7 ms·

I'm WAY ot of the loop here but do these infotainment systems actually produce tangible, relevant and unquestionable benefits? I think most of it, based also on

• unixhero 6y ago
  Waze. You can run Waze.
• rblatz 6y ago
  it basically extends certain apps (music, maps, phone, messaging) to the car display. Allowing you to control them like they are native apps on the car.
  • prower 6y ago
    Dammit I'm old. I'm sorry if I do the old man barking at clouds. But. How's different or better than this 9$ smartphone mount? https://www.amazon.com/AUKEY-Car-Phone-Mount-Compatible/dp/B07W4Z4SMZ/ https://www.amazon.com/AUKEY-Car-Phone-Mount-Compatible/dp/B... All this compromises and costs just for a slightly bigger screen? While I'm driving?
    • jon-wood 6y ago
      The bigger screen is nice, but the benefit is more around proper integration with in-car controls such as the stalk on the wheel for changing tracks etc, and often in-car microphones for voice assistants and hands free which have been tuned to work in that specific vehicle.
    • PantaloonFlames 6y ago
      Yes, a bigger screen but not "slightly bigger". 15" diagonal screen is significantly larger than 6" diagonal. And it's built in, no goofy clamps or mounts protruding into the cabin.
    • mplewis 6y ago
      The smartphone mount IS the compromise. CarPlay is the ideal.
    • NikolaeVarius 6y ago
      Phones are not automobile rated. For example, while driving in the summer, I've had issues with my phone overheating and shutting down. Infotainment systems are rated to not do that.
    • izacus 6y ago
      How do you safely use that phone mount to switch from Spotify to a PocketCasts podcast while driving on the highway? Because on my Mazda I can do all that with the physical builtin car controls. Or I can just tap the voice control button and say it. Also the navigation on a 7" dashboard mounted screen is significantly more glanceable than squinting at a small phone screen. It's all a great benefit for the 8+ hour highway drives I need to regularly do.
    • kfarr 6y ago
      Agree with you, the only benefit I see is that Android Auto "uses the built-in screen" or allows you to use the "built-in controls in the steering wheel." That's it. It sounds like a $9 smartphone mount and a mini headphone to cassette adapter (or FM audio adapter) you can get 95% of the benefits in any vehicle manufactured since 1980.
    • notJim 6y ago
      I had a mount like that, but in the winter time when I was blasting the heat, it would overheat my phone so much that it would stop charging and eventually have to turn off. I switched to the suction cup kind, and they would work for a few months and then the mount would stop sticking. Having something built in would be nice.
    • mortenjorck 6y ago
      Superficially it's a bigger screen, but the real difference is in a user interface designed for minimal driver distraction. I've only used CarPlay, but the messaging app is a perfect example. The phone's native messaging interface is of course inappropriate for safe driving, being primarily visual. CarPlay's messaging app only gives you a glanceable list of contacts, and you tap one to dictate a message, which is then also read back to you for confirmation (no message text is ever displayed on the screen). I've had entire text conversations without taking my eyes off the road. For maps and music, the difference may be somewhat less profound, but the same design principles combined with a larger screen that equates to fewer milliseconds scanning for information or steadying your finger to touch a small button, still have a significant effect in keeping driver app use as safe as possible.
      • saalweachter 6y ago
        I would also note that (Android Auto, at least) will stop you from doing a number of things. When the car is parked, you can use the on-screen keyboard to type in your searches; driving, voice search only. If you scroll too deep in your Audible library, past the first five or ten audiobooks, it will be all, "no, you can't browse your media library while driving, what the hell is wrong with you". It's annoying, but annoying in the kind of way that keeps you from getting in the habit of distracting yourself while driving.
    • caoilte 6y ago
      I don't know about America but I recently discovered that using any system not built into the car is illegal in the UK. The fact is that a lot of people use such a mount anyway, but they are technically breaking the law and can be sent fines (eg if spotted by a motorway/freeway automated camera system). It kind of makes sense. Devices built into a vehicle have to meet safety specifications and it can be proved that they have. There is no such reassurance on a dash mounted phone. It could easily switch mode and distract you and cause an accident.
    • indymike 6y ago
      There's more to it than just the screen size. Voice commands work better, phone apps can use the display, plus you can use the smartphone screen for one thing and the built in for another (eg. media player controls on the phone screen and maps on the dashboard screen). It's actually pretty nice.
    • Rebelgecko 6y ago
      That mount blocks your AC vents and most infotainment screens are 2x bigger or more than a phone. I have a similar (but magnetic) mount in my car, and if I'm not careful my phone will fall off and cause a distraction.
• monkeywork 6y ago
  Android Auto as an infotrainment system has been a major game changer for me. Being able to have a large screen GPS that is updated in realtime (google maps / waze), access to all my audio apps, etc. Yes technically you could mount your phone up but that always seemed to be a hassle, smaller screen, mount points were rarely as good, have to have charging cables running across dash.
• jsmith45 6y ago
  My car came with a built-in GPS system, with integration into a smaller screen visible right on the dashboard, so I don't need to turn my head to look at the might screen to see the estimated distance remaining to an upcoming turn. This GPS system is pretty terrible compared to google maps. It does nominally have voice recognition to allow setting it eyes free, and disables most of the physical buttons when the car is in motion to "comply" with anti-distraction laws. However, the voice recognition system is so shitty, it would literally be safer to lock it out when moving, and enable all touchscreen features instead. Think have to spell the destination out one letter at at time, with an 80% chance it even understands the letter right in the first place. Using google map's voice recognition system is orders of magnitude better and less distracting. Plus user's can access their preferred non-radio music sources like Spotify.
• eulers_secret 6y ago
  Older cars can sometimes accept upgraded radios with carplay/android auto. My '07 got a Sony head unit that does both, along with a nice 6.95" capacitive touch display for ~$400. It was worth every penny when I was commuting. You're missing convenience: Siri is nice, maps on the screen are nice, sharing the screen with passengers, quickly choosing a song without risking a cellphone use ticket (at a stop).
• Arainach 6y ago
  Disclaimer: I work for Google, not on AA, all opinions exclusively my own, etc. Yes, you are. I had nothing more advanced than Bluetooth, drove a rental car with Android Auto support for a week, and immediately went out and replaced the head unit in both of my vehicles with one that supported AA and Carplay. The most obvious benefit is navigation. You get the full power of Google/Apple maps in real time, and you never have to pay your car OEM for updates. Navigation is also integrated with everything else. It knows that I have an appointment on my calendar in half an hour and suggests that as a destination without me having to retype it. It knows that in the mornings my most likely destination is "work" and my most likely evening destination is "home". It knows what brewery I like to go to on Saturday afternoons and suggests that too. Voice control is another huge one. I don't have as much experience with Carplay, but with AA I can use Google Assistant for nearly everything and keep my eyes on the road. It makes the connections trivial. Most modern systems should support wireless Android Auto - when I get in the car it connects over WiFi automatically without me doing anything. Even on older vehicles I plug in one USB cable and am good to go. Compare this to my bag of hardware I bring on trips where I'll have a rental car - you need to find a mount that works (sometimes a.dashboard suction cup, sometimes a vent clip), get the phone in a good angle where you can see it and it can get a good GPS signal, go into the car and pair it to Bluetooth, attach the charging cable and make sure it's not getting caught on anything, and so on. For calls and texts, it just works. I've fought with Ford Sync and other proprietary systems just trying to get it to recognize names. The stock unit in my Subaru was so bad that it couldn't keep "Firstname Last name" and "Othername Last name" as two separate identities because they sounded alike, so I had to map half my family to Harry Potter characters. With Google/Apple, no such problem - just say "Call Firstname Last name" and it works every time. The system integrates with whatever background noise you want - music, podcasts, and so on. It makes everything automatic and painless. Android Auto gave new life to my old cars
  • markdog12 6y ago
    I just got a vehicle that supports it, but when my Pixel 3 tries to connect, the AA UI shows briefly for a second, then fails, every time. Any tips? I've tried over USB and wireless, same result.
• throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  You get to feel warm and fuzzy that you won't be pulled over like one of those poors that actually have to touch the cell phone to answer a call. Integrated nav is nice and convenient but it's only real benefit over a $20 phone mount of $15 GPS from 2006 is less clutter.
• rootusrootus 6y ago
  > Am I missing something big or is it really just marketing? CarPlay is awesome. I'm sure AA is, also. All the necessary communications functions, but specifically adapted for use in a car, along with navigation, music, podcasts, or whatever app. I won't buy another car without it. I'm all done having to hear my phone buzzz or ring and wonder what/who is trying to grab my attention. All done using outdated navigation systems that don't have traffic information. Etc.
• closeparen 6y ago
  A lot of modern cars have large and well positioned displays that are ideal for maps; CarPlay/Android Auto let you put Google Maps on them instead of the car's crappy built in GPS. "Speak on the phone with the car speakers" just needs Bluetooth which is much older and more widely available. This tech is about the display.
• chrisseaton 6y ago
  > I'm WAY ot of the loop here but do these infotainment systems actually produce tangible, relevant and unquestionable benefits? Does any entertainment or arts 'produce tangible, relevant and unquestionable benefits'? But anyway - yes. For example my car's maps knows where it is in a tunnel because it can dead reckon with the speedometer. My phone cannot do that. For my example my car has a DAB receiver and my phone does not. For example my car's infotainment has cameras I can use to park, sensors to tell me how deep I'm wading, my range left, etc. Obviously my phone doesn't any of that. How is none of that useful?
• deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
• snug 6y ago
  I think the responses here are missing the point in your questions. > do these infotainment systems actually produce tangible, relevant and unquestionable benefits? Yes for many people, but not you. The driver and passenger can change music, podcast, directions without needing to look at the phone, nor asking the driver (phone owner) to unlock their phone. A passenger can also plug in their phone without needing to figure out the bluetooth dance, and it just works, play their spotify, or podcast, or any number of things. It's also right there on the dash, you don't need a car mount to mount your phone on the dash, or window to get the directions, change a playlist, or podcast. It works on the dashboard and if you have steering wheel controls, they usually work there too.
• Rebelgecko 6y ago
  Having navigation on the infotainment screen is a gamechanger. Even though you can buy nav units for cars, they typically slow, light on features, and have data that is years out of date (and a pain in the ass to update). Being able to just use the same map app that my phone does is so much more convenient, and feels safer than glancing down at my phone in the cupholder.