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> Similarly, Kia Soul has a reversing camera… and that's about it! No radar, lane assist, carplay or anything like that. According to Kia’s website, the cheape
by lotsofpulp 2y ago
> Similarly, Kia Soul has a reversing camera… and that's about it! No radar, lane assist, carplay or anything like that.
According to Kia’s website, the cheapest Soul you can buy has CarPlay/Android Auto. Standard feature on the “LX”, 8in touchscreen.
Does it even cost anything for an automaker to allow phones to use the screen for CarPlay/Android Auto? The cost savings must be so miniscule, and the convenience of being able to use your phone to navigate/listen to music and other audio is immense.
- ipaddr 2y agoThey get paid to put it in. Another revenue stream.
- Tagbert 2y agoThere is no licensing cost for Carplay, nor does Apple Pay car makers. It is purely a customer satisfaction feature. The implementation is technically pretty simple to setup on the scale of any mass-market vehicle. You can think of it as a web page with a video player on it connected via USB/Wifi.
- littlecranky67 2y agoIsnt the recerse camera a regulatory requirement for new cars in the US?
- olyjohn 2y agoYou can buy aftermarket AA/CarPlay decks for like $250 that are actually pretty decent. Imagine how much cheaper the automakers can build them for...
- lotsofpulp 2y agoThey technically do not have to “build” anything. All cars already have a screen, it is just a matter of programming the firmware to allow a phone to use it for CarPlay/Android Auto. The only reason an automaker does not include the ability to use CarPlay/Android Auto is because they want to lock-in the customer to their UI and avoid becoming a commodity.