Drivers share common reaction to major car brand ditching Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Electric vehicle drivers will want to avoid a certain brand's 2024 models if they want to retain Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
A Reddit forum has revealed how motorists feel about General Motors’ decision to remove Apple CarPlay and Android Auto multimedia features from their future electric vehicles — and many consumers commenting are dissatisfied.
The major automaker said they’d be removing the smartphone connectivity features from 2024 electric models to minimize the likelihood of distracted driving.
In the Reddit forum discussing the General Motors (GM) change, one person commented: “How many months before they revert the changes and beg the customers to come back?”
Another Reddit account responded: “I’ll give it two model years.”
A separate Redditor commented: “This is one of the most insane decisions an automaker has made in recent years, imo [in my opinion].
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“I feel (somewhat) bad for all of the people who are going to buy a new GM vehicle, only to find out it doesn’t have CarPlay or AA on the drive home.”
The Reddit forum also attracted a response from a claimed auto industry worker.
The car industry employee wrote: “As someone in the automotive industry, I cannot count the amount of sales that have been lost cause Apple/Android isn’t standard.
“Very few even want to mess around adding it aftermarket, which is understandable. GM is going to lose huge on this.”
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Consumers may view General Motors’ decision to remove Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to increase driving safety as perplexing, given that the tech systems are meant to reduce behind-the-wheel distractions.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto lower driving distractions by allowing motorists to interact with their smartphones more intuitively through methods like voice controls.
However, according to Tim Babbitt, General Motors’ head of product for infotainment, these two popular features display stability issues like slow responses and dropped connections.
Babbitt argued that these factors can cause a driver to disconnect their smartphone from Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, resuming manual control and decreasing road safety, MotorTrend reports.
A GM spokesperson told the Daily Express US: "We wanted to clarify that comments about GM's position on phone projection were misrepresented in previous articles and to reinforce our valued partnerships with Apple and Google and each company’s commitment to driver safety.
"GM's embedded infotainment strategy is driven by the benefits of having a system that allows for greater integration with the larger GM ecosystem and vehicles."
