Adjusting without CarPlay?

[Reeler]

My read was that the I.D.4's interior and build materials seemed kind of flimsy, but I was only able to see the touring example when it came to Seattle.

I have had over a dozen EVs over the last 10 years, but am buying cars for 5 drivers at this point in my family. I do have peculiar tastes and tend to be phone-centric for my media options as I travel constantly with cars stashed several places. When I get in my Tesla, I curse the proprietary nav after living on Apple Carplay through various rentals and other cars with about 90% of my time travelling for work. I like econobox interior/build with tons of cup holders and cloth seats (my back sweats on unventilated pleather so have to have a cloth cover for my Tesla). To each their own.

 

[_Buddy]

Would be nice if we could at least do Siri Eyes Free. They added it to my Jeep and it’s great in the absence of full CarPlay.

Here’s an article about it.
https://jpfreek.com/2016/04/29/jeep-apple-siri-free-uconnect-upgrade/

 

[origingalatic]

Tim Apple should have bought Tesla when Musk wanted to go private....

 

[timeshifter]

I've had my MY for just under 3 months and I still miss CarPlay almost every time I drive. I use it to listen to podcasts, music, navigate with maps, send and read text messages and occasionally make phone calls. Yes you can use BT to play music, etc from your phone, but it is NOT a substitute.

Tesla's navigation system is quite good - It varies somewhat from Apple Maps, but I don't know you can say one is better than the other. The nice thing about Apple Maps is it automatically remembers contacts and other information, making entering destinations easier. Of course Tesla's will calculate battery use and show supercharger locations, and the larger screen is nice.

As others have mentioned, CarPlay is not just apple maps or apple music and is more than a simple BT connection. I can play text messages in my MY easily enough, but not reply to them easily, and not without breaking local laws. Using voice to compose new messages is also very easy.

I have a subscription to AppleMusic and have playlists already in my phone that I use at home with BT speakers; why should I have to pay for another subscription to Spotify? Or buy something from Amazon (I avoid them like the plague, anyway.) I've set up the TuneIn app in my MY the best I can, but let's be honest - the TuneIn interface SUCKS! TuneIn routinely forgets which podcast I was listening to and where I was in the podcast. It's also difficult to browse your library with it, and importantly for someone who uses more than one car, it's inconsistent.

The lack of CarPlay/Android Auto is one of the biggest fails for Tesla, IMO and there is no reason they couldn't implement it using the right half of the screen. I love my MY but the absence of CarPlay is enough to make me consider a different make for my next purchase.

I've had my Model Y for a little more than a month and agree 100% with everything you said. I went to great lengths to upgrade my old car to CarPlay and am a big fan. I thought / hoped I'd adjust to Tesla's system, and not miss CarPlay. But I miss it.

AM Radio. Yes, we all know it doesn't come on a Tesla. Yes, we all know it's obsolete and everyone can crap on it. But, I still liked it in my area. There's two stations locally that I want need. One is the big local "station of record" in my area. If there's something going on I'll tune it to them. They're listed in TuneIn but with a generic icon. The couple times I've tried it it didn't work. Even with a subscription.

iHeart Radio was a good substitute on my old car with CarPlay during the 6 months I had CarPlay but had not run a wire to the trunk for the antenna, so basically a car with no AM or FM radio at all. I got along quite well with CarPlay and iHeart Radio. The iHeart app comes up on screen and I could listen to both stations pretty effectively.

At some point I thought iHeart was on Tesla but later learned that TuneIn was and figured it would be the same. It's not. So a native AM tuner would be best. Next best would be a working TuneIn or iHeart app on Tesla screen. Third best would be streaming it from the iHeart app on my phone, which I haven't tried yet.

The whole Streaming / TuneIn thing is confusing. They're hard to tell apart. I think I've got it now. I do like the comedy channel on Streaming. Some of the music selections were good. Agree with the frustrations over podcasts. There is one daily news oriented podcast I found that was a good fix for my need to stay up on what's going on in the world. But sometimes it would start playing a two day old podcast when I had already been listening to today's. Or it would start today's over. This NEVER happened on CarPlay.

For my media consumption my overall needs were for AM stations, podcasts and Audible audiobooks, then occasional music. Audible audiobooks will need to be controlled by phone streaming. Ugh. Don't skewer me for wanting AM. I knew Tesla's limitations going in on that. So far the work-arounds for that are lacking. Ford and others still include an AM tuner. Ford did a nice job of integrating CarPlay in the Mach-E. Tesla could do the same and put CarPlay on the right side of the screen.

When it comes to phone usage CarPlay is superior. You can play voicemails from screen. Text is better. Hey Siri give me directions to John Smith's.

If I had CarPlay it would be zero extra per month (already have Apple Music). To do things Tesla's way I'll need:
Premium Connectivity $10
TuneIn $15
Spotify Premium $15
So, $40 per month. Ugh again.

I'll adapt as I'm not going to turn around and sell my car so fast. But in a year when a lot of the competitors are actually available I might be tempted to switch.

 

[MoneyWiz]

I have only rented a MY for a day, but I also have a car with wireless CarPlay and I think the system in the MY works well (better) IF you subscribe to Spotify (which I do).

With CarPlay, you are subject to the reception of your phone for all the services - music, nav, etc. I live in an urban area, but sometimes on road trips I lose a good signal and, consequently, music and nav. The Tesla signal for Nav and Spotify is separate (does not use the phone) and seems to be much better. Not sure where the antenna is in the Tesla, but I did a direct comparison in a rural area near me and the Tesla maintained the signal much better. I also find that CarPlay Spotify does not start for me right away when I use the car for the first time that day. Assume it is looking for a signal, etc. Seems to start up right away in the Tesla. You do need to pay for the connection in the Tesla after the first year, but that is fine with me. You also don't need your phone with you in the Tesla for Spotify and Nav.

I also think the interface is better in the Tesla. Having the huge screen with Spotify built in makes navigating your playlists, etc. so much easier. A recent software update in the Tesla also has a separate menu selection for podcasts, so you can just add your podcasts to Spotify and access them there. I also noticed that Spotify resumes playing where I left off as soon as I open the door to the Tesla - at first I thought it never stopped playing when I left the car, but it does.

The large screen in the Tesla also makes the nav experience better. Being able to pinch to zoom and see so much more of the area surrounding the car is great. Also love the satellite view. The big limitation is no Waze. However, I always run with a radar detector and, as others have said, you can have Waze running on your phone separately. What you can do is just have Waze running with the iPhone screen off and then just listen for notifications about upcoming police, construction, etc.

Voice commands also seem to be better in the Tesla. During my day with the car it was flawless at finding a song, destination or person to call. I love that it shows you on the screen exactly what it heard you say. With my other car, I have no idea what it heard until it responds.

I did not find a way to access Audible from the screen in the Tesla, but I guess you can just access that directly from your phone and stream to the car. When listening to a book I rarely need to interact withe the CarPlay screen other than to pause the reading of the book.

This was really helpful. Thanks!

 

[Assquatch]

The lack of CarPlay is a real bummer. It's been a downgrade for certain. I use Apple Music and podcasts app exensively while driving and I'm back to fumbling with my phone while driving. The Navigation (Apple Maps) was also leaps and bounds better in terms of UI, Voice/Pronunciation, Guidance ("turn right after the light", "stay in the left two lanes" etc). I'm not sure if Tesla is using Google maps 100% or if it's on them, but FWIW there has been a new bridge open for over 2 months by me and Tesla nav doesn't know it is there while Apple Maps does and it affects nearly every route to/from my home.

My fingers are crossed for Apple Music integration. CarPlay support is wishful thinking. I'd love for it to take over most of the right pane on the screen but I'm 99% sure what won't happen.

Another feature that would be easy and I hope to see, is remapping the (useless) Tesla voice assistant to activate Siri. AFAIK right now you have to say "Hey Siri" to activate.

 

[sleepydoc]

The lack of CarPlay is a real bummer. It's been a downgrade for certain. I use Apple Music and podcasts app exensively while driving and I'm back to fumbling with my phone while driving. The Navigation (Apple Maps) was also leaps and bounds better in terms of UI, Voice/Pronunciation, Guidance ("turn right after the light", "stay in the left two lanes" etc). I'm not sure if Tesla is using Google maps 100% or if it's on them, but FWIW there has been a new bridge open for over 2 months by me and Tesla nav doesn't know it is there while Apple Maps does and it affects nearly every route to/from my home.

My fingers are crossed for Apple Music integration. CarPlay support is wishful thinking. I'd love for it to take over most of the right pane on the screen but I'm 99% sure what won't happen.

Another feature that would be easy and I hope to see, is remapping the (useless) Tesla voice assistant to activate Siri. AFAIK right now you have to say "Hey Siri" to activate.

I've been using "Hey Siri," but it works quite well through the car's mic and speaker.

 

[Assquatch]

Tim Apple should have bought Tesla when Musk wanted to go private....

That was a huge miss. The design ethos between these two companies is very similar. A part of me, however, thinks that when Apple comes to market with a car it will beat Tesla handily, if way late.

 

[mrwug]

A part of me, however, thinks that when Apple comes to market with a car it will beat Tesla handily, if way late.

One question about the Apple car that just occurred to me is "Who's gonna build it?" While Apple's management of supply chains is legendary, they contract out pretty much all of their actual manufacturing. Are they actually going to invest in setting up their own factories? If not, is there a car maker out there big enough to make Apple a major player in the industry volume-wise who's willing to manufacture Apple-branded cars?

While there are phantom builders out there (Magna Steyr comes to mind since they built my old MINI Countryman), I don't know if any are up to the task of building hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year that one would expect to be sold when Apple jumps into the fray.

 

[HellsKitchen]

One question about the Apple car that just occurred to me is "Who's gonna build it?" While Apple's management of supply chains is legendary, they contract out pretty much all of their actual manufacturing. Are they actually going to invest in setting up their own factories? If not, is there a car maker out there big enough to make Apple a major player in the industry volume-wise who's willing to manufacture Apple-branded cars?

While there are phantom builders out there (Magna Steyr comes to mind since they built my old MINI Countryman), I don't know if any are up to the task of building hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year that one would expect to be sold when Apple jumps into the fray.

I agree. The Car market is just too big for them to come in late and dominate the way they did with the mobile phone market.

 

[drtimhill]

The Navigation (Apple Maps) was also leaps and bounds better in terms of UI, Voice/Pronunciation, Guidance ("turn right after the light", "stay in the left two lanes" etc)

On thing to remember is that 3rd party nav apps, however good, will never work with supercharger preconditioning, NOA, smart summon, or FSD.

 

[sleepydoc]

I agree. The Car market is just too big for them to come in late and dominate the way they did with the mobile phone market.

There were some rumors a while back that they would partner with Hyundai. I think it’s a safe bet they will partner with an existing manufacturer.

 

[timeshifter]

I agree. The Car market is just too big for them to come in late and dominate the way they did with the mobile phone market.

That may be true. But it’s also true that no one took them seriously or was concerned about them when they released the original iPhone in 2007.

 

[angus[Y]oung]

@mrwug Foxconn is buying Lordstown's EV plant in Ohio. They already build all(most?) iPhones for Apple. A possibility here?

 

[mrwug]

@mrwug Foxconn is buying Lordstown's EV plant in Ohio. They already build all(most?) iPhones for Apple. A possibility here?

It all depends on the scale of Apple's automotive ambitions. Are they looking to sell 100K cars/year or more like 1M?

As I think about it more, there might be a path for a company like Foxconn or Magna Steyr. Given Ford's recent announcement regarding its intent to build new EV factories in KY & TN, I wonder about their long-term plans for MI. If the midsouth becomes the epicenter for their EV manufacturing, they might be willing to part with some facilities in Detroit as they transition away from ICE production. That could simplify the expansion of manufacturing capacity for Apple's auto manufacturing partner.

Or maybe Apple continues their current offshore manufacturing practices and partners with a Chinese automaker. It would be interesting if, of all of Apple's products, automobiles were the one product built in the US.

 

[HellsKitchen]

On thing to remember is that 3rd party nav apps, however good, will never work with supercharger preconditioning, NOA, smart summon, or FSD.

That may be true. But it’s also true that no one took them seriously or was concerned about them when they released the original iPhone in 2007.

True. But I think it was because people greatly underestimated what a phone could do more so than they underestimated Apple. Now, can they repeat that with a car? It's a tall order I think to reinvent the car that's already being reinvented by Tesla.

 

[Assquatch]

True. But I think it was because people greatly underestimated what a phone could do more so than they underestimated Apple. Now, can they repeat that with a car? It's a tall order I think to reinvent the car that's already being reinvented by Tesla.

As great as Tesla is over legacy autos, it's early days. There Is likely enough room for massive innovation in the areas of battery life/range, infotainment, hardware /software interop and UX , cameras and processors, quality control, and supply chain. These are areas where apple has deep, deep experience and in many ways, has reached perfection. Current iPhones and the accompanying software/hardware ecosystem represent a technological feat an order of magnitude greater than what tesla has accomplished. The software is incredibly important to most users. I said I would never buy a car without CarPlay other than a Tesla and it seems others feel a similar way.

I have no idea if the Apple car rumors will come to fruition, but I see enough overlap, and enough money that I would not cast doubt on that possibility.