Apple CarPlay & Lexus

krew

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Video Tour of Apple CarPlay in the 2019 Lexus ES Sedan

18-06-01-lexus-carplay.jpg


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maiaramdan

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Honestly I feel Apple Car-play or Android Auto is just an answer to question nobody asked before

I never used and I won't
The regular automakers systems are enough for me
 
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Honestly I feel Apple Car-play or Android Auto is just an answer to question nobody asked before

I never used and I won't
The regular automakers systems are enough for me
Nobody asked? I think a lot of new car buyers did...its far from perfect, but it is awesome to use if you are in a rental car and need directions to get around and don't want to stare at your phone's little screen sitting on a holder...

Also just announced today:
Screen_Shot_2018_06_04_at_1.44.24_PM.0.png

Apple CarPlay will soon let you use Google Maps, Waze, and other third-party maps

Starting in iOS 12 later this year, Apple’s CarPlay will no longer force you to use Apple Maps to get directions. Instead, you’ll be able to use navigation from any third-party app, like Google Maps, Waze, or whatever your mapping app of choice is.

CarPlay already supported third-party apps in other scenarios. However, mapping has been one of those classic cases of Apple locking everyone into using its own service. But Apple Maps isn’t exactly a beloved app. And while it’s improved over time, there are plenty of reasons to prefer other services, like all the additional information that Waze provides.

Letting people choose which mapping service to use will make CarPlay a better experience since people will be able to get directions from a service they’re more familiar or more comfortable with, which is pretty important when you’re driving.

CarPlay is Apple’s in-car interface for iOS. In many new cars — or older cars with newer head units — you can plug in an iPhone (or Android phone) and have a version of the phone’s apps pulled up on-screen. It’s a major convenience since your phone is going to know a lot more about you and be connected to a lot more services than your car is. Plus, carmakers are just never going to be as good at making user-friendly software interfaces as phone designers.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/4/17416932/apple-carplay-third-party-maps-wwdc-2018
 

krew

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meth.ix

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Ford was actually the first carmaker to offer Waze on CarPlay. Here's hoping Toyota and Lexus and others soon follow.
I don't think the manufacturer would have to enable certain apps anymore since Apple themselves just let third-party applications work on CarPlay, so they can be used on any CarPlay device running iOS 12 or higher regardless of the manufacturer.
 
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This definitely makes CarPlay more desirable. Waze saved me from a speeding ticket just yesterday.
I’ll be replacing my wife’s car before mine (can’t wait to get rid of her lawn mower, otherwise known as a CR-V). CarPlay will be a must as she is definitely not a techie, and the interface is so much simpler than most automakers’.

There's only one automaker currently offering wireless CarPlay in OEM head units, so this isn't a specific Lexus failing.
Plugging in isn’t much of an issue. CarPlay and Android Auto are for heavy smartphone users. Most people like that are already in the habit of plugging in every time we get in the car just to charge.
 
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Sakura

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Honestly I feel Apple Car-play or Android Auto is just an answer to question nobody asked before

I never used and I won't
The regular automakers systems are enough for me

Well - the question has mostly been asked by car-owners who have no navigation or "bad" infotainment systems.

However - I do agree. I don't really see the point of Apple/Android Car Play unless its for a car with no navigation or a car with a bad infotainment system. Majority of luxury vehicles or high-end vehicles have good infotainment systems - so what's the point of Apple/Android car play?
IE: Why use Apple Car Play (with Google Maps now) over iDrive? The BMW iDrive system is polished, refined, and amazing. The maps is also pretty good as well. Why use Apple Car Play over iDrive? Or MMI/Virtual Cockpit? etc...
Like - what's the point of Apple Car Play on a Lexus LS500 which cost over 100K. Why spend over 100K on a vehicle but use a phone mirroring software as your UI for your car?

I come from Porsche/Audi forums and majority of the people over there never use it. They think its garbage. (However - there are a few owners who use it because they don't have Navigation or Virtual Cockpit).

Can anyone give me some reasons why someone would use Apple/Android car play on a high end car with Navigation and a good infotainment system?
 

Ian Schmidt

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I personally find the automaker systems all to be varying degrees of hot garbage. I think they should all just save the money and be dumb screens for my smartphone, where people who actually understand user interaction work.

I'll list some actual advantages of CarPlay/Android Auto though:
- Maps are always up to date without paying a dealer for quarterly updates (I *think* the LS500 can self-update for free over-the-air finally, but I'm not sure)
- Waze gives you live accident and speed trap info and can route around accidents
- You can control playback of podcasts / MP3s / streaming music services without fumbling around with your phone at the next stoplight
- High-end phones have much, much faster processors than any OEM infotainment system can afford (or, in the case of Apple devices, obtain at all)
 

spwolf

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I personally find the automaker systems all to be varying degrees of hot garbage. I think they should all just save the money and be dumb screens for my smartphone, where people who actually understand user interaction work.

I'll list some actual advantages of CarPlay/Android Auto though:
- Maps are always up to date without paying a dealer for quarterly updates (I *think* the LS500 can self-update for free over-the-air finally, but I'm not sure)
- Waze gives you live accident and speed trap info and can route around accidents
- You can control playback of podcasts / MP3s / streaming music services without fumbling around with your phone at the next stoplight
- High-end phones have much, much faster processors than any OEM infotainment system can afford (or, in the case of Apple devices, obtain at all)

not everyone has or wants to use Android Auto or CarPlay... this is why despite all the press, it has not been a serious deciding factor on car purchases.

So Lexus will always have to have its own infotainment system.
 

Ian Schmidt

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Everyone has a phone. Not everyone wants to pay what OEMs charge for navigation systems, especially on the lower end. I think once wireless CarPlay/Android Auto plus wireless charging is a thing that people will find that setup a lot more compelling than ordering the OEM system.
 

spwolf

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Everyone has a phone. Not everyone wants to pay what OEMs charge for navigation systems, especially on the lower end. I think once wireless CarPlay/Android Auto plus wireless charging is a thing that people will find that setup a lot more compelling than ordering the OEM system.

nevertheless, you will always have your manufacturers infotainment system... i dont think even in 10 years from now that more than 50% will use carplay/android auto even if most basic version of their multimedia will have it.
 

Sakura

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I personally find the automaker systems all to be varying degrees of hot garbage. I think they should all just save the money and be dumb screens for my smartphone, where people who actually understand user interaction work.

I'll list some actual advantages of CarPlay/Android Auto though:
- Maps are always up to date without paying a dealer for quarterly updates (I *think* the LS500 can self-update for free over-the-air finally, but I'm not sure)
- Waze gives you live accident and speed trap info and can route around accidents
- You can control playback of podcasts / MP3s / streaming music services without fumbling around with your phone at the next stoplight
- High-end phones have much, much faster processors than any OEM infotainment system can afford (or, in the case of Apple devices, obtain at all)

Thanks for your opinions! I'm just generally curious and want to get a conversation going about this. :)
I don't think all manufacturers have horrible infotainment systems - some do - but majority of luxury car companies offer really good systems that they poured quite a lot of money into for development of it.

-Agreed. Free updates to maps is a definite plus. But - someone that prefers free maps updates - they are actively trying to save money, in my opinion. I would believe these type of people would be already in Navigation-less cars and need Car Play features.
-Waze. I have heard of this example or reason quite often. But I do believe its tied to your location (area you live) since its crowdsource information. In some areas, Waze can be quite useless. I do also believe the graphics are quite bad compared to any Standard Navigation on a luxury car. The "cartoonish characters" don't help the attractive-ness either. I would personally say its not worth using the Waze maps while overriding your standard UI just to have a chance at avoiding tickets.
-Playbacks as in music control? If so, I believe majority of luxury cars have in-car systems that control music pretty well. Especially with Alexa and Siri inside the car.
-True. High-end phones have faster processors. How does the phone's speed affect the head unit on the car? The head unit is just mirroring the phone and using its own hardware and not the phone's hardware, right?

not everyone has or wants to use Android Auto or CarPlay... this is why despite all the press, it has not been a serious deciding factor on car purchases.

I browse through forums a lot on my spare time at work and there quite a bit of people on forums that claim Android/Apple Car Play is a must. I don't post much on CL (ClubLexus) but it feels like quite a bit of people there want Lexus to have Apple/Android Car Play because its a must to them. But I personally feel its not that much of a deciding factor at all since majority of luxury car's infotainment system does everything and more what the Apple/Android Car Play will do.
 

Rhambler

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For me, texting with CarPlay is so worth it as with Siri in general. There's no extra button pushes or changes, if a text comes in, it can dictate it to you and you can respond instantly by voice. It's that simple and convenient. No fuss or hassles; it's intuitive, simple and instant and requires no hands or eyes.

Lexus' voice command system was absolute crap. Audi isn't that much better from what I've tried so far. If you use Siri a lot, CarPlay will come naturally and it's an absolute boon and outright necessity if you get a lot of texts and calls.
 

Sakura

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For me, texting with CarPlay is so worth it as with Siri in general. There's no extra button pushes or changes, if a text comes in, it can dictate it to you and you can respond instantly by voice. It's that simple and convenient. No fuss or hassles; it's intuitive, simple and instant and requires no hands or eyes.

Lexus' voice command system was absolute crap. Audi isn't that much better from what I've tried so far. If you use Siri a lot, CarPlay will come naturally and it's an absolute boon and outright necessity if you get a lot of texts and calls.

While I agree that being able have a text read to you and being about to send a text through voice assistance is a good feature, I don't see how CarPlay really plays a factor with a luxury car that has Siri eyes free. Example: Lexus has Siri-Eyes-Free, which reads your incoming text and sends a text for your through speech. By doing this - you don't have to connect your phone or enable CarPlay UI.