlist from spotify etc. With your phone you know not to touch it when driving but the center console feels acceptable. I had one close call where the car's auto breaking saved me from hitting a car that decided to turn without indicating. now I treat my centre console almost like my phone, I will use the console stopped at lights but not my phone.
- alexktz 7y ago
  glad to hear you've modified your driving habits! i use voice control and steering wheel buttons only whilst driving, works well enough!
- maccard 7y ago
  Does your VW have a microphone button? My 2017 golf does, and it works reasonably well with Google assistant.
csours 7y ago
To me, the size of display outweighs location by far. Also the fact that I don't have to worry about a suction cup or magnet or whatever letting go while I'm driving; also I don't have to glue anything to my dash. To be clear, I hardly touch the infotainment screen while in motion. I can do almost everything I need to by voice, the only touch command is to choose an option from a list. It would be nice to have a HUD projected on the windshield, but I don't find it distracting to look at the Infotainment screen.

js2 7y ago

Really can depend on the car too. I mostly love CarPlay in my Mazda[1]. My wife hates it in her Chevy Volt[2]. [1] Apple gives the car manufacturer the ability to truncate the length of scrollable lists while the car is in motion, which Mazda does. Nothing like only being able to see the first 15 items in a list of podcasts, or artists, or songs. I hate this. But otherwise the implementation is great, especially the integration between the car's physical controls and CarPlay. There's a steering wheel button to bring up Siri. There's direct physical button access to Maps, Now Playing, and the home screen. It would be nice if Apple allowed me to set Google Maps as the default mapping app, but Apple maps has become good enough most of the time. Aside, my 2016 CX-9 came w/o CarPlay. Mazda made it available as a DIY'able retrofit last year. The parts were a couple hundred dollars and it took a couple hours to retrofit. [2] Once the entire entertainment system froze up and it didn't fix itself till like the next day. I've been meaning to check if there's an update from Chevy.

wcunning 7y ago
I'm an Android user, but have been considering switching to Apple, and it turns out that you can make GMaps or Waze the default mapping app for CarPlay. I was just reading about it as part of this thread. https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/24/how-to-use-waze-on-carplay/ https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/24/how-to-use-waze-on-carplay/
- modeless 7y ago
  That's just putting a shortcut on the screen. It doesn't change any other defaults. Siri will still only open Apple Maps. Same with Calendar, iMessage, Contacts, etc.
  - lparry 7y ago
    “Give me directions to foo” - gives directions to foo in apple maps “Give me directions to foo using Waze” - gives directions to do using Waze This might be new, but it definitely works on the iOS 13 beta, although I’m pretty sure it worked on iOS 12. It would still be nicer if we could just set default apps

bena 7y ago

I think most cars with CarPlay support Android Auto because most systems are essentially Android tablets. And that's one thing I have noticed, Android pretty much owns the industrial market. Every touchscreen device you see in the wild is basically an Android device. Those payment kiosk things in restaurants, CarPlay, etc.

ofibrvev 7y ago
Well there’s a good reason for this: In this day and age it’s pretty much the ideal option. In fact I think android makes a horrible phone OS (not because it has no good features) but I’ve never had an android phone that didn’t become a battery sucking and unmanageable nightmare. And are high quality audio APIs available (I gave up caring a few years ago) AFAIC, Android is best suited as an industrial OS. Before android it was Windows CE, which was even bigger garbage than Android, and of course now it is dead. Alternatives are things like custom rolled Linux (and really why?) and RTOS/GUI platforms like vxworks, qnx.. they have their place. 90% of shit can just use stock android and whatever mods you need.
- joezydeco 7y ago
  Linux serves as the hardware abstraction layer for Android. You’re going to need a “custom rolled” kernel for whatever platform you decide to launch in the car.
- bena 7y ago
  Yeah, I was just making the observation. It does make sense, it's pretty customizable and a lot of the legwork is done for you.
- 0x38B 7y ago
  I love Android as a mobile OS on my Pixel 2; especially with apps like MiXplorer (fully featured file manager). I can't count the number of times being able to plug in a flash drive and copy files to it has saved me. Subjectively, running Android 10 on a Pixel 2, battery life has never been better, and apps running in the background sucking up my battery hasn't been a problem. I've used the ubiquitous cheap Huawei and Xiaomi phones, and while they get the job done, the experience isn't nearly as good, as you have to deal with their UI and clutter. Unfortunate.

guan 7y ago

Did the car you rented have a Play/Pause button on the steering wheel? That’s what I am missing the most: being able to quickly pause (and later resume) whatever I’m listening to through CarPlay because I need to pay attention to something that’s happening inside or outside the car. Reading the CarPlay documentation, it seems that it supports such a button, but it’s hard to find a list of cars that have one.

mmcclure 7y ago
I believe the steering wheel had some basic media controls, but honestly I didn't end up using them very much. I found myself using Siri more than usual so I wouldn't need to spend too much time looking at buttons to figure out what they did, but I think I could get used to more buttons if it was my own vehicle and not a short term rental.
MBCook 7y ago
So on my Mom’s recent Honda we’ve (accidentally) discovered that pressing the volume knob like you would to turn off an old radio plays/pauses what you’re listening to. Give that a try on any car you look at, you may find it works.
- guan 7y ago
  Thanks; I’ll double-check but I think pushing the volume button turns the whole infotainment system off. Which does pause whatever’s playing, but also turns off navigation or whatever else I had on the CarPlay screen.
photojosh 7y ago
Yes, this is one of my pet peeves too. The steering wheel has volume controls with press-to-mute, then right next to them are forward and back controls... a press on that control would be perfect for play/pause, but alas— no.
- DavidAdams 7y ago
  My volvo's big central volume control has a large play/pause button in the middle and it works to pause anything that Carplay is playing. There's also a play/pause control on the steering wheel. Overall, my 2016 Volvo does a pretty good job with Carplay integration, though it also has a bunch of native software that mostly sucks in comparison, such as a voice control that I've never been able to use.

jsty 7y ago

Also being able to control everything via Siri with actually competent speech recognition is a godsend compared to the several minutes of shouting in various accents that most in-built voice control systems require. The need for internet access is slightly irritating however.

josteink 7y ago
You mean Siri is actually usable while driving? Is there a “trick” to this? I’ve yet to have it work a single time, and have just given up, after (in your own words) shouting at the car.
- cstejerean 7y ago
  In my experience Siri over CarPlay is significantly more reliable (in that it understands me better over road noise) than Siri over Bluetooth audio (in both cases using the mic/speakers built into the car). FWIW phone calls also sound clearer when plugged in via USB. I’m guessing it’s because of poor audio quality for voice over Bluetooth in at least the cars I tried.
- magoon 7y ago
  Hold the home button briefly (lower-left corner) for Siri on CarPlay. It’s actually fantastic.

deleted 7y ago

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ryanmcbride 7y ago

Really the only issue I have with carplay is 1. That I can't tell siri to play things on spotify, etc, although apparently siri support for spotify is coming. I'm on the iOS 13.1 beta but it's still not there 2. Carplay limits the listing of bands/albums/songs in the menu. I get that they don't want me visually scrolling through hundreds of albums while I'm driving, but since there's no carplay search, and I can't (yet) control spotify with siri, this means to play the music I want I have to pick up my phone and select my music from there. Much less safe than if they just listed all my music on the screen. They list far more albums when the car is at a stop, but it's still not all of it. Scrolling through my artists gets me to about G before it stops listing. Siri support for spotify really can't come soon enough for me.

clay_the_ripper 7y ago
I think Spotify needs to implement Siri support so I’m not surprised that it doesn’t work on the beta. I’m also excited for this integration because I loathe Apple Music. Spotify is so much better. It’s annoying that Spotify doesn’t work as wel natively. If Apple Music was just a Spotify clone, I’d happily switch to them just for the first party support, but they insist on making it different. Spotify’s interface and music organization is just so much better.
- ryanmcbride 7y ago
  Yeah, after the latest beta release if I ask siri to play on spotify she says "Spotify hasn't set up playing from siri yet" or something along those lines. I'm gonna be a happy camper when it starts working.
js2 7y ago
The truncated lists are imposed by the car manufacturer, not Apple. I agree it's very annoying. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20833791 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20833791
- tass 7y ago
  Apple provide the API, so this is just the car manufacturer doing "the right thing". I think the wording may some "certain cars" enforce it because after-market head units may not be connected up to the speedometer and therefore have no way of including this information.

eisa01 7y ago

I find Carplay dangerous for my use case: As the interface follows what’s happening on the phone, you often lose the maps and directions as the guy controlling CarPlay need to check his messages I have no idea how they’ve managed to design it like this, it’s like they only think single driver commuters would use it

eunoia 7y ago
This behavior is changing with iOS 13.
wlesieutre 7y ago
In iOS 13 they're conceding that this isn't how it's always used - a passenger might hook their phone to CarPlay, or the driver might hand their phone off for someone else to use. That's releasing early next month. Probably a gold master build at the event on 9/10, with wide release following after that.
- melvinmt 7y ago
  Good, that's one of my biggest pet peeves for CarPlay. I'm also not a fan of Siri, would love to keep it disabled as I normally do, but CarPlay doesn't even start without it :/
bradknowles 7y ago
I never thought that anyone other than the driver would want to connect their phone to the head unit in the car, regardless of how many other people might or might not also be in the car. On further reflection, I think it's still overall not a good idea. If the driver wants to change the music being played, or the volume, or whatever, and there is a passenger in the car with them, then I would think it would be okay for the driver to have the passenger do that on their behalf. And that might affect the display. But I guess I can wait to see if iOS 13 can change my mind.
- cbsks 7y ago
  Anecdote: I have only used CarPlay in rental cars, and every time I start driving while my wife connects her phone and gets directions and music going. It’s annoying that the map disappears when she checks her messages.

ghaff 7y ago

Last year I got a rental with CarPlay. It was the first time I had a system in a rental that didn’t seem more intent on downloading my contacts than on displaying nav info or playing music.

cptskippy 7y ago
The first and last thing I do in every rental car I'm in is delete the stored contacts. You're all welcome.
- dreamcompiler 7y ago
  Same here, but it's often damnably (maybe even purposefully) difficult to figure out how to do it.
climb_stealth 7y ago
It's funny you say that, because last time I had a rental with Android Auto it would not let me even start it without allowing access to my contacts and other details. I ended up not using it because of that. The normal car bluetooth systems on the other hand don't mind if you don't give them access to things, and you can restrict it to music and calls only.
- williamchangnpu 7y ago
  Maybe they just want to facilitate you by letting you voice your contact and send message or call your friends by voice. I don't have a car with Android Auto, can you deny the permission?
  - fullstop 7y ago
    I use LineageOS which has something called PrivacyGuard. I can give the app permission to access my contacts but then deny it at the PrivacyGuard level. I'm pretty sure that it just returns an empty contact list in this case.

underwater 7y ago

As a counterpoint, my VW in-car navigation integrates with the second screen, so I get glanceable navigation behind the steering wheel. And, in Australia, it's very easy to lose mobile reception. Having usable maps on device is a must.

a-wu 7y ago
In iOS 13, manufacturers will be able to integrate the second screen with CarPlay. Whether or not they will is too be seen.
maccard 7y ago
That feature is my least favourite part of Android Auto - using it on the main display hides the navigation behind the steering wheel. I really hope this can be fixed.
arethuza 7y ago
That's the main reason I still use built-in navigation rather than from my phone.

mcguire 7y ago

I really liked Android Auto, but I think a recent update has screwed it up, so that any audio app frequently switches to Amazon Music. (https://support.google.com/androidauto/thread/8646291?hl=en https://support.google.com/androidauto/thread/8646291?hl=en)

MikeTaylor 7y ago
Add to the LOOOONG list of "I really liked X but a recent update has screwed it up". It's amazing how often this happens.
brewdad 7y ago
This was happening to me (and many others). I disabled notifications in the Amazon Music app and the switching has stopped. I still get an occasional dropout where the song gets really quiet for a few seconds but my Spotify app keeps running and no longer switches to Amazon Music randomly.

ummonk 7y ago

You can always add a CarPlay compatible aftermarket infotainment panel.

cyxxon 7y ago
But then you lose the ability to control various parts of your car, because these are often controlled through the entertainment system...

dillonmckay 7y ago

This morning I was searching github for carplay projects. There was one that could spoof an iPad and allow it to be used as the CarPlay display and interface from the iPhone.

jcurbo 7y ago
Is it this one? https://github.com/b3ll/Ignition https://github.com/b3ll/Ignition
- dillonmckay 7y ago
  Yes. :)

jammygit 7y ago

I really just want my car to drive and to last a long time. Aren’t these screens almost entirely bad? In 10 years, screens in cars will be the new smoking, except that they kill other people, and the NYT will be full of editorials about how they snuck up on society and caused so many accidents - who could have known?

sizzle 7y ago
I hope we have self driving cars in 10 years...

snaky 7y ago

> CarPlay as a requirement Why don't you loose your requirement to just 2DIN space to install your favourite Car Play compatible gadget into?

puzzlingcaptcha 7y ago
If you really want to you can even get it in 1DIN with a detachable screen such as Pioneer SPH-EVO82DAB-UNI / SPH-EVO62DAB-UNI For android DIY folks , another route is to build your own open source AndroidAuto receiver with e.g. http://headunit.viktorgino.me/ http://headunit.viktorgino.me/ + https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-official-7-touchscreen-case https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-official-7-touchs...
Yhippa 7y ago
Because a lot of manufacturers put control of the car's settings in the stock head unit. You'd have to swap it out if you want to change a particular setting. What I'd be willing to compromise on is an external screen that will handle CarPlay or Android Auto. I can't seem to find one out there.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

husuget 7y ago

Why not just use CarPlay on your phone with the phone holder? Is it not exactly the same as a car with built in CarPlay? Atleast on android auto I noticed no difference between the App on my phone and connecting my phone to my car's Android Auto.

TylerE 7y ago
The whole point of CarPlay is that it’s on the built in screen. Many states have laws now that prohibit operating any sort of handheld device while driving (and yes, a phone or even GPS unit in a mount still counts as handheld)
- husuget 7y ago
  That's really dumb, phones now have 6"+ screens and are way more powerful than any head unit in a car... "Many states have laws now that prohibit operating any sort of handheld device while driving" I don't believe you, otherwise most uber drivers, food delivery drivers and taxi drivers would be getting pulled over by the police.
  - muro 7y ago
    https://www.germanautolabs.com/blog/mobile-phone-driving-bans-in-europe https://www.germanautolabs.com/blog/mobile-phone-driving-ban... Maybe not the authoritative source but interacting with a phone while driving is indeed illegal in all of Europe.
    - vsl 7y ago
      You are wrong, in the ad absurdum extrapolation in this thread that using a phone for navigation is illegal in “all of Europe”. You presumably meant EU, a part but not all of Europe, but that too is wrong. For example, the law in the Czech Republic, a member state of EU, states that it forbidden to hold a phone (or other handheld device), in hand or otherwise (e.g. between shoulder and ear) while driving (§ 125c / 1f) 1. z. č. 361/2000 Sb.). Handheld devices probably are illegal to use while driving in all of EU while being (hand)held, but absolutely not when mounted and used in the same manner as car’s builtin display. It may be the case in some country, but is not true generally.

jordanbeiber 7y ago

I got a leaf about 6 mo ago and it has carplay/android auto. This makes the infotainment/nav stuff no car maker ever could be arsed to do proper, completely moot. It’s a requirement from now on! :) I keep saying that an EV with carplay has made me look at a car differently - it’s a chassis with a battery. Choose the size of both according to what fits, say, 99.9% of all trips. For someone who lives in a city and have a charger in the garage of course this is a luxury, but to me it just makes so much sense.