Apple CarPlay in the UK?

[Durzel]

they can clearly do it, Disney being an example.

Oh I don’t doubt that. They can do it, but they won’t do it. Elon doesn’t like Apple after he feels Tim Cook slighted him, and Elon’s shadow looms large over Tesla development in all respects.

There is also the fact that Tesla doesn’t want another company taking over its UI/UX. I also suspect Elon is deeply suspicious of Apple’s long term plans in the car space, which is a reasonable concern.

Disney+ has been around a fraction of the time of CarPlay yet Tesla has already implemented it. That should serve as a good indicator that it’s not technical obstacles stopping AA/CarPlay from being implemented.

It does get a bit tiring seeing people bang on about CarPlay and Android Auto in Teslas. It takes a minimal amount of research to realise that there’s been no suggestion that it’s coming any time soon. If people care enough about not having it they should consider not buying Teslas.

 

[page3]

It does get a bit tiring seeing people bang on about CarPlay and Android Auto FSD in Teslas. It takes a minimal amount of research to realise that there’s been no suggestion that it’s coming any time soon. If people care enough about not having it they should consider not buying Teslas.

 

[JonB]

Look, you don't need CarPlay taking over the screen to be able to access music on the iPhone. Ford Sync 3 does it just fine wwwithout using CarPlay (though it does have it). So why in heck can't Tesla implement music search and selection via Bluetooth? It does show the playlist once selected on the phone, so it is capable of getting media lists from the phone. Such a half assed implementation.

 

[Zilla91]

Aren’t they they same entity? Or do you mean Volvo ICE cars do this?

Either way it seems pretty damn strange to essentially admit defeat on your own UI/UX and allow a completely different company to “own” the space. Particularly as it requires another device nearby to function.

Almost surreal.

Yes I think even Volvo ICE cars from this year or last have Android as the car OS. Note this is the actual baked in Android OS and doesn’t require a phone Android Automotive - Wikipedia

It’s not surreal at all, Apple and Google do software better than anyone else so let them do that and you play to your strengths, which is building cars.

Look, you don't need CarPlay taking over the screen to be able to access music on the iPhone. Ford Sync 3 does it just fine wwwithout using CarPlay (though it does have it). So why in heck can't Tesla implement music search and selection via Bluetooth? It does show the playlist once selected on the phone, so it is capable of getting media lists from the phone. Such a half assed implementation.

Exactly this, if you’re adamant you’re not going to give us CarPlay/AA then at least make the Bluetooth support better

 

[Teddy69]

Oh I don’t doubt that. They can do it, but they won’t do it. Elon doesn’t like Apple after he feels Tim Cook slighted him, and Elon’s shadow looms large over Tesla development in all respects.

There is also the fact that Tesla doesn’t want another company taking over its UI/UX. I also suspect Elon is deeply suspicious of Apple’s long term plans in the car space, which is a reasonable concern.

Disney+ has been around a fraction of the time of CarPlay yet Tesla has already implemented it. That should serve as a good indicator that it’s not technical obstacles stopping AA/CarPlay from being implemented.

It does get a bit tiring seeing people bang on about CarPlay and Android Auto in Teslas. It takes a minimal amount of research to realise that there’s been no suggestion that it’s coming any time soon. If people care enough about not having it they should consider not buying Teslas.

I wouldn't mind not having carplay, if there were more apps, i.e. audible which is amazon, not apple.

And is adding an apple music app such a threat? it's just screwing over certain music service subscribers not having it in the car

 

[12Pack]

It’s not surreal at all, Apple and Google do software better than anyone else so let them do that and you play to your strengths, which is building cars.

Well, what's unusual about Tesla is that they are not just a carmaker - a strength is their integration of the software into a single system. Certainly overall a better solution than, e.g., Volvo outsourcing Andriod into a Panasonic infotainment system, with Bosch ABS and chassis control, and Geely motor control and BMS. My other cars have all kinds of serious electronic gremlins because of this - worst of which is the iPace.

Not sure how easy/hard it is to integrate Carplay - would be nice to have it as it also stays updated - but I'll still take the Tesla integration with all its foibles over the rest.

 

[fancealot]

Looking at the WWDC keynote from yesterday, it looks like apple are moving closer to what the tesla interface is now, allowing information from the car's data and controls of a car to sync with carplay replacing the entire car infotainment and heads up cluster to something more apple like, several of the pics have a central screen eerily similar to the Tesla screen

 

[GRiLLA]

Looking at the WWDC keynote from yesterday, it looks like apple are moving closer to what the tesla interface is now, allowing information from the car's data and controls of a car to sync with carplay replacing the entire car infotainment and heads up cluster to something more apple like, several of the pics have a central screen eerily similar to the Tesla screen

It's puzzling to think about how vehicle regulations will handle that, I can see it being a US only type feature.

 

[KennethS]

Looking at the WWDC keynote from yesterday, it looks like apple are moving closer to what the tesla interface is now, allowing information from the car's data and controls of a car to sync with carplay replacing the entire car infotainment and heads up cluster to something more apple like, several of the pics have a central screen eerily similar to the Tesla screen

What Apple showcased at yesterday's WWDC keynote was revolutionary in many ways, where a car manufacturer allows such deep integration of a vehicle's control systems to Apple's software and hardware (ie, iPhone running CarPlay). I don't see Tesla going down that path. As much of an Apple enthusiast (fanboy) that I am, I also don't want it in my Teslas. I know many people think FSD is a pipe dream or decades from reality, but the principles behind the Tesla FSD system seem to contradict handing off deep integration of any in-car systems to anyone else. CarPlay as it stands today, which I have used in other vehicles, is a nice thing to have. But I am also happy enough with the Tesla systems.

 

[Mrklaw]

What Apple showcased at yesterday's WWDC keynote was revolutionary in many ways, where a car manufacturer allows such deep integration of a vehicle's control systems to Apple's software and hardware (ie, iPhone running CarPlay). I don't see Tesla going down that path. As much of an Apple enthusiast (fanboy) that I am, I also don't want it in my Teslas. I know many people think FSD is a pipe dream or decades from reality, but the principles behind the Tesla FSD system seem to contradict handing off deep integration of any in-car systems to anyone else. CarPlay as it stands today, which I have used in other vehicles, is a nice thing to have. But I am also happy enough with the Tesla systems.

there are mid-options already. Apple updated carplay to support wider displays, and BMW I think brought the maps from carplay into the instrument cluster (when that went digital and let you show a smaller map there), and direcitons on the HUD.

Nothing as significant as fundamental instruments - lights/speed/fuel etc - and that may be more of a reference design and potentially limited by regulations in some countries. I think that'd be my personal line. I'd rather critical functions be managed by the manufacturer of the vehicle. they'll need a fallback anyway for those that don't connect their phone

 

[JonB]

Musk has often said that Tesla is a tech company rather than a car maker. Or, he is saying it's a tech company that just happens to make cars. So why would he sanction passing over close integration, and hence control of the car's systems to a competitor like Apple? He wouldn't, it'd be commercial suicide.

CarPlay in its current form takes full control of the infotainment system and once loaded does not allow any native features to run, such as navigation. That was my experience, anyway, on a Ford Sync 3 system. That alone made me not want to use it (the Ford nav was excellent and didn't rely on a sketchy mobile data signal). Yes, I know Tesla Nav uses mobile data and it is pretty sluggish sometimes, loading map tiles so not perfect. Funnily enough, the Ford Nav used to get roundabout exit counts wrong, too (this appeared to have been fixed in an update), but it was way more usable than Tesla nav.

 

[Mrklaw]

Musk has often said that Tesla is a tech company rather than a car maker. Or, he is saying it's a tech company that just happens to make cars. So why would he sanction passing over close integration, and hence control of the car's systems to a competitor like Apple? He wouldn't, it'd be commercial suicide.

CarPlay in its current form takes full control of the infotainment system and once loaded does not allow any native features to run, such as navigation. That was my experience, anyway, on a Ford Sync 3 system. That alone made me not want to use it (the Ford nav was excellent and didn't rely on a sketchy mobile data signal). Yes, I know Tesla Nav uses mobile data and it is pretty sluggish sometimes, loading map tiles so not perfect. Funnily enough, the Ford Nav used to get roundabout exit counts wrong, too (this appeared to have been fixed in an update), but it was way more usable than Tesla nav.

not necessarily the case. On BMWs you can still have the BMW nav running alongside (eg for HUD) but obviously carplay takes up the main infotainment screen. And you can still have radio etc working. Its just a screen share with audio feed and data communication (so you can use car controls to skip tracks etc). You could run it in a window like the web browser but it would need a fairly significant update from Tesla

 

[WllXM]

I am sure that if Tesla wanted, they could develop a CarPlay integration that would run in a sort of windowed/sandboxed mode, so as it wouldn’t take over all other main infotainment features but would still allow you to use Waze, Apple Music, Whatsapp/Message readouts etc.
I will see if I’ll miss it in the long run, in that case I guess I’ll buy an aftermarket CarPlay monitor that sits on the dash on aliexpress

 

[Tony Hoyle]

I suspect apple wouldn't be happy with that.. sandbox would be hard anyway because the backend is linux, not mach, you'd be looking at some kind of VM.

Android auto would be much easier OTOH they aren't doing that either.

 

[GRiLLA]

I am sure that if Tesla wanted, they could develop a CarPlay integration that would run in a sort of windowed/sandboxed mode, so as it wouldn’t take over all other main infotainment features but would still allow you to use Waze, Apple Music, Whatsapp/Message readouts etc.
I will see if I’ll miss it in the long run, in that case I guess I’ll buy an aftermarket CarPlay monitor that sits on the dash on aliexpress

Why would they though, they don't have it today and can't build cars quickly enough, even if it was effecting demand it's not like they could build any more.

Elon has said before that he thinks in car apps and media will become a significant market in the future when people aren't driving, why give that away to other platforms, poor commercial sense.

 

[Durzel]

I'm of the opinion that Tesla's UI isn't bad enough that I feel like I'm missing an awful lot not having CarPlay. It is leagues ahead of my previous cars, and better than other new cars I've driven even recently. It's shocking how poor and inconsistent the UX is even on cars being delivered today. It's often like trying to use a college student's first app running on 8 year old hardware.

In that respect, on those cars, this CarPlay taking over the whole car is probably a good thing for consumers. For Tesla, it is the opposite. I agree with @GRiLLA that it seems more likely that Tesla will eventually cultivate its own app store. There's certainly a big enough install base for them to do it effectively.

 

[WllXM]

Why would they though, they don't have it today and can't build cars quickly enough, even if it was effecting demand it's not like they could build any more.

Elon has said before that he thinks in car apps and media will become a significant market in the future when people aren't driving, why give that away to other platforms, poor commercial sense.

Well contrary to what Apple claims thankfully CarPlay is not the only deciding factor for me when buying a new car, but ultimately, let the customer choose, and give me options!
Let me use CarPlay it if I want to, but you're free to build a better system that will make me stop using it if everything I need is finally built in and integrated. Until you have Waze & Messages natively, I will still regret CarPlay.

 

[WllXM]

I'm of the opinion that Tesla's UI isn't bad enough that I feel like I'm missing an awful lot not having CarPlay. It is leagues ahead of my previous cars, and better than other new cars I've driven even recently. It's shocking how poor and inconsistent the UX is even on cars being delivered today. It's often like trying to use a college student's first app running on 8 year old hardware.

In that respect, on those cars, this CarPlay taking over the whole car is probably a good thing for consumers. For Tesla, it is the opposite. I agree with @GRiLLA that it seems more likely that Tesla will eventually cultivate its own app store. There's certainly a big enough install base for them to do it effectively.

Totally agree. Traditional car manufacturers will be able to ditch their whole infotainment teams, leave it to Apple/Android to take over fully, and focus on making engines again.

 

[Mrklaw]

I suspect apple wouldn't be happy with that.. sandbox would be hard anyway because the backend is linux, not mach, you'd be looking at some kind of VM.

Android auto would be much easier OTOH they aren't doing that either.

so many manufacturers do carplay there is no way they have mac infra in their cars - it'll be running some kind of RDP with security and additional bits and bobs right? and for it to have the number of supported makers that it has, it must be simple to integrate (although perhaps now its a standard SoC that can be added in with a video output and other harness connections)

 

[fancealot]

Well contrary to what Apple claims thankfully CarPlay is not the only deciding factor for me when buying a new car, but ultimately, let the customer choose, and give me options!
Let me use CarPlay it if I want to, but you're free to build a better system that will make me stop using it if everything I need is finally built in and integrated. Until you have Waze & Messages natively, I will still regret CarPlay.

Scarily it is a deciding factor for a lot of 'regular consumers' rather than us forumites who tend to be a little more geeky in our research etc.

I use carplay in my wife's Mazda and it's great (the mazda system is good but carplay is better IMO) but I don't feel a massive loss when in the tesla as i've never used waze (although I would like apple music and apple podcasts integration to save me a few quid).

FWIW I do think apple carplay will still have it's current setup (or slightly modified) but will open up to the car interfaces if the manufacturers decide to let them, as WIIXM said I do also think some manufacturers will jump at the chance (and android auto will also come up with these features) so they can run basic infotainment (at a cheaper R&D cost) and advertise the fact that they have full carplay integration as a big selling point.