Too bad they killed Android auto and car play in them
I’m enjoying the hell out of the wireless android auto in my new Prius. It just works and I don’t have to pay a cent more to use it. We already spent too long waiting for car manufacturers to actually invest in their car’s UI system and it never happened. Apple and Google had the perfect solution and now they’re throwing it in the trash hoping that people will just be ok with the garbage they were putting out before? And they’ll have to pay a subscription to use it to boot? Not a chance!
On the test drive I did last week they said it’s free for 7 years, but I didn’t think to ask if that includes cellular data for the car or if it can use my phone. Still, I’d much prefer to just use the phone I’m already paying for anyways. Feels like yet another company looking for that sweet recurring revenue of subscription fees.
I wonder if the automakers noticed the hit when people stopped paying to update the maps on their built-in navigation and they’re trying to get it back this way?
I’ll buy an Android auto head unit and just suction cup it to the infotainment screen before I pay for that
Isn’t there bluetooth? My wife’s van predates all this car/phone integration things, but bluetooth still works just great. You shouldn’t be changing the channel while driving or whatever it is that those excra tools give you. (my car features a cassette deck which is annoying when I want to listen to something, but I almost never drive so it works)
I think navigation on the car screen is the main benefit. I also just use Bluetooth for audio, but a map on the bigger screen would be really nice.
Yes, there is Bluetooth for audio, but with smartphones and especially Android Auto/Apple CarPlay I’ve gotten used to having a nice large map in my car with real-time traffic and up-to-date maps, not paying a fee to the manufacturer to update the maps on the screen in the car, maps that are already outdated when added and no real-time traffic unless I pay an additional monthly fee to SiriusXM which only gives coverage to certain roads in certain cities.
Yeah, although I did a test drive last week and someone had already installed Waze and Spotify in the car I tried, which made me feel a little better about it. Would still much prefer it to run off my phone, though.
