When GM decided to stop supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in many of its vehicles, the company faced a wave of criticism. Many buyers had grown accustomed to plugging in their phones and instantly seeing their familiar apps on the dashboard.
Recently I had a chance to try GM’s alternative—a system based on Google’s Automotive OS (GAOS) —in a new Buick my son was renting from Hertz. Although my time with it was brief, it revealed more of why GM made the switch and why many users won’t be happy.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto project your smartphone onto the car’s display. Your iPhone or Android phone does the computing while the dashboard serves as the interface. Maps, Spotify, Messages, Podcasts, and other supported apps all run from your phone. Whatever subscriptions or sign-ins you have done from the phone are replicated in the car; no need to sign in again. When you disconnect, the car reverts to its own built-in infotainment system.
Google Automotive OS takes a very different approach. Instead of relying on your phone, Google’s operating system is built directly into the vehicle. Navigation, voice control, climate controls, settings, and downloadable apps all run on the car itself. The system is always available, whether your phone is connected or not.
To use GAOS, I first paired my iPhone for calls over Bluetooth. Most of the apps I regularly use—including Neil Young Archives, Messaging, iCal, and Overcast—were missing. Instead, I had to search for compatible versions in the Google Play Store on the car, download them, and sign in to each one. It felt much like setting up a new phone or TV where every app requires its own installation and login. While you may do it once in your own car, imagine doing this on a rental. Few will bother.
This approach offers a few advantages, most of them for GM and Google, and a few for the user. Because the operating system lives in the car, you can install apps that aren’t available through CarPlay and Android Auto such as YouTube that can be watched while the vehicle is parked.
The system integrates some of the car’s controls such as climate control – meaning GM can save money by elimitating physical controls and the user can use voice control for activating them – although Google’s voice recognition was very glitchy and you have to learn a new set of key words.
One big downside for users is the loss of continuity, especially if you’re traveling and rent a car. Currently you can listen to music or podcasts on your phone on the plane, then pick up your rental and continue to enjoy your phone’s apps, whether it be Messaging, Podcasts, Apple Music, etc. With a GM rental car you must download and sign in to your apps in the car- if they are offered – and remember to delete them before you turn your car in. iPhone users will lose many of the apps they now rely on, such as Messaging, iCal, Podcasts, Apple Maps, etc.
So why did GM make the change? In addition to integration of some of the car settings and information, it provides a platform for GM to sell us services, subscriptions, and optional features. And it gives GM access to its customers behavior and personal information. This is the same GM that was fined for secretly selling its customers’ driving data to insurance companies, that led to rate increases for many of its customers.
GM and Google will each have access to everything we do in the car. Every destination entered, every app used, every interaction with the infotainment system becomes another piece of data that both Google and GM has and can use to serve us ads on our phones and computer- and perhaps even in the car.
This is a big deal for GM. During a recent GM’s Investor Day presentations CEO Mary Barra told Wall Street analysts that GM expects software and connected services to generate $20 billion to $25 billion annually in subscription revenue by 2030.
My initial dislike of GM abandoning CarPlay has only become greater after using their new sytems , especially as an iPhone user. If GM had offered both Google Automotive and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, as Volvo, Ford, Honda, and many other manufacturers do, there would have been little controversy. Instead, GM forced customers to choose between buying its vehicles or keeping the smartphone integration they’ve grown accustomed to.
GM says they are providing free access to GAOS for eight years and then will charge between $15 and $50 per month. But it’s also likely that GM will extract subscription charges much sooner for features they add or decide to make optional…..just as Mary Barra promised her shareholders.
