GM is fixing the worst thing about its vehicles. The Detroit-based manufacturer committed to ditching both Android Auto and Apple Car Play a few years ago. As a result, the infotainment options are completely missing in all of the company’s current electric vehicles, and pretty poorly supported in its ICE and hybrid models.
Now, GM seems to have pulled a bit of a U-Turn on the matter. An upcoming infotainment update is going to bring both Apple and Google’s systems back into the fold while improving GM’s native offering and adding new features for truck owners.
Is the loss of Android Auto and Apple Car Play a big deal?
GM isn’t the only automotive company to pull away from Apple Car Play and Android Auto. But it was the first (and so far only) of the big three to do so, and it pulled away pretty hard. This annoyed many customers and stripped their vehicles of a feature millions of people prefer using.
Having reviewed several GM EVs, none of which had Apple Car Play or Android Auto, I can outline the problem first hand. Both Apple Car Play and Android Auto are very good infotainment systems. They’re easy to use, well laid out, and integrate with your phone perfectly. It also means I can look up my destination and choose my music on my phone before I leave, then have Spotify start and my directions come up automatically when I get into the car.
To make matters worse GM’s own infotainment system, the one they were forcing you to use, was awful. And it didn’t work well with phones. Navigating menus to reply to texts or make phone calls was clunky. If you were using a music app on your phone, the only real way to choose a different song or artist was to open your phone and use the app. Which is not something you should be doing while driving.
The omission of Android Auto and Apple Car Play took the shine off what would otherwise have been outstanding electric vehicles. So yes, it was a bad move on GM’s part. But hopefully, it will soon be fixed.
What’s GM’s new plan for Android Auto and Apple Car Play?
According to GM, the new version of its infotainment system “integrates Android Auto and Apple CarPlay with our native system, giving customers the best of both worlds.” Basically, that means you’ll have the Android Auto or Apple Car Play display loaded alongside GM’s own system on the same screen.
In theory, it does actually offer the best of both worlds. You can use your phone-based system for things like maps, calls, and music while things like trailering or GM’s map system (if you prefer to use that) will be available right alongside it. This means you can use both without wading through a whole bunch of menus.
Hopefully the U-Turn means the feature will also be fully supported. Even in GM vehicles that were clinging on to Car Play and Auto, the apps weren’t particularly well integrated. There were bugs, sometimes a vehicle would not connect wirelessly. Going forward, it would be nice to see both Google and Apple’s systems work as smoothly as they do in something like a Ford.
The system is set to roll out in GM’s light-duty pickup trucks first. But the company describes it as “a single scalable foundation that can extend across electric, gas and diesel-powered vehicles” while also promising it will eventually roll out across the entire portfolio.
With that being said, it is worth noting that this seems to be aimed at vehicles with full-dash or half-dash length displays. So the Chevy Trax may get an infotainment update before it gets the software update.
What other features is GM promising?
As the update seems to initially be truck-based, there are a few truck centric updates coming along with it. These are a “hands-free trailering and adaptive display,” “Hitch view and terrain cameras,” and “Mobile trailer light checks.” All of which should enhance the towing and trailering experience, taking pressure off experienced haulers and making everything easier for those getting started.
Many of the other updates center on the aesthetic. Menus have been redesigned to look cleaner, customization has been increased, and cluster layouts change the driver’s display depending on the circumstances.
A new 3D visualization gives a little bit more insight into SuperCruise by showing drivers what the vehicle’s Level 2 Self Driving system is seeing. Super Cruise will also be easier to enable. As things stand, you have to set a couple of things up before you can activate self driving. Going forward, it will just take a single button press.
Finally, when taking a call the call timer will be confined to a corner instead of taking up the whole screen. According to GM, this will be less distracting, though it isn’t known if this will carry over into calls accepted or started through Android Auto or Apple Car Play. .
