General Motors has caught a lot of flak for not having Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in its electric cars. It decided to stop offering the smartphone-mirroring software back in 2023, forcing drivers to use GM’s own Android-based native infotainment system for stuff like navigation, phone calls, and music projection.
CarPlay and Android Auto are pretty much expected by buyers to be standard on any new car these days, so some people were pretty angry about the move. Others went as far as to develop a retrofit to get CarPlay running on some of GM’s new EVs, but it was quickly shut down by the company a few months later.
Neither of my cars has CarPlay, but I have to admit, I absolutely love using it whenever I’m driving my parents’ cars or press cars. It makes the experience a lot more pleasant and simpler, even if having to switch between the car’s native system and CarPlay isn’t “seamless,” as GM describes.
That’s why I was sad to see this news that GM plans to eventually drop Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across its entire lineup in the future—not just its EVs as previously planned. CEO Mary Barra revealed the news to The Verge in an interview with Nilay Patel. Here’s the relevant transcript:
Let me ask you the second part of that question again, because, again, we’re talking so much about the future, and I understand the argument about the future you’re making, but you still have the smartphone projection in the gas cars. Why is it still in the gas cars?
MB: A lot of it depends on when you do an update to that vehicle. When you look at the fact that we have over 40 models across our portfolio, you don’t just do this and they all update. As we move forward with each new vehicle and major new vehicle launch, I think you’re going to see us consistent on that. We made a decision to prioritize our EV vehicles during this timeframe, and as we go forward, we’ll continue across the portfolio.
So we should expect new gas cars will not have smartphone projection?
MB: As we get to a major rollout, I think that’s the right expectation. Yes.
When exactly GM plans to drop CarPlay and Android Auto from its lineup isn’t clear right now, with Barra hinting to The Verge that the move will likely coincide with its plans to roll out a new onboard computing platform in 2028, starting with the all-electric Escalade IQ. From The Verge:
The automaker is calling it a “full reimagining of how vehicles are designed, updated, and improved over time,” which it says will include “10 times more over-the-air software update capacity, 1,000 times more bandwidth, and up to 35 times more AI performance for autonomy and advanced features.” The new computing platform will be rolled out to both GM’s EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles, the company said.
Aside from having the latest and greatest software available, the computer will add stuff like Google’s Gemini AI as a voice assistant, and more importantly, GM’s Level 3 hands-free, eyes-off highway driving. This is a step up from the company’s Level 2 Super Cruise system, in that drivers will be able to take their eyes off the road in certain situations (the SAE officially calls this “conditional driving automation,” and it’s all very confusing).
Level 3 systems like this aren’t fully autonomous, of course, because they require the driver to be able to take control at any time. So don’t go buying a new GM vehicle thinking it’s going to drive you around like a Waymo. It’ll likely be something similar to Mercedes’ Drive Pilot, which is classified for use as a Level 3 system, but only in very limited sections of highways and at speeds under 40 mph.
If I had to choose between Level 3 autonomy and CarPlay, I think I’d take the latter every time. But maybe that’s because I just love driving, and I’m familiar with how CarPlay works. I’m sure with time, I’d get used to GM’s system if I owned a car of theirs without phone projection. But it’s nice just being able to hop in and immediately know what’s going on with regards to stuff like navigation and music. That’s one of the biggest draws for CarPlay—it’s the same no matter what you’re driving. And people love familiarity.
Top graphic image: General Motors
I have a 2024 Equinox EV – no phone projection. Do not miss at all. The texting works fine (texting and driving is unsafe even with projection). The biggest benefit that never gets talked about in any of these pieces is that my Google built-in navigation KNOWS I’M DRIVING AN EV AND MY RANGE/SOC. Same as the Rivian/Tesla systems. Game changer. I don’t even think about charging, I navigate to where I’m going and it tells me where to charge along the way. Funny a lot of comments about blind dedication to Tesla, almost all of these ‘strong feelings’ about Carplay come from blind dedication to Apple. People were so tickled when they first experienced Carplay now they want their iPhone in their face while driving along with all of it’s notifications. The GM Google system is a nearly identical experience to Android Auto and your car is just another Android device.
I’ve been driving a Polestar 2 for the last few years, which also has an Android Automotive based system and until recently it didn’t have Android Auto available.
Honestly… it’s not bothered me at all. Google Maps is excellent, and because it’s properly integrated into the car not just a projection, it integrates with the battery charge etc and plans the route with chargers as needed. And because it’s all linked to my Google account, it syncs destinations from my phone anyway. I use Spotify and Pocket Casts for music and podcasts (although… not sure I’ll be keeping Spotify) and both have decent enough apps for Automotive.
The only disadvantage is not having WhatsApp messages come through like they do in Android Auto. But that’s not the end of the world, for me at least.
But I still don’t see why they should take the option away from people.
Somebody needs to write how does GM let you play music in their cars.
Can you plug in USB drive with mp3s and play them? IS it USBa or C port?
DOes is resume where you left off or starts from 1st song?
Does it play CDs? Dvds? Can you blutooth stream music?
Can you plug in an iPod?
I can’t be arsed as none of the GM trucks are interesting at all to even see inside
At this point I’m a broken record… I own a 2025 GM car. I am an Apple user. I have spent decades building, transferring, curating my music (highly played in cars by the way) playlists in the Apple ecosystem.
You can’t take away CP until you have a viable alternative besides me sticking my phone on the windshield and going through the phone.
Before you take it away, have an Apple Music native app in the car. Give an alternative for me to play my music without going back in time / tethering from bluetooth through my phone. I’m also not going to add another subscription like Spotify or others just to play music I already own or have on all my other devices.
Tesla and Rivian have figured this out, so can GM. We all know what this is about, and it’s weird to see so many people, who all admittedly are in Google’s ecosystem, defend GM taking away choice.
It’s not up to GM to make an Apple Music app – it’s up to Apple. There are a lot of cars these days with Android Automotive (Volvo/Polestar, GM, Renault, Honda, Ford, and Nissan are all on board), so I’d be surprised if they don’t as it’s becoming a reasonable chunk of the market now.
But yeah. Taking away CarPlay without one of the major music streaming services being available… not a great idea.
If they (GM) cared about customers, they’d allow CarPlay with Android Automotive to live side by side like they do in some cars today. They need a viable music app for a large chunk of the population.
I have no desire to have a Google/Android based system in any car I own so that’s a hard stop for me. GM was never on my list of vehicles to buy anyways and if you look historically at other car makers attempts to monetize the experience it has failed and I predict this will too. They aren’t looking to make the user experience better its about money. Given life expectancy of support for older systems there is no way they are going to keep supporting these cars after a set short period of time. I like the familiarity of CP and that with all the business travel I have it’s the comfort of knowing I don’t have to eff around with some stupid system to get the mapping and music etc that I’m accustomed to. Good luck GM…well actually screw off. 🙂
Android Automotive is going to get really hard to avoid over the next few years – GM, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Stellantis, BMW, VAG, Mitsubishi, and each of their subsidiaries are using it or have announced plans to do so. Outside of Toyota, the Korean brands, and a handful of small marques that doesn’t leave a lot of options.
Toyota uses it too, now. They didn’t in my previous Prius.
My car has cabled Apple CarPlay and I have never used it. But I have a Max model, and its display is large enough for me to see Waze Maps without too much distraction. So far.
CarPlay comes in handy with many state laws saying it’s illegal and that you can be ticketed for holding or touching your phone while driving. Same doesn’t apply to a stereo screen.
Most of the time, I have the phone on the passenger seat and can still read it. Or have the passenger play co-driver. Although it has been annoying how some passengers can’t understand navigation apps if you use N up North orientation rather than just what’s in front of you. I am so old, I used to use paper maps and aviation charts and that’s just easier for me.
I should probably figure out how to cable it up and use the dashboard screen. One of these days.
My Uber driver kept his phone in the lap to see Uber directions and stuff.
I gave him 1 star review and reported him for distracted driving as he kept his eyes off the road for long time to focus on a phone screen on his lap like you do to figure out the next turn
You connect your phone via USB cable and carplay shows up on the car’s screen. It’s not rocket science. I don’t know what you’d have to “figure out”. Your maps and music apps will be there. It’s easy and works pretty much the same on every car.
i think as long as whatever GM uses runs google maps and spotify and can use bluetooth calling that is going to fulfil 99.9999 percent of consumers use cases.
Great! They are almost there! Just get rid of the dumb screen, add knobs and buttons for car stuff, and a phone/tablet mount for phone/tablet stuff.
This story will return in a future GM Hit or Miss feature right here on the Autopian.
People have been saying that since 2023. I’m not so sure . . . I don’t think the decision is by any means proven, given EV uptake over the past few years. But I suspect this is a dealbreaker for a lot of people. I guess we’ll see what happens when this decision starts hitting the mainstream.
Eeh some people care, some don’t. Clearly GM thinks they will make more money by keeping it in house. Let’s all meet back here in five years if they haven’t reversed course by then? They probably made the right move.
I have a Prologue, which is GM, but with Android Auto/Car Play functionality. I’m an Android Auto user and I find the baked in version to be nearly the same damn thing for my purposes. Almost all of the time I use the baked in google maps, assistant and spotify. I only go into Android Auto if I want to use the specialized WFMU streaming app. I don’t think most Android Auto users will care or notice. That said, Car Play / Apple folks are going to shop elsewhere or … be really pissed off if they buy unaware.
I don’t see the harm in having both, even if I don’t see the necessity either…so…WHY?
Agreed, I have a Lyriq and the baked in Android Automotive is my favorite. I have tried Carplay and Android Auto on the Lyriq. I have also used Carplay and Android Auto in an assortment of personal and rental cars. Once you tether your phone to the car to dodge an additional data plan, the GM Android Automotive is just fine.
I’ve seen an article with the actual industry executives explaining their development of proprietary replacements to AA/AC. They were outright saying they want the user data, instead of it going to Google/Apple. It is beneficial to be in control.
Obviously, they insisted that they wanted more data not to monetize, but to “improve the user experience”. There’s an industry term for this I’m sure, but it’s typically just called “lying”.
yeah i think the public outcry is too soon. people used to say the same thing about Televisions when smart tvs came out and the UI was less-than ideal than the popular streaming set top boxes like a PlayStation or a roku or chromecast. “this is way worse blah” but the truth was that 1. it was “good enough” for MOST consumers. and 2. The early days was the worse it ever was and they got WAY better.
the only negative is apple being extremely locked down and they will never give you car access to things like text messages or cullenders or whatever other apple car play functionality you will loose. While google will play nice with third party devices.
I know people with Xbox series S or X and Playstation 4 or 5 connected to their TV and they still used inferior TV Netdlix and YouTube app from TV instead of the one on console
yeah booting up another device, grabbing a different remote. vs the tv just has the “netflix” button built into the tv remote.
You’re currently using a limited time “free” data service. After some period of time you, or the next owner, are going to have to pay a subscription fee to maintain that level of functionality. You’re baked in Google Maps, Assistant, Spotify, etc are all streaming data over an AT&T connection directly from your car to cell towers. That data requires a data subscription. The beauty of Android Auto / CarPlay is that all that data is streamed over your phone, that you’re already paying for, so you don’t have to pay twice. That is what people are upset about.
The best argument you have for this is “Functionality wise, it’s really not all that different than Android Auto or CarPlay”, but when it comes down to it, you’ll have to start paying for something every other car with AA/CarPlay doesn’t. Why would I be onboard with paying more without getting anything more. Even if you think you are getting more, I’d argue it’s certainly not worth the cost of entry. I’m willing to pay for a $30/month data plan on my phone because I take it everywhere with me and use it for everything. I don’t want to pay a minimum of $10/month to duplicate a service I’m already paying for.
You’re right that I haven’t had to think about it. My car’s data is free (included really) for the duration of my lease.
I see my phone and car’s reception/data on the center display and I can toggle between them – even toggle between both google maps pretty quickly. As an A/V person, I call this redundancy 🙂
I can’t say right now what I’d do if I had to pay the bill for my car’s data plan. If I lease again, it may also be included…
If your car and phone are both on ATT or Verizon or Tmobile then there is no redundancy besides paying twice for /poor/no service
This is a dumb move and just a way for GM to be greedy and get subscription fees from their customers. They see a way to make money and make things obsolete sooner, and they’re gonna take it.
Android Auto and Apple CarPlay just mirror your phone’s screen, so you don’t need to worry about the age of your car’s infotainment system as long as it can do that. Easy-peasy. Phone’s OS gets updated or you get a new phone, and the car mirrors it.
My car is a 2016 and once I did the OEM-offered software update in 2019 to give it Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, it became seamless to listen to music, use maps, and podcasts/make phone calls. The car’s stereo operates the same way as any other newer car’s would, and that’s a good thing.
GM will likely update their Google-ish systems after a few years and stop supporting old ones, so those cars will become buggy and/or begin to lack features until the owners are “pressured” or “persuaded” to upgrade and switch vehicles.
Think of my grandma’s 2012 Cadillac SRX that my family recently had to borrow while our van was in the shop. The SRX has an OEM navigation system and it has never been updated. It’s hopelessly outdated and almost comical to attempt to use it nowadays.
this is all speculation you don’t have any evidence that any of that is planned or will even happen.
Yes! Because planned obsolescence is totally not a thing, and GM would love for you to keep your car forever – and not need to buy one from them again.
Except when your 9 month old phone struggles to run AA or CP and you have to spend $1500 to get waze in the car to work while playing music
Not really my problem, as GM left these parts, but I hope that this won’t be copied by other traditional manufacturers, because:
– most car makers have maps, and they suck or cost money and suck. For example, VAG (as usual) has managed to make a mess of the map updates – by selling 3 year old maps on some brands while some of their other brands have similar mqb-cars with different UI skin and those have far newer maps.
– If I hop into a rental anywhere in the world, with carplay I can listen to my local public radio, for free (if there is data plan, and within the EU there is always some – all hail the bureaucrats) with the interface in my obscure language. Live radio, podcasts, old program archive, everything
– same with every music app, podcast app, message app and so on from countries and markets many people have never heard off = apps that never will be available on proprietary platforms
– speed camera alerts, for free
Another reason to not buy a GM car.
And this was the intent from day one. Ban it from all cars. Roll it out slow in the BEVs then all of them.
A big goal in selling a product is to surprise and delight your (new) customer. gm does the opposite. again and again and again. (in addition to offering the 3rd or 4th or 5th rate offering in each car class) Horrible rubbish manufacturer.
As a person who tends to buy cars that are 8+ years old my number one concern for the infotainment system is longevity – how long will the system continue to receive updates and how long after that will it continue to function properly?
An Android-based operating system is particularly vulnerable to this as Google will eventually drop support for older versions and that could mean apps like Google Maps and YouTube Music will stop working. Then what? You have a useless infotainment system. And modern systems are so well-integrated it could be a while before a decent aftermarket solution comes along – if ever.
Mind you, I fear that Carplay/AA are also potentially vulnerable to this. However, the fact they effectively mirror your phone – the car’s screen acting almost like a smart computer monitor – means they’re likely more future-proof compared to systems entirely reliant on the car’s computing.
What does this all mean for GM and its owners? As people become more reliant on decent, up-to-date navigation software, there’s a potential for resale value to plummet on cars that can’t offer this and/or can’t be easily modified to offer it. I predict GM’s AA/Carplay-free cars will exemplify this.
This.
My Mazda is a 2016 – approaching a full decade old per its model year (I’ve owned it since October 2015, in fact). And it has just as modern of an infotainment system as any other car aside from screen size since I have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Even made them wireless with an adapter from Best Buy.
The native system it came with is slow and laggy to the max, though.
exactly this. our 2006 MDX had built-in navigation for which the update CD cost $80.. bought a phone holder for the dash and used the phone instead.
it’s insane to rely on GM’s nasty proprietary modified Android which will be buggy, full of security flaws, and expensive to update. Back to the phone holders it is then.
Like anyone buying an 8 year old car is going to pay and subscribe to its features. Gm and they do not care what happens to 2nd owner of 8 year old car. There is no revenue from that
ATT took towers out and OnStar in my car stopped working all together. GM was happy to keep charging me though
They should care though, as it hurts resale and therefore turns off the initial buyer too. That’s why everyone buys Toyotas, because they know they can sell them in a few years and not take such a massive bath on depreciation. Of course, build quality and reliability tend to be larger factors, but it wouldn’t surprise me if tech resilience becomes a bigger deal in the future too.
Lucky for me I swore off ever owning a GM product again after the piece of shit Astro Van I had from 2007-10.
Also, I will never own a vehicle where I have to pay a subscription for anything. If that becomes a standard, I will buy old cars and fix them myself.
I hope every vehicle manufacturer reads this.
I don’t appreciate car companies trying to control their customers after the point of sale with the exception of voiding warranties if the owner makes ill-advised modifications that are detrimental to the longevity of the powertrain, for example.
The 90-day trial period of Bluecruise expired on our Mach E last month. Ford kept sending me emails to activate a subscription. I told them to fuck off; I’m already paying monthly for the car and I have no desire to add to that amount, especially considering our last Mach E included the feature for three years.
I was sure that car companies would evolve their infotainment systems to the point that they would merely be an interface that required an external phone to operate. I guess I was mistaken. Bummer.
Anywho, yet another reason to never purchase a modern GM product.
I don’t mind paying for subscriptions that meet two criteria – 1st, there has to be some ongoing cost to the supplier (IE BMW’s heated seat experiment a few years back . . . not sure where Bluecruise falls). 2nd, I have to actually want the feature. So far I’ve yet to encounter an automaker subscription I’m willing to pay for.
Wow, you have to pay monthly for Cruise Control in Mustang MockEry. At least my GTI lets me use it for free
Bluecruise is Ford’s self-driving software. I still get adaptive cruise control without having to pay for it. I just have to keep my hands on the wheel. Fine by me.
I wouldn’t worry too much. GM will spend a fortune on perfecting their own software platform and then abruptly discontinue it.
I don’t actually like Android Auto that much. My podcast and music apps are dramatically worse to use via AA. It’s more distracting than just pulling out my phone and using the normal phone interface.
That said, this is clearly a move to force people into a subscription so they can have integrated maps and audio, which sucks. As someone currently driving a GM vehicle, I hope consumer pushback is strong enough to force them to reconsider.
gm wont care. listening to the customer (VOC) is the last thing they ll do .