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
“35 times more AI performance.” No, thank you.
Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave.
Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave.
“Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave
Had
twenty-threethirty-five sons and she named them all Dave?”35 times more grotesque fingered monsters!
So the Android Automotive system would probably be easy for me to use but I despise this decision. You just know this is coming from the rest of them as well. Ford might singing a different tune right now but I don’t expect it to hold.
The big issue for me with lack of Carplay is I’m forced to use whatever slop the manufacturer decides to stick in their infotainment system.
I don’t use, or want, Google maps, and manufacturer map applications have in my experience always sucked. Same situation with audio – I don’t use or want Spotify. I use Plexamp. Which manufacturer offers Plexamp in their infotainment system? None that I know of.
Regardless of whatever a given car manufacturer says, these anti-Carplay decisions are never about their infotainment software being technically superior, it’s all about data collection and subscriptions. I don’t trust them.
I realize most normies probably don’t give a shit about this, and that’s fine. They can swallow whatever slop GM et al wants to feed them. As long as I’m able, I will continue to buy vehicles that let me make my own choices about what apps I can use in my vehicle.
Copy the music to a USB drive or your phone instead of being stuck to crappy streaming apps and you won’t have to try to make lame plexyampyu work
I see subscriptions in the future. More and more subscriptions. Also targeted advertising. Then you have to pay money to get the stupid ads to go away. Before you know it we will all be listening to FM radio again because no two companies can work out a deal with one another. GM is gonna want money from sirius and spotify to put their apps in the software and then want money from the customer in order to enable the app even though you’re already paying for the spotify subscription. It’s all down hill from here. Every time I read an article like this I become more and more happy about my 96 bronco with a $50 amazon radio with carplay.
Both Rivian and Tesla have been AA/CP free since their origin. Both now require connection subscriptions to get full functionality (music streaming, traffic aware navigation) though both used to be free. Rivian’s subscription is $150/year, Tesla is $100.
My personal hope would be that this would be a step toward having at least an option for cars with no infotainment system or internet connection at all. But I’m guessing that is about as likely as Slate ending up owning GM. Keep all the software, screens, and technology available for those who want it, but it sure would be nice to be able to buy a new car without any of it from the mainstream automakers as an option as well.
Ha, no, that’s definitely not the end goal here. They just want to force everyone to pay them a monthly subscription to get the same functionality that AA/CP give them for free today.
The new Freedom-Mobile: freedom from choice, you will forcefully accept whatever our corporation decides is in our best interest, and you will like it, because you didn’t have to put in the effort of making a decision…
This is the future. Mainstream automakers are all going to dump CarPlay. And it is fine.
Is it? No thanks.
Tesla sold almost 1.8 million cars last year without CarPlay.
Good for them; other automakers sold far more with CarPlay. Tesla also sold plenty of vehicles without a turn signal stalk, does that mean we should all go without?
Fuck Tesla.
I miss the radio delete option.
If they want to go back to an easily swapaable system, a double DIN form factor for example, then fine. How is the FTC not stomping all over this as anti competitive? Oh right.
At the very least offer radio delete for $100 a year. /s
My family used to buy heater delete GM cars. The local dealer would get fancy cars with no heater, put a sign with a lowball price on them to get traffic, but of course nobody would buy them. Then at the end of the of the season my grandfather would buy one, and put an aftermarket heater in. That worked out fine until he bought a Corvair without a heater.
Slates will have a double fin size opening
I guess I’ll have the dissenting view.
My newest car has CarPlay, and I was kind of excited to check it out based on all the “if it doesn’t have Apple CarPlay I’m not buying the car” that I see everywhere.
And I’m not going to use it. It wasn’t until I was getting it enabled that I found out that you need Siri enabled to use it. I kind of understand for things like voice commands, but really seems like something that should be optional when all you want are map projections and music. I definitely don’t want an always-on cloud service active when all I need is my phone to connect to the car for music.
I’m also realizing with GMs announcement that there aren’t nearly enough people concerned about having Siri on all the time. And you really should be… all the people complaining about GM making a big data move with this, and you have Siri enabled?
Not apple-oriented, but I just started using Android Auto when I added an upgraded radio to my car. So far, it’s working pretty well. And I don’t have Alexa on any device, so I’m with you on that.
Odd. My Golf only has wired Carplay (not a big issue as I only use it once in a while). I never have Siri enabled and it works fine. Maybe it’s a wireless Carplay requirement? I don’t use voice commands, so maybe that’s where it is needed.
Ive not heard of anyone requiring Siri activation. My wife’s car has CarPlay. She loves and uses Siri in the car but I do not and have not enabled it on my phone. But both phones work with CarPlay equally well.
I may not be able to use the texting function in the car without dictating via voice what to send but for me that’s fine. But I can still access maps via Apple Maps, Waze etc and play music through a variety of services/apps all just fine without using Siri to do it.
This just makes me even more puzzled. My phone definitely gives me an error when trying to use CarPlay – very clearly says Siri must be enabled. Some suggestions online say it’s been a requirement since iOS 13. I have Siri *really* off – whereas I do see indications that people have had success using CarPlay with the Siri listening preference off, but other Siri preferences on. Which… I’m not enabling any part of Siri, so probably not getting CarPlay. I’ve been searching since I got the car 6 months ago and haven’t found a workaround.
Good news is that I’m perfectly happy with bluetooth.
I don’t like either, but Apple at least pretends to respect my privacy. I’d rather that than Google, who openly and unashamedly tracks everything they possibly can.
Truth is, at the rate auto manufacturers are moving to Android Automotive (distinct from Android Auto), it won’t matter if Siri is enabled because AA will be the base OS in nearly every vehicle soon.
Welp. Wasn’t planning on a new (or not new) GM vehicle any time soon, but this kinda cements it.
Also if 2028 is the timeline, I foresee backtracking.
This is data control, nothing else.
When you do screen projection like CarPlay or AA, all the data remains in the source device (i.e. your phone) and the car manufacturer controls nothing of it. Data has a ton of value nowadays, especially considering where car infotainments are heading.
What did the SMS you got say? What meetings you have? What music you listen to? What places you frequent the most? In this day and age there’s no getting away from phones knowing all this, but I love that my cars ignore this stuff.
The wife’s XC40 Recharge has a Google OS which she uses instead of CarPlay/AA. All apps have to be locally stored and you have to log into them for it to work properly. Volvo now can have access to all data.
I have 4 very different cars myself and 3 of them have CarPlay. It’s amazing to jump from a modern BMW to a 25 year old Nissan and have the same interface everywhere. What GM and others ditching CarPlay miss out is this very important fact that a lot of people don’t have just 1 car or all cars from the same brand, so consistency is extremely important. I can’t install GM’s OS into my 50 year old Corolla.
This idea will go down in flames and I’m all here for it.
This idea is not going down in flames. It is the future unless apple and Google agree to share data with the car mfgs.
CarPlay will only exist on desperate brands like Nissan or niche brands like Aston Martin in 5 years unless Apple changes it’s tune.
There’s a precedent in the TV world. Streaming boxes (Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, etc.) completely remove the ability from the TV manufacturer to collect data. They try with their home-brew OS’es but they all suck. TVs and streaming boxes coexist just fine.
Granted, TVs can’t get rid of the HDMI port so they’re screwed, but I don’t think CarPlay and AA will fail because they don’t share data. If anything, that helps push car sales and do you know what’s worse than Apple not sharing data with you? Not selling the car in the first place.
Last year’s best selling car in the world doesn’t have Carplay. The top 3 selling EVs in the US don’t have Carplay.
Even new Nissans do not have crappy iDrive from BMWs. Nobody does
What the actual hell, GM? For the first time in my adult life, which has been quite a lengthy one, I was actually beginning to be impressed with your vehicles, and was actually considering a Bolt. And now you’re doubling down on your insistence on fighting what people want for technology? Jesus christ. I guess I may end up never buying a GM product after all.
The consumer based solution would be to offer all the greatness that GM thinks they can offer, but also have AA and Carplay. Make the experience with the GM UI so great that noone wants to use AA/Carplay. The problem is that GM would need to make the GM UI so great that noone wants to use AA/Carplay.
There’s a bunch of people on the Rivian forum who complain about the lack of AA/CP. Same for Tesla. Both companies’ infotainment systems are pretty comprehensive – not perfect – but they get the job done in a good way. I see most of the legitimate complaints coming from things like a lack of navigation alerts about cops, objects in the road, vehicles stopped on the shoulder, etc. and from applications that have reduced functionality in the manufacturer’s implementation of them, or for applications that don’t exist in the manufacturer’s infotainment ecosystem. If you don’t mind a more basic implementation or need some slightly less-popular apps, they are a good option that doesn’t rely on your phone for data.
Worth noting that the GM UI is Android Automotive, which is essentially Android Auto (the naming is complete garbage, which isn’t GM’s fault but does feel very on-brand for them). It’s not terrible, especially if you already like AA.
The very annoying thing about this decision is GM makes a wonderful android based interface that does a good chunk of what you need it to without pairing your phone BUT the moment you need notifications from your phone it frankly sucks. I have a escalade IQ loaner at the moment and it just plain sucks for that kind of stuff. Plus with carplay all the apps are on my phone and everything is loaded in and works without having to sign in yet again and what not.
Frankly, my wife’s lyriq is the ideal best of both. It has the google apps that work just fine and dandy and it has carplay/AA for those that don’t. This screams GM wanting our data too.
Really? I wish my GTI would ignore all the phone notifications besides phone calls
This I think is a key point. When I’m renting a car and get to peruse the aisle of vehicles, CarPlay is one of those “need to have” things since I don’t have time to learn a new system.
If I owned this vehicle I don’t think I’d miss CarPlay as long as the vehicle had a connected nav system. If map updates and traffic and the like aren’t included for at least 5 years though this really sucks… don’t give me a reason to put a magnetic phone dock on the dashboard of my fancy new car!
Unless they somehow knock a system that does the same thing CarPlay does out of the park, I don’t see looking at a GM that doesn’t come with it.
That’s the problem pulling this now. The burden of improvement is much higher now that people know AA/CP are perfectly usable. This would have been better received 4-5 years ago.
This is plain and simple enshittification. GM wants to charge you to do what you could previously do for free. Why let you mirror your own phone screen when they can charge you a monthly fee to let your car do it for you. That’s just stupid.
This is all crap.I don’t want freaking AI in my car. I just want to be able to change tracks and see my navigation screen.
My current car is an Equinox. It’s fine, but it is a boring driving appliance. If someone replaced it with any of million other roundish SUVish cars tomorrow, I wouldn’t notice or care. I’m going to be shopping for a car with AA when I buy next, not a GM.
I don’t mind their interface. The problem is that after 6 months of free trial, you have to pay $20/month for live traffic – even on a six figure Cadillac it’s not included for a reasonable amount of time. I’m not going to pay for that when I already get that info on my cell phone.
I like CarPlay, but I don’t completely blame GM for this. Apple has been trying to take over the whole dash and GM will have none of that and that’s completely fair. If Apple hadn’t overreached, GM might’ve been ok with CarPlay.
I see it differently. Yes, Apple was/is (?) developing a version that also does the main forward screen with your gauges. But is not “taking over the whole dash” as if Carplay was going to suddenly hijack your car. It’s a product being developed, that could be accepted or rejected by any manufacturer. Last I remember any reporting on it, it was something along the lines of only a few manufacturers showed any interest, and maybe one car (from Ferrari maybe? Porsche?) actually said they would use it.
Long and short of it, I think Apple is is free to develop a product that no one wants (Full Carplay Dashboard), and GM is free to develop another product that few people will want (No Carplay Dashboard). The risk is much bigger for GM.
I like carplay, but I’m surprised how much I don’t miss it on my Tesla. That said, I do like it on my Silverado EV. I’m not sure it will dent GM sales so much, primarily because they offer some decently priced (for these days) vehicles.
The other thing I’ll add is that GM’s standalone UI is pretty good… I’d give it a solid B. But on top of it, at least in the Silverado, they seem to have found the Zen in terms of keeping the right amount of physical buttons while combined with a touchscreen.
What Apple is pushing is “Carplay Ultra”, which seems to have spooked automakers. https://insideevs.com/news/764017/apple-carplay-ultra-rollout-problems/
Apple has clearly gone about CarPlay Ultra the wrong way. And frankly, after seeing the initial reports covering the Aston Martin integration, I don’t blame manufacturers for not wanting to use it. And that’s speaking as someone who’s infotainment is showing CarPlay on the dash 99% of the time.
Which is ironic, considering GM’s new system is based on Android Automotive.
yeah, this is what I’m wondering: is GM planning to creating a new system fully internal to them? Or did they get some sweetheart from Android. While I use carplay, I do rely on some of the Android features like the maps from time to time.
From what I understand, GM is using Android Automotive as the base vehicle OS (AOSP) and building their own user interface and apps on top of it.
In phone parlance, what GM is doing is analogous to Samsung – The OS is Android and uses some Google data sources like Maps data, but they’re not using Google’s apps (vs Volvo, which uses Android Automotive and GAS . . the center console basically looks like a big Pixel tablet).
Acronyms explained here -> https://source.android.com/docs/automotive/start/what_automotive
I know people are Big Mad about this, and I kind of get it, but I also kind of don’t, but that may be a me problem. I acknowledge that I’m old school though.
My wife has a ’24 K5 that has CarPlay, and I admit it’s pretty slick. But let’s be honest, all it really does mostly is music and nav.
I’m not one of these people that has to have music going on all the time in parallel with my life. I don’t understand the need to have music always on at home, in the car, on the golf course (GAH!). I NEVER play music on the way to work in the morning, hello, I just woke up, and often I don’t play music on the way home either, because I’ve been dealing with stuff all day and just like the peace and clarity.
But if you do like music, there’s lots of ways to get it into your speakers without having to go through CarPlay. Because I’m old I still have a Sirius XM subscription, and I use that in my ’12 Colorado and I have a bluetooth transmitter for my ’06 Jaguar. On the rare occasion I need to nav something the phone is in the cupholder.
I probably sound like a crotchety old man but I just turned 55 and I’m okay with that, but I have a feeling that GM’s system is probably as easy to use as CarPlay is.
It’s not about music for me, it’s podcasts, and they pick up the progress right where I left off as soon as I get into my car that has android auto.
Fair enough, and I can understand that is a value. I’m not a podcast guy though (podcast = internet talk radio), because the little bit I’ve heard of them they seem to take forever to get to the point.
It’s not the music for me. It’s the nav. Phone screen in cupholder takes way more looking at that 9″ screen in the center at dash height. Slight glance vs look down. The audio instructions are often not clear enough. And I don’t want to do the unsafe cupholder look. I like when it’s practically in my peripheral vision.
The second thing for me, which admittedly happens WAY WAY WAY less frequently but somehow always feels urgent when it does is the voice controls for the phone. Stuck in really bad traffic with my kiddo and knowing spouse is probably about to be worried, “text Spouse: freeway is a parking lot”. Done. That sort of thing.
Maybe GM’s in-house thing will do that as well? But I doubt it. I have cars with bluetooth and wheel controls and it’s a totally different ballgame than with Android Auto or CarPlay.
It’s a 9″ screen plus turn-by-turn in the gauge cluster, if it’s available. That stuff’s nice.
I know folks like to connect their phones to their cars. Not having a phone, the inability to do so doesn’t bother me. But I also know how much people love their phones (if how much time they spend looking at their screens instead of the world around them is anything to go by), so it’s understandable I guess that it’s irksome to have to trade one GUI (on their beloved phone) for another (in a new/er GM vehicle).
By now (2025) I’d have thought that people would have become a bit more platform agnostic, but I guess not.
Well, they will regret it sooner or later.
I remember that my Samsung Galaxy A13 instantly connected to the Android Auto in a rental 2023 Malibu that we used in Boston.
This is like a chinese place taking general tso and beef w/broccoli off the menu.
Why bother?
Mmmmm…. Chinese food. 🙂
I’m interested to see how they think this is going to play out with rental cars. As of now, when I need a rental for a job I get in the car, plug in my phone, say “no you cant have all of my call/text/etc logs” and go. This seems like a return to the bad old days of forcing me to upload my whole damn life into the cars brain if I want to use it at all, and then remembering to delete everything when I return the car.
This is another good point. I don’t even have my contacts loaded into the vehicle that I own. My phone does that stuff fine, thank you, and I don’t need the manufacturer scraping my info.
As far as rentals, it’s been six years since my last rental, but I remember it being able to see a previous user’s entire contacts when I picked it up.
I don’t want any vehicle that requires a Google login, or even runs a Google OS as its OS.
This is such a self-own and I hate it.
I especially hate this because Barra’s initial explanation of this was, “Investors want us to have subscription revenue and we need to collect personal data!” Given my experiences with GM I probably wasn’t gonna buy another car from them anyway but this is another nail in the coffin.
The real pain in the butt is going to be rental cars – I love hopping in a car, plugging my phone in, and having all my familiar stuff come up. Renting a GM is going to be obnoxious now.
I won’t even rent one, let alone buy one.
If you’re in bum-fuck and all they have available are GM products, are you going to then walk instead?
I think the point is just that plenty of rental customers will prefer anything that isn’t a GM, and rental companies will be aware of that when buying for their fleets.
This is it. There’s nothing else to it but this. Personal data is worth a lot nowadays, GM wants that juicy data to sell you subscription stuff in the future. It needs to know you. CarPlay and AA keep all the data in the device and they’re only glorified screen mirroring so GM is missing out and they know it.