Listen to antitrust lawyers: General Motors will begin phasing out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from its e-cars starting with the Chevy Blazer of 2024. The automaker wants to gain more control over data collection using a custom infotainment operating system created in collaboration with Google. He intends to use the information collected to see how customers drive and charge their electric vehicles.
CarPlay and Auto are very popular technologies from Apple and Google that allow vehicle owners to display their phones in their car’s infotainment system. Customers can use the navigation functions of the phone or streaming music, rather than using a standard infotainment system, which, to be honest, is lacking in many major models.
The change applies only to electronic cars that will appear in 2024 and later. Reuters notes that gasoline cars and modern electric vehicles will remain in force. It’s interesting to see how this will affect sales of Google Motors —uh-GM electric vehicles in 2024 and beyond. Google has a dubious reputation in the field of data collection, and this opinion may influence GM. In addition, a recent survey showed that almost half of all car buyers want their infotainment systems to have CarPlay and Android Auto support, while almost 80 percent of Apple users surveyed require CarPlay support in their cars.
Apple is bound to be disappointed with this move. It struggled to compete with Android Auto, another Google data collection project. General Motors only started making its infotainment systems compatible with CarPlay a few years ago. It will be fun to watch regulators pursue Google with antitrust lawsuits for throwing Apple out of its ASS (automotive services sector) by blocking its access to future GM cars.
Google has reportedly been working with GM on its infotainment system since 2019. Progress in the joint venture has focused on moving from simple software that controls your radio and a few other functions to software that is tightly coupled to a large number of car computers, including the GM Super. Cruise is an automated driver’s assistant.
“We have a lot of new driver assistance features that are more closely related to navigation,” GM Digital Cockpit Experience executive director Mike Hitchme told Reuters. “We don’t want to develop these functions in such a way that they depend on a person having a mobile phone.”
In terms of features, the new infotainment system will have everything you’d probably expect from Google, including Google Maps and Google Assistant. These services will be free for owners for eight years from the date of purchase. Although there won’t be one initially, GM plans to eventually add Spotify and Audible to its infotainment system. Over time, other popular applications will also be added to the system, but the details are not mentioned.
It’s also worth noting that customers will still be able to use their phones to make calls or send text messages using voice commands using their iPhone and Android. However, it will be via Bluetooth, not via CarPlay or Auto.
