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Remove the LTE chip and all functionality related to ads, support wireless CarPlay and android auto, and use physical buttons. You’ll win every award in the ind
by kylehotchkiss 1y ago
Remove the LTE chip and all functionality related to ads, support wireless CarPlay and android auto, and use physical buttons. You’ll win every award in the industry.
- ErigmolCt 1y agoThe industry keeps chasing "connected experiences" and ad monetization while ignoring what most drivers actually want: responsiveness, simplicity, and reliability
- nicce 1y agoI have heard CarPlay royalty is quite big - has anyone some numbers? Edit: maybe my information was old - some sources say it costs nothing
- dmitrygr 1y agoWait till you see how much it costs (in sales) to NOT have it. Eg: I won’t buy a car without it.
- gambiting 1y agoGenerally yes, but I would buy a car that has no screen at all, just give me a phone holder on the dash.
- BobaFloutist 1y agoYeah all I want is something that holds the phone and gives it a USB-C port that charges it, lets me play media through it, and lets buttons on the wheel control the phone (volume, next/previous, and programmable go forward/back x seconds buttons). USB-C is so powerful, it can do everything Bluetooth does while charging, but for some reason that's just not an option in a lot of cars? Make it make sense.
- bombcar 1y agoIt's the latency that kills me. Let alone the stupid "you're an idiot if you let this screen distract and kill you" message that pops up, it seems to take a good 10+ seconds to sync with the phone and "come alive". This is with USB, too. I want the car to start and CarPlay to be operational; we have no time to be wasting on whatever formalities software wants to have. Maybe someday wireless CarPlay could start syncing with the system before you even get to the car, so it's already loaded when you sit down and start.
- imp0cat 1y agoBut some do, don't they? It seems to me that Hyundai will initiate the phone connection right when you open the driver's door. Then, as you sit down and start the car, the infotainment has already booted up and the phone connection comes online almost immediately. Also, during short stops, the screens go black but the connection is kept up, so when you re-start, there is no delay.
- bombcar 1y agoThat’s good to hear - the experiments I’ve had with the wireless CarPlay has been mediocre, but it’s only been a few rentals. Whereas I really did take wired CarPlay into consideration when buying our minivan, there are only so many options that I may have had to compromise.
- KerrAvon 1y agoThis is what the Slate truck is promising. I won’t buy it without CarPlay, personally, but you can put your money where your mouth is, supposedly.
- mulmen 1y agoThe Slate truck won’t have CarPlay because it won’t have infotainment at all. If you want Carplay buy one of the dozens of offerings from companies like Alpine and have it installed at one of the thousands of stereo shops across the country. You’ll get exactly what you want from experts in what you want.
- calmbonsai 1y agoYou might be interested in the Slate truck when it comes out. It's too early to tell, but I like their philosophy.
- gambiting 1y agoI mean I have that already, a Volkswagen E-Up that has a cradle for a phone with a USB port behind it for charging. They even have an app that connects to your car directly(through Bluetooth! No fancy subscription based nonsense) and shows you all charging/energy consumption figures. I just mean I'd totally buy a much higher end car that is like this, I don't need a screen with all the nonsense on it.
- Xenoamorphous 1y agoI’d rather have a big screen for GPS.
- ghaff 1y agoMy car even has a relatively small console screen but still prefer it over my (non-plus size) iPhone. I could live with just my iPhone on USB but consider the center screen a plus. (The vehicle is pretty good about climate control etc. on buttons.)
- mrloop 1y agoMy old ford tourneo custom has a well placed phone holder. I use this and a MagSafe charger plugged into usb port on dash. Works great, I can use my phone, or anybody else can use the van and their phone, it’s really easy. Just looked and newer models have great big touch screen instead :(
- ryanbrunner 1y agoPhysical controls are worth it for me. Having a press to talk button, track advance and volume controls on my steering wheel is a pretty nice quality of life feature. I could do without a screen if the car has that.
- ghaff 1y agoAnd what happens when phone sizes change? I've certainly had phone clips that didn't comfortably fit a new phone with case.
- SoftTalker 1y agoI think phones are about as big as they can get, unless we genetically engineer larger hands.
- gambiting 1y agoYou get a new holder. The one that came with our e-Up was too small for my S24 Ultra, so I just got an adapter on eBay for like £3 and installed a new holder(with wireless charging!). Where there's a market need someone will provide a solution.
- ghaff 1y agoI'm not sure why you have the downvotes. Even it's mostly just about GPS, the built-in screen is better than iPhone on a somewhat dodgy clip attached to a vent someplace. Unless the car were otherwise compelling--and it's a pretty competitive market--not sure I'd buy a car without CarPlay.
- jay_kyburz 1y agoI want a car with a phone holder built in! My phone will always be higher powered and more update than any tech in the car. Give me a car with no computer, but a phone stand and charger built in! Oh oh, we could even use a standard like monitor stands.
- vv_ 1y agoThe more premium Opel Astra K models had a phone holder built-in (optional accessory, but you get the point) that would also charge the phone. Practically no one bought it so they removed it in later models.
- namdnay 1y ago> My phone will always be higher powered and more update than any tech in the car. Carplay is your phone, it's like having an external monitor
- gnopgnip 1y agoThere are no licensing fees or royalties for CarPlay or android auto. It does cost time/money to integrate, like any feature
- joezydeco 1y agoCan you implement CarPlay now without the MFI chip?
- sokoloff 1y agoDoes anyone prefer wired CarPlay over Wireless CarPlay? I was annoyed enough that our used/new-to-us 2020 vehicle only supported wired that I bought a wired-to-wireless adapter and brought it with me on test drives to ensure that whatever I bought would work well in wireless mode [or else I was buying a different car]. I installed a wireless charger under one of the cubbies that was well sized to hold my phone on long drives. No need to faff around with cables.
- nicce 1y agoSomeone was so annoyed that they built Raspberry dongle themselves, and based on the stars, someone else was too: https://github.com/45clouds/WirelessCarPlay https://github.com/45clouds/WirelessCarPlay
- bigfatkitten 1y ago> Does anyone prefer wired CarPlay over Wireless CarPlay? Yes, for the main reason that I have a Starlink Mini on my roof rack. My phone can connect to the vehicle via wifi, or it can connect to the internet over Starlink via wifi, but not both simultaneously. With wired CarPlay, that problem is solved.
- majormajor 1y agoAFAICT USB-C iPhones don't have the same restrictions as lightning ones - https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/15/iphone-15-usb-c-port-compatibility/ https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/15/iphone-15-usb-c-port-compatib...
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- mschuster91 1y ago> Remove the LTE chip You can't, it's required for eCall which is a mandatory feature in Europe. Unfortunately, it's fraught with issues, especially for the very first eCall modules where the hardware supported only 3G (HSPA)... which is being phased out across Europe together with GPRS (1G)/EDGE (2G), leaving these cars without a working eCall system - and no upgraded hardware modules in many cases.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- ryanbrunner 1y agoWouldn't be the first or the last time that a car has a different build out for different locales - as differences go, that's pretty minor.
- mulmen 1y agoOk but that doesn’t really solve the problem in Europe.
- lukan 1y agoI mean we can also change laws again in europe (in favour of that) - but we could also keep it as a separate module. So the LTE chip only gets used for an emergency call and nothing else. No remote control. Unlikely to happen, but possible (not 100% safe, but good enough).
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- lttlrck 1y agoSlate have done this and it's really quite compelling. You even get window winders. https://www.slate.auto/en/personalization https://www.slate.auto/en/personalization
- archon 1y ago"Have done this" implies Slate has delivered even one vehicle. They have not. I hope Slate succeeds, but let's not get caught up in the preorder hype.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- almostgotcaught 1y agoThis is the same way that hn proclaims every single arxiv paper as revolutionary. I really wonder sometimes who is this gullible on the internet (kids? bots? I influencers?)
- DidYaWipe 1y agoYeah. Alpha "Motor" has been breathlessly hyping renders for years now, while declaring that their nonexistent vehicles have won all kinds of awards. Oh, and every year there's "only three days left to invest!"
- owenversteeg 1y agoI don't even think they've built a single prototype. I'd be happy to be corrected but last time I checked, none of the "prototype" shells they showed off had a powertrain.
- saurik 1y agoI mean, they did something, for sure, but they sure as hell didn't do "this" ;P. What they are doing is more in the line of not providing even hardware, much less software, which is an entirely different paradigm... like, they don't even provide speakers?!...
- Tagbert 1y ago
- anon7000 1y agoMazda has done a great job at this so far, very minimal screen which automatically just shows CarPlay, and buttons for all the normal car stuff, which also isn’t overdone. The only flaw is the scroll wheel to interact with the screen, which is just slightly too clunky in apps with too many options
- ak217 1y agoMazda also managed to squander a huge brand and structural advantage by falling into lockstep behind other Japanese automakers in underinvesting in EV manufacturing infrastructure. Now they have to rely on their JV partner Changan to lead the way in producing EVs, giving up the core structural strengths that Mazda previously had in designing and building their own components - including software and controls, which in the Changan-led models have no continuity at all with Mazda's domestic models. They just superficially copy the Mazda exterior design language while wholly dependent on Chinese supply chains (and some Android Auto for the software, it seems) for manufacturing the actual EV.
- SoftTalker 1y agoA lot of people still don’t want or can’t really afford EVs given their limitations. I’d say it’s the majority where I live. I directly know only one person who has a full EV (not a hybrid). I don’t think the Japanese automakers have squandered anything, yet.
- hedora 1y agoWe paid maybe a $10K premium for a used EV truck. It gets 2mi/kWh. Most parts of the country are paying ~ $0.125 per kWh, so that’s &0.06 of a dollar in electricity per mile. A comparable truck gets 18mpg mixed. At $3/gallon, that’s $0.16 per mile. So, the price premium pays back after 100K miles. That’s comparable to milage driven during a long car loan. I ignored oil changes, tax breaks on used cars, and picked the form factor where EVs are the least economical. It’s still basically break-even.
- 1y ago
- phyzix5761 1y agoPhysical buttons are a huge need. Its so distracting navigating through screens to change the temperature while driving.
- ericmay 1y agoThat’s interesting - what vehicles require you to do that? I know the usual suspect is the Tesla, which I have, but I never have to navigate through menus to change the temperature while driving. As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too. Instead of levying criticism on these distractions (let’s include billboard too) we should instead focus on just reducing car usage since we won’t stop people from being distracted. The safest car is the one in your garage.
- hiatus 1y ago> As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too. Instead of levying criticism on these distractions (let’s include billboard too) we should instead focus on just reducing car usage since we won’t stop people from being distracted. This argument to me reads like one for abstinence from sex. The world is not so binary, we can both criticize distractions and build communities where car use is not a necessity. Not to mention in most jurisdictions some of these distractions are criminalized.
- ericmay 1y agoWe can - but we don’t need to clutch our pearls about infotainment screens as if they are some sort of special moral insult relative to what’s very common in today’s driving communities. Criminalization of texting and driving and such doesn’t matter unless you enforce, and we don’t enforce. So it’s de facto legal. Who cares about infotainment screens at that point?
- 1y ago
- femto 1y agoThe Nissan Leaf is (was?) what you describe, apart from the LTE chip. The LTE doesn't seem to do much without NissanConnect (which was actually written by Bosch).
- mortos 1y agoNissan tracks you and sells your data. Pretty much every manufacturer does, if your car has a modem rest assured that your car is collecting and selling data from you.
- pnw 1y agoRemoving LTE would remove key features that drivers want, including real time traffic updates, remote controls and streaming media? What's your objection to LTE?
- fideloper 1y agoI think the idea is your phone will do that for you via carplay (etc)
- pnw 1y agoThat's a huge assumption. Cars had cell connectivity long before smartphones showed up. Onstar predates the iPhone by a decade.
- tomrod 1y agoThe moment you pick a non-techie off the street and help them see the amount of data collection occurring, you have another person who proves the assumption. It's not a huge assumption. No one likes ads, no one likes their data being collected. The sooner insurance and car companies understand that, the sooner they get out of the maelstrom of false revenue from ad- and spy-ware programs.
- pnw 1y agoWhat percentage of consumers do you think consider privacy as a feature in their car purchasing decision? The only data I can find relates to Chinese vehicles which shows some concerns, but that's understandable given they are built by a foreign adversary. https://www.autopacific.com/autopacific-insights/2024/5/22/younger-americans-most-open-to-chinese-brand-vehicles-willing-to-overlook-privacy-concerns https://www.autopacific.com/autopacific-insights/2024/5/22/y...
- Nursie 1y ago> What percentage of consumers do you think consider privacy as a feature in their car purchasing decision? What percent of users understand how much data is being collected about them?
- cryptonector 1y agoYou'll win your customers' love. The industry's awards? Who cares!
- therealdrag0 1y agoHyundai is physical buttons and CarPlay. That’s why I got Kona EV, and Ioniq5 is well loved.
- bzzzt 1y agoDon't know about the rest of the world, but the EU requires e-call (automatic emergency call after an accident) for all new cars now so you can't sell cars without an LTE chip.
- rustcleaner 1y ago... but you can be a bro and make sure that hardware is close to the surface somewhere for easy access, its presence isn't required to start and operate the car (either firmware check or the immobilizer performing metrics), and its removal does not cause an obvious and annoying alert during operation (IE removal should not make the car appear to be in a 'degraded' state per its indicators). You are complying by installing it, the customers are the ones [easily] removing it [because you were a bro].
- ponector 1y agoIt is mandatory to have and it is in checklist during annual vehicle check. Without it it is not street legal. And the car should show an error in case the module is removed/failed. Those safety add-ons are there for a reason.
- GenshoTikamura 1y agoThose are not safety addons, those are surveillance ones
- pbasista 1y agoPlease do not intentionally conflate the two concepts. Connectivity is one thing. Using connectivity for surveillance is another. If a car is connected to the internet, it does not automatically mean that it is also collecting car data and sending it somewhere.
- the8472 1y agoIs the modem always on or does it only get activated on an accident? If it's the former then cell towers log your location.