I bought a car without Apple CarPlay and I don't miss it at all that's a problem

Date:
Sat, 03 Feb 2024 09:00:05 +0000

Description:
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto have not improved driving, and they have moved the car interface backwards instead.

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I bought a car that is so old that it doesnt have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto , and I love it. Its an older BMW, and it has USB but nothing fancy. I use the built-in navigation system for maps, Bluetooth for music, and you
know what? I dont miss CarPlay at all. In fact, Im relieved that I dont have to rely on my smartphone anymore. Thats a huge problem for Apple and Google. CarPlay and Android Auto have made things worse in every way, not better.

What does my older car do that CarPlay doesnt? Lets start with the things it doesnt do. It doesnt freeze up, ever. When I switch from music to maps, I
dont get an interminable pause that leaves me wondering if I need to restart something. The only thing I restart is the internal combustion engine. The navigation system just works.

With Android Auto and CarPlay, Im constantly fighting bugs and glitches.
Audio will stop working while Im listening to an Audible audiobook, or Waze will hang just as Im approaching an important turn, leaving me with a frozen map on my screen.

Awesome. Now I get to troubleshoot my car, driving 55mph, while Im also
trying to figure out what to do about the exit I just missed. Our Editor-in-Chief trying AR in a BMW, which may be a bad idea (Image credit: Future)

Thats if I manage to hit the road before the problems start. Im constantly facing connection problems from both Android Auto and CarPlay. On Android, my device would not only disconnect from Bluetooth (why do I need BT for a wired CarPlay connection?!), it would delete my car from my list of Bluetooth devices. I have seen this happen on the best Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones , and more than once.

My Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max is more reliable, by a fraction. I have fewer connection problems, but CarPlay still freezes often when I need to switch between apps, especially apps that play audio content.

Once, I made the horrifying mistake of running Apples iOS 17 Beta software while relying on my iPhone for CarPlay. CarPlay broke on every trip. I will never do that again, my friends. It was a harrowing experience of high-speed software crashes, and its impossible to downgrade from Beta software in an emergency. Buttons are good, touch screens are bad

I use my phone in the kitchen, but I dont use it to chop vegetables

My car isnt perfect; BMWs convoluted iDrive entertainment system is quite infamous. Still, I vastly prefer it to my iPhone 15 Pro Max or Pixel 8 Pro or Galaxy S24 Ultra controlling my system. It may not have the voice assistant and messaging features. It can be kludgy to navigate with just a hand-dial
and a button to press. Its still so much better than a touchscreen.

My favorite thing about my car is the way it shuns touchscreens. It has six programmable buttons, and you can program them to do anything on the display screen. Instead of just radio stations, I can program buttons for navigation shortcuts, or music, or the trip computer. A Porsche concept of CarPlay controlling the whole dang car (Image credit: Car and Driver)

I dont need to tap a touchscreen multiple times for every common task. When I want to go home, I press button #1. I can do it without looking, because its
a real, large button. Instead of focusing my attention on a small display,
BMW (back in the day) recognized that buttons were more efficient. I wish
more car companies and phone makers would remember this path.

I want to love CarPlay and Android Auto. My phone is smart, and it has all of my music, audiobooks, and navigation shortcuts preloaded. My phone can send text messages just by listening to me, and it can prioritize notifications to filter out whats unimportant.

My phone should be a part of my car, but it shouldnt be the centerpiece. I
use my phone in the kitchen, but I dont use it to chop vegetables. I use it
to read a recipe, I dont use it to stir the pot. A car needs to be foolproof, but a smartphone can fail

In the car, my phone should provide information and content, but it shouldn't be the buttons and knobs. Phones are terrible at being buttons and knobs, and we have actual buttons and knobs in place. I need to keep my eyes on the
road. A touch screen is so obviously stupid for driving, its shocking weve allowed car makers and phone makers to collaborate on this. This Tesla Model
Y interior needs a dozen more knobs at least (Image credit: Tesla)

Smartphones are not built to be foolproof while hurtling down the highway behind two tons of metal and gasoline. My car is built to respond
immediately, in any condition. The backup camera shows up when I put the car in reverse so I dont run over somebody behind me.

My smartphone is not that responsive. If the phone crashes, so what? It
doesnt restart quickly. There are software bugs and it freezes up and Im just supposed to live with it. Who let this thing behind the wheel?

We need to laugh at the ridiculous notion that the future is entirely touchscreen, and return to the tools that work. Until my phones touchscreen does a better job than the knob on my car stereo, Ill keep using the knob to turn up the volume, and Ill turn off CarPlay. You might also like Apple's next-gen CarPlay experience is coming this year heres what to expect GM says it's ditching Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to prevent distracted drivers Finally, Porsche has cracked the Apple CarPlay experience here's why



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/i-bought-a-car-without-apple-carplay-a nd-i-dont-miss-it-at-all-thats-a-problem


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