Well, this really isn’t a surprise, but General Motors now plans to ditch Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support from all of its vehicles—not just the electrified ones. It’s a disappointing decision that’s indicative of the ongoing anti-consumer choices many companies, not just automakers or General Motors, are desperate to justify today.
When GM first announced it would stop supporting phone projection in its EVs, the company offered a range of excuses—from safety to usability. The automaker continues to make similar arguments now. In a recent interview with The Verge’s Decoder podcast, CEO Mary Barra said consumers criticized GM's CarPlay experience in its cars. She noted:
'We were getting a lot of feedback from customers that it was very clunky moving back. It wasn’t seamless, and frankly, in some cases, it could be distracting to move back and forth between if you were doing something that you could do on a phone projection type of system, versus if you needed to do something in the vehicle.'
That might be true, but if that’s really the case, then simply build a better infotainment system. Not to say that GM’s current setup is bad—in fact, we quite like it. But why would you develop screens and interfaces knowing that they would be incompatible with one of the most popular devices on the planet?
This all feels like GM is manufacturing a problem so it can sell you a solution. Just because something is different doesn’t make it better or more useful. No one is arguing that the CarPlay experience is perfect— it’s not. But that doesn’t justify taking away the option entirely. This is about control.
Instead of continuing to offer that option and that freedom, which GM has done for nearly a decade, the automaker has decided that its only recourse is to put up paywalls and charge subscriptions for services people already pay for, or that are free to access, like Apple Maps, which you can use without even needing an iCloud account. Or even an internet connection.
After I heard about GM’s decision to eliminate Android Auto and Apple CarPlay from its gas-powered cars, I ran an experiment. I wanted to see if I could get CarPlay and Maps to work without an iCloud account, and I sort of did—but I ran into an issue.
The wiped iPhone 14 I used didn’t have a SIM, so as soon as CarPlay connected, the phone’s Wi-Fi turned off, disconnecting the device from my home’s internet. I fiddled with my phone and tried to use the wired CarPlay connection, but I couldn’t find a way to keep Wi-Fi on.
So, I decided to connect to the Wi-Fi, navigating to a destination and then connecting to CarPlay—and it worked.
Maps called out distances to upcoming turns, road names, and hazards without internet. It couldn’t reroute me when I purposefully took a wrong turn, granted, but Maps didn’t freak out or turn off—it kept displaying the map and the proper route as you’d expect. It just couldn’t calculate how I could get back on track.
No one is arguing that the CarPlay experience is perfect— it’s not. But that doesn’t justify taking away the option entirely. This is about control.
The point is: It worked without an always-on internet connection and without the need for an Apple ID or iCloud account, and that’s a level of digital freedom GM doesn’t want its owners to have in its vehicles.
With the option to project your phone soon to be gone, and GM eager to shut down any aftermarket attempts that might let owners modify their vehicles as they wish, GM can more easily monetize the data connection, the access to navigation, and paywall any number of features and services that are already available in people’s pockets.
It’s a shrewd business move that will make GM even more money. That’s the job of Barra and her crew. But the automaker should at least be honest about why it’s doing this—it’s all a cash grab.
In a statement, a GM spokesperson said that the company will not be making any changes to existing vehicles and that its gas-powered vehicles will continue to offer Android Auto and Apple CarPlay “for the foreseeable future."
The company also said, "We value our collaboration with Apple and Google and remain focused on delivering experiences customers love."
Americans love freedom. Give them that. Don’t take the worst aspects of the modern digital ecosystem and expect consumers to praise you for it.
In that same interview, Barra was joined by Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson, who tried to explain GM’s thinking behind the decision. He attempted to compare phone mirroring in a car to mirroring your iPhone to your MacBook and said:
"How many of you are accessing online services like e-mail, social media, and otherwise through the phone projection app on your laptop? Almost none of them do. Why? Because you've got a much larger screen on your laptop. You've got a much more convenient HMI via the keyboard."
It’s a shrewd business move that will make GM even more money.
That’s true, but he conveniently misses an important point—Apple users can access nearly all the features that are on their phones on their MacBooks without needing additional accounts or having to pay for additional subscriptions to access what they have already paid for.
And what happens when you have an iPhone and a Windows PC? More frustrating incompatibility, as Decoder host Nilay Patel pointed out.
Anderson suggested that limiting vehicles to GM’s proprietary operating system would enable better integration of charging infrastructure information and Super Cruise availability. Ford doesn’t seem hindered like GM in that regard, with the Blue Oval able to offer CarPlay, electric mobility, and hands-free driving capability without fuss.
In fact, Ford CEO Jim Farley has gone on the record stating that the automaker has no plans to ditch smartphone mirroring because "We don't think we should restrict that to make money off the customers. We don't want it to be a hassle."
That feels like the opposite approach to GM, which has Google Automotive Services and access to the Google Play store, which requires users to sign in to use.
Sterling said later in the podcast, "If you’re sitting in your car, you wouldn't pick up your phone to use a map application if it’s sitting there on a bigger screen in front of you in the car, right?"
Yes, I would if it meant I didn’t have to sign up for another service, create more digital accounts, share data with even more third parties, or pay subscription fees for stuff I can already access.
But GM can’t make money from that, so the company has decided to take away something it has successfully offered for years just to sell it back to owners as services that’ll one day require monthly fees to continue accessing.
Shareholders should be proud.
Source: The Verge
