Beginning with the Chevrolet Blazer EV, Normal Motors received’t supply Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on newly launched electrical autos (EVs).
The coverage change was introduced in April this yr, with the automaker justifying its choice by noting how the Ultifi infotainment system has help for EV route planning, and integration with its semi-autonomous driving tech, comparable to Tremendous Cruise and Final Cruise.
Mike Himche, government director of digital cockpit expertise for GM, defined to Reuters: “Now we have a number of new driver help options coming which might be extra tightly coupled with navigation. We don’t need to design these options in a approach which might be depending on individual having a cellphone.”
Many the trade suspect the true motive behind the banishment of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay is to drive up revenue via subscriptions. CEO Mary Barra has beforehand acknowledged the automaker is aiming to make between US$20 billion to US$25 billion ($30 billion to $37 billion) per yr from digital subscriptions by 2030.
On the latest launch of the Chevrolet Blazer EV, Tim Babbitt, GM’s head of infotainment merchandise, instructed MotorTrend there was one more reason not talked about initially: security.
Based on Babbitt, each Apple CarPlay and Android Auto have stability points, together with dropped connections, sluggish rendering, and poor on-screen responsiveness. These points, in Babbitt’s telling, trigger drivers to select up their telephones, and defeat the aim of mirroring within the first place.
Babbitt admits lots of the issues he lists happen on wi-fi connections, however contends plugging the telephone in isn’t all the time an answer. For Android units this stems from the multitude of producers and telephones operating the working system, whereas on the iPhone facet there are compatibility points that trigger connections with older telephones to drop out occasionally.
Babbitt believes that fixing these issues is normally past GM’s remit, and having an infotainment setup that natively — via the Google Play retailer — helps the apps drivers need to use is a greater resolution. He concedes his speculation that this would cut back telephone utilization in vehicles hasn’t been lab examined.
GM’s electrical autos, in addition to all of its just lately launched autos for the North American market, have Ultifi infotainment programs operating the Android Automotive working system.
This OS contains help for a lot of of Google’s companies, together with its voice assistant, Google Maps, and the Play Retailer, via which house owners can obtain apps, comparable to Spotify, Audible, podcast gamers and extra, to their vehicles.
Regardless of being constructed on Android, Android Automotive helps each Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Each smartphone mirroring applied sciences can be found on GM’s petrol and diesel-powered vehicles, and current EVs, such because the Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Silverado EV, and GMC Hummer EV.
The upcoming Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX EVs, each of that are based mostly on GM’s BEV3 structure and are constructed by GM, can even Android Auto and CarPlay.
Does your Apple CarPlay or Android Auto connection drop out? If that’s the case, tell us within the remark part under how usually this occurs, whether or not you’re utilizing a wired or wi-fi connection, and what you do to rectify this.
MORE: Why GM is dropping Android Auto, Apple CarPlay from future EVs