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Toyota to launch its own automotive software platform by 2025
- mupuff1234 5y agoSeems like a wrong move imo, they should just license android automotive for the short/medium term and focus on their strength - building cars. Later on they can switch to their own OS if they want.
- baybal2 5y agoI have almost the same point. Being somebody like Toyota, they can not fear being captured by the upstream when they can rm -rf android at any time with an OTA. Toyota can be to Android Car what Samsung is to smartphone Android.
- newsclues 5y agoCounterpoint, given their position as a legacy car maker, they are positioned to transition to the next generation of software driven automobiles. They provide the integrated hardware and software that becomes a car. As more sensors are added and engines with the electric transition are even more digitally controlled than ICE, it makes sense to own the base hardware and software. This is their strength, building cars, which like it or not are just big robots running code, controlled by humans for now.
- hulitu 5y agoYeah, the last thing we need in our ECUs is Android.
- baybal2 5y agoI doubt autonomous driving will bring end to any of their trouble. They better spend money on adding unicode support to their music player.
- ARandomerDude 5y agoGiven that you now have to pay Toyota to unlock your car remotely, their desire to license software to other manufacturers is probably not a wonderful development.
- pacificmint 5y agoThe subscription was for remote engine start, not to unlock your doors. And while I hate these kind of subscription plays with a passion, remote engine start is a way less important feature to me than unlocking doors. Also, after the massive public blowback they have back-peddled he plan, we’ll see where it ends up.
- pcarolan 5y agoI love Toyota for their reliability and design and drive one every day, that said, their software is unbelievably bad. I'm speaking about their entertainment systems circa 2016. It seems modern cars are becoming more and more software platforms, so strategically this makes sense but I hope they've hired the talent they need to execute. Seeing them fall further and further behind on electric and software is disappointing.
- baybal2 5y agoThe absolutely dreaded music player on Toyotas was that bad, that they returned a 2-din slot on a lot of their vehicles past 2019 in Asian markets.
- lotsofpulp 5y agoEvery car's entertaining system by now should just be a screen compatible with Carplay/Android Auto.
- pcarolan 5y agoAgreed, I bet every auto manufacturer on the planet hates this decision though. The software platform will become more valuable as cars become more electric and self-driven in an economy where attention shifts from the road to the screens in the car.
- kylehotchkiss 5y agoThey make great cars but definitely some weird UI choices. 4Runner has an 8-segment LED based clock above the entertainment system, a different clock on the entertainment display (which is always wrong for me) and the carplay clock (which is always right for me). I wish they just put an iPad in the console instead. The Toyota app isn't so ugly and they could probably just port all the entertainment buttons to that.
- mox1 5y agoAgreed about the problem, but not the solution. I love that Toyota still has buttons (and nice, big, rugged, built to last buttons). The last thing I want is a damn ipad. I want a dumb screen that just supports android auto / carplay. No navigation, no infotainment, etc. Perhaps a simple radio mode. All other functionality required to operate the vehicle should be a physical button.
- more_corn 5y agoFuck Toyota. Toyota brought us the fine innovation: “pay every month for remote start to keep working”. I want nothing to do with their product or software decisions. They’re in the penalty box for the foreseeable future.
- throwoutway 5y agoI thought they backtracked on that? Though I agree even thinking it was smart and then announcing it was completely bone headed