AUTONEWS

GM Boss Doubles Down On Ejecting Apple CarPlay And Android Auto

General Motors is hard set on developing its own custom user interface for some of its future products, replacing the likes of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The reason? Improved safety, usability, and driver attention. The company believes that removing smartphone projections and integrating apps into GM's own interface would greatly improve the customer/driver experience.

No, General Motors isn't pulling a Huawei trick by developing its own operating system, but the company is doubling down to take phone projections (in the form of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) out of the infotainment system in future models. The logical behind it all is that the General believes that ditching CarPlay and Android Auto would make drivers pick up their phones less while driving. So far, we've seen the Chevy Blazer EV, well, trailblaze that vision with the company's Ultifi system. We all know how that story went. 

In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Baris Cetinok, senior vice president of software and services at GM said that the automaker will not back down from removing Apple's and Google's automotive interfaces despite the severe backlash from its customers and the press. In fact, "we have a strong conviction that effort pays off in a better customer experience," insisted Cetinok. He further adds that, "you get the most out of your vehicle because now we’re the company that builds the vehicle and is also creating the infotainment experience, the cluster experience, the app, and everything."

There is some credence to GM's argument that unifying the user interface allows for more seamless and integrated experience. As it is, as good as CarPlay and Android Auto have been and continue to become, the in-car experience feels like two disjointed ecosystems doing their best to work together.

To clarify, in GM's automotive UI future, users can still access and download their favorite apps (such as Google Maps or Spotify), except that these will be installed directly into the vehicle's hardware itself. However, GM isn't a software company, which means getting the integration and, rather importantly, software stability are proving to be a challenge, as we've seen with Ultifi.

Ironically, integration and stability (and by extension, familiarity) are the reasons why CarPlay and Android Auto were created in the first place: drivers are more familiar with interfaces on their phone than their cars, which potentially leads to reduced distraction.

Alternatively, some automakers, such as Polestar, have decided to let the software folks do what they do best and instead allowed for a more holistic Android experience into much of its vehicles' user interface, from the instrument cluster to the central entertainment unit, via the essentially phone-free but familiar Android Automotive OS.

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