Enjoy Carplay While You Still Can
Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago
theatlantic.comTechstory
heatednegative
Debate
70/100
Apple CarplayGeneral MotorsAutomotive Technology
Key topics
Apple Carplay
General Motors
Automotive Technology
The article discusses General Motors' decision to limit Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, sparking debate among HN users about the implications for user experience and the automotive industry.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Very active discussionFirst comment
18s
Peak period
27
0-3h
Avg / period
5.9
Comment distribution53 data points
Loading chart...
Based on 53 loaded comments
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Nov 3, 2025 at 11:36 AM EST
2 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Nov 3, 2025 at 11:36 AM EST
18s after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
27 comments in 0-3h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Nov 5, 2025 at 9:55 AM EST
2 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45800960Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 5:28:51 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
https://insideevs.com/news/762582/nissan-leaf-j1772-nacs-slo...
Out and about, it makes a lot more sense to use a DC fast charger, where having a port that will fit the charging stations matters a lot more.
Android users win regardless in this fight - even though they won’t have Android Auto anymore, they can “just” use the built in Google suite on AAOS/Google Automotive and have their native Android apps on the car itself.
Apple loses out end to end in the automotive industry at this point with vendors both ditching Carplay and abandoning Carplay Ultra in their vehicles while praising how great Google in the car is.
I really don’t want to have to have a Google Account in my car (not even a ‘burner’), but it looks like that’s the direction so many are gonna push us, it’s not even funny.
Some executives will get a big bonus for pushing this out, and later another for reverting back.
I won’t buy a car that does not have CarPlay. And I know many who are the same. My phone is a centerpiece of my life (gahh I hate saying that), my car however is not.
Doesn't that make CarPlay/Android Auto a good thing? Provided the car supports both platforms, it means you can change phones during your car's lifespan without having to worry about losing features, and you get new phones as your phone upgrades without having to change your car.
I'd just prefer to minimize dependencies.
So they will abandon it and your car (which has a lifetime of 10+ years) will have software that stopped being patched 3 years into it.
And so you'll have a crypto-node on wheels. Hell no please.
The only way out of that is to ignore the infotainment and use your own device like with an AUX port.
CarPlay/Android Auto gives us the best of both worlds. It's just a dumb pipe so as we upgrade our phones, we get new/better features.
Other implementations (looking at you Hyundai) crash requiring you to pull over, disconnect the phone, reboot the infotainment and then re-enter your navigation destination.
The best implementation is no carplay: instead use an AUX port and mount the phone on the dash.
Second best is Tesla's custom navigation. They do something other car companies should: use one of the million speakers in the car to focus on navigation directions while allowing audio content to continue playing on all the other speakers. Such a simple idea but so good.
My previous-gen Kia Sedona does this as well (at least when using the built-in maps).
Wireless connectivity may be frustrating (though I've never had connectivity issues plugged in to the USB port), but this is a really bizarre framing.
Just pull over.
An alternative solution is to not have to deal with these bugs in the first place by eliminating that extra layer. Thats what I am proposing. Direct connection of the phone to an AUX port is not carplay. It is the app running directly on the phone with its own context. Is it 100% bug proof? no because only a paper map would solve that problem. But far more testing has been done on the apps running directly on the phone vs the phone having to connect through the manufacturer's implementation of Carplay.
Again, I have simply and clearly suggested that OP prioritize his family over his device. Anything else you've chosen to read into that is you wanting to be angry and refusing to read anything written as a result. Please take a deep breath.
Next time, try holding Volume down+forward buttons.
That being said, Ford makes great vehicles, but terrible software. My car has so many stupid bugs (all just annoyances).
Of course they drop Carplay. Sadly, I expect all the large OEMs to do the same.
GM will ditch Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on all its cars, not just EVs
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45676304
Also, CarPlay Ultra: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/09/carplay-ultra-committed...
History has shown that most (especially legacy) car manufacturers make crappy software. I simply don't believe that GM will make exceptional infotainment software and additionally there's no doubt they will charge some subscription fee for parts of the software. It will not be up to the same standard as Tesla or Rivian's software where I can partially accept this argument.
I love CarPlay and my phone already has all the features I need in the car in terms of music, maps, responding to messages, etc. CarPlay is a requirement for me when looking at a car (even rentals).
But at the same time I don't really use CarPlay for all that much. Music, maps, that's about it. And I also want to use the screen for some features that CarPlay doesn't handle, like checking backup or side cameras. In theory you could do even more, like if I have some engine problem why does it alert me with a few words in a tiny amount of UI in some random spot? It could give me a full explanation of what's going wrong, tell me whether it's in warranty, and offer me to schedule an appointment, right there from the screen in my car.
I haven't driven a Tesla or a Rivian so I don't know how good their software is. But it does seem like there's an opportunity to build some actually-good software here that a generic platform like CarPlay can't really do.
The last thing I want is to have a feature that doesn't work well and that leads to finger-pointing between Apple and the car maker. And considering how lousy Siri is in general, I would expect this feature to not work well.