Are you referring to the CarPlay 2.0 whole car system? Honestly I’m not sure I care about that, either. I’m happy with the current features of CarPlay ( though having two apps showing data at once, such as showing navigation and the current playing media app split screen - that’d be nice.)
Your issues seem to be centered around a specific vehicle and a general distrust of Apple. The former is not a general problem—most CarPlay users report an overall positive experience—and the latter ignores the facts that, as others here have pointed out, Android/Google is no better and automakers’ attempts at incorporating technology into their interfaces have been almost universally horrible.
I sympathize with your issues with your Acura. I really do. But they don’t justify a blanket contempt for CarPlay. It sounds like there’s either an issue in your vehicle specifically or in Acura’s implementation, neither of which are necessarily Apple’s fault or responsibility. Apple should be ensuring that automakers implement CarPlay in usable manners, but that doesn’t mean the automakers’ engineers actually care about making it work.
As for your gripes with Apple specifically, these are all well-acknowledged issues that are in no way resolved by simply removing the option for drivers to use CarPlay. Siri (which I presume is what you mean when you reference “Alexa”) is still better at handling spoken requests than any automaker’s proprietary voice-command system has ever been. The continual updates are important, and Apple is right to force automakers to implement them—automakers should be making software updates easier and less costly for the customer, and pressure from Apple is one way this can be encouraged. Apple is powerful enough to get results in a way that consumers are not.
I would much rather continue to work with CarPlay’s foibles than depend on automakers to make their proprietary systems more usable. While individual experiences vary, the overall experience across the entire userbase clearly indicates that proprietary systems are inferior to CarPlay and Android Auto in almost every way. Your hope that other automakers follow GM’s lead is throwing the baby out with the bathwater in the worst way.
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Jason Snell has written about this at more length at Six Colors.
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I agree…a vehicle specific system merely serves to provide the builder an opportunity to charge subscription fees to make things work…and allows them to sell your data. And…let’s just acknowledge that a out 99.999% of the people in American that can afford a new car have either an iPhone or an Android phone…so as long as the car’s system supports both of those there’s no real problem…and let’s not even get into the almost non existent software updates that car maker systems get.
Who cares if Apple tech is a closed system…for that matter Android is essentially a closed system albeit it with a lot more people participating in it…but to Apple users it’s just as much a closed system as iOS is to Android users. Every user gets to pick their own preferred platform…and each of them has a good reason for choosing what they do. For some…it’s the admittedly better overall security, better app ecosystem, commitment of the company to privacy, and ease of use. For some…they want multiple hardware vendors and the ability to change both the launching system for apps and default apps. Neither choice is wrong…and given the generally putrid UI, performance, and downright user unfriendliness of most car systems…they should stay out of that business. For instance…my wife’s 2017 Mazda CX5has a touch screen for entering navigation info, etc…but my 2021 Mazda 3 which is a more expensive model and I have the high end one with all the options…does not have a touch screen any more and doesn’t have a keyboard either…just an alphabet (or numbers and symbols) in a circle and one must spin the dial to type something in. Saying Siri, directions to Longhorn Steak House or whatever…is just simpler and better.
Yes, CarPlay (and Google Play or whatever they call it the single time I used it on somebody else’s phone and car…have some oddities…but even on their worst days they’re far, far superior to the car builder’s UI.
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When entering directions into the iPhone, especially by voice or using Alexa more often than not the directions are not transmitted to the vehicles navigation apps
This has not been my experience. Siri (not sure why you’d be using Alexa on an iPhone), works very well for me (and I use it a lot), as one would expect for a hands-free app such as CarPlay.
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GM shareholders don’t care about Apple unless they have AAPL in their portfolios (which I doubt).
(GM must be bleeding out to think ANYTHING exclusive with Google is best for the company…hope they got a way out of that contract)
All I care about is that I can play my itunes (can port all my songs to an SDHC or USB stick) and play in pretty much every rental car and vehicle I’ve owned. Do I agree with GM? Nope. Do I think Apple is any better? Nope. But, we still have a choice. Garmin has GPS devices to mount on a dash or such if needed. But integrated audio, while convenient, was supposed to kill off in-dash stereos. Until Bose, JBL, ELS (Panasonic) Sonos (in Audi), AKG, Burmester, and B&W, licensed and designed audiophile quality integrated systems…the driver only cares how their podcasts and music sound. Except for some Hoons and “ricers” that want choice in car audio components/head units, no one really cares that Car Audio Installers are gone like Pager/Fax Machine stores.
Just remember that when its time to rent/loaner vehicle and its a GM product: Might have to spend a bit for Enterprise ‘premium’ plan w/Satellite/Navigation/Carplay option.
BTW, I’ve a 2017 Mazda and I was lucky the stealership threw in $350 Carplay option. While other automakers include it now, a time did pass that it was an option. (a cable, a module, and installation that made the stealership money… I bet stealerships cried to Mazda that they would lose money if not so). After a few years, I find the Carplay great when it works, and not so great when it doesn’t (50/50 lately). Yes, I need Infotainment updates, and no, I don’t use bluetooth - its a silly long Apple Oem cord from the iphone to the armrest port (dumb location, Mazda).
My next car will have Carplay AND some some USB alternative. And perhaps, Qi chargers for copilot and I. But I can promise you, it won’t be a GM.
Project Titan, Apple’s not so secret electric car project, has probably become a big bug 
up GM’s derrière. Though the release date keeps getting pushed back for Apple Car, I keep reading about Apple hiring high end automotive talent, patenting innovations. And Apple has a history of delivering products that “change the world,” to quote Steve Jobs.
Here’s some recent examples of whenApple Car is expected to hit the road:
https://www.motortrend.com/news/project-titans-apple-car-delayed-2026/
My solution to no CarPlay in my 2012 Lexus RX, a dashboard holder that supports an iPad, works perfectly. I haven’t activated the cell service and just use my cell as a hotspot. Bigger display than CarPlay in most vehicles 
GM can do what they please but I don’t think removal of choice is wise.
Our family has 4 cars and all use CarPlay - I can drive any of them and feel entirely comfortable with the entertainment, phone or navigation. I would hate the idea of having different systems in each car making each one different.
Lack of CarPlay has always been an impediment to me considering a Tesla and it would be the same for any car manufacturer which doesn’t offer it as an option. By all means make your own system but don’t ‘cut off your nose to spite your face’.
My current vehicle has its own navigation and voice integration but they’re far inferior to my phone. Ironically, my current car is a GM vehicle and I would not have purchased it without Carplay. I think GM are making a serious mistake but if they do, it just means they join Tesla on the list of cars I wouldn’t consider.
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Surprisingly enough, not as much as you might think. With all the issues in the automotive market over the last few years, older vehicles are being kept longer than ever before—and if your car is more than ten years old, you probably don’t have any significant original-equipment infotainment system. (My 2007 Dodge Caliber has CD, satellite radio, and an aux input—and that was an “upgrade” option when it was new.)
There’s still a good market for replacing old in-dash systems with aftermarket touchscreens and CarPlay-equipped systems. It’s nowhere near the size the market used to be, but the good retailers still make decent money. (Also, the speaker-heads spend huge amounts of money on their tricked-out rides, more than enough to offset the reduced general market.)
Recently saw a BMW ad that was targeted at women and featured their degree of connectivity to CarPlay and Android, so they obviously think it is a seller in the higher end of the market. When a company makes changes to their products they usually conduct a lot of research, usually based around cost versus benefit. As it seems that the cost of CarPlay is minimal, just involving maintaining the software integration, it is hard to see why it isn’t worth it. Maybe their market thinks it is woke and refuses to buy a car with it. A few years ago that would be a joke, but I’m not certain anymore.
You’re talking about an auto manufacturer. When they finish designing a car and start selling it, they don’t want to have to constantly maintain its software. And they typically don’t - the only software upgrades you usually get are part of safety recalls.
But CarPlay means Apple will be issuing periodic updates. And I’m sure the license terms forces the car/radio manufacturer to provide a mechanism to upgrade vehicles when those updates are released. Or perhaps a connected phone can push updates into the car (so you don’t need to bring it to a dealer for each update).
I think this may be what GM finds unacceptable. Historically, if you have a problem with the radio (especially after the warranty period expires), the answer to any support problem is “get bent - buy another car if you want a new radio”. An attitude that Apple would definitely find unacceptable.
Of course, I’d really prefer it if car manufacturers would go back to a standard DIN-mounted radio that I could replace on my own, since all factory radios are garbage. But they’ve “integrated” the radio so deeply with the rest of the car’s electronics that it isn’t possible anymore.
Apple gives Car Play to automotive manufacturers for free. Car Play is a big plus for people who own iPhones, and could be an incentive for an Android user to switch. And Car Play is available and popular in countries around the world. Here is the number of Car manufacturers that use Car Play:
https://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/available-fmodels/
And Apple is going full speed ahead on testing its not so secret self driving car. And I still think Apple Car is why GM is P.OD.
Absolutely this is a terrible idea. Not only do you get what ever tunes/podcasts you want (including favorite radio stations when you are out of range), the setup is minimal. I happen to use Carplay for navigation. Saved a ton of money not buying the manufacture’s nav system. And the maps get updated regularly. Plus I have my choice of nav apps - Google, Apple, Waze. While Carplay was not a motivating factor when I bought my current car 5 years ago, after having it I would not buy a car that didn’t support it.
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My current car (a 2012 Honda) doesn’t have CarPlay. I simply use my phone’s display, putting it on the dash with either a sticky pad mount or a vent mount. I use the phone’s own speaker for navigation and hands-free phone calls. I use a USB charger connected to the 12v power outlet for keeping it charged.
I get my music via an iPod Touch, connected to the car’s built-in USB port. Or via the car’s analog “aux” input (my wife’s car has a flaky USB interface).
If my next car doesn’t have CarPlay, I’ll just keep on doing the same. There’s no way I’m paying extra (like hundreds of dollars every year to keep its navigation maps up to date) for an inferior experience.
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Perhaps GM’s announement was revenge for this:
I remember it being announced at last year’s WWDC. At the time, I was wondering what car company would be crazy enough to let Apple take over the wholde dashboard.
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Revenge is perhaps the wrong word, but yes, I think this has more to do with CarPlay 2.0 being a whole-car experience that GM doesn’t want to implement, plus, of course, their admitted quest for more subscription income from services that CarPlay 2 will not allow them to do.
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It looks like GM’s decision to dump Car Play is proving to be quite unpopular:
And there’s good quotes from Walt Mossberg in the article.
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I have waited a bit to reply to allow all the replies to settle down. First of all I do use Alexa in my car as Amazon has now released its upgraded version of the Echo Auto which can be user installed in any car that supports a mobile for around $50 USA. My comments on GM and CarPlay are based on my own personal experiences in my 2019 Acura RDX which was initially equipped with CarPlay only. So I feel it is fair to assume it was designed with CarPlay in mind and should have undergone rigorous testing to insure it properly worked, which after 4 years, it still does not but instead often leads into distracted driving,
The other issue I have is that Apple seems to have the philosophy that a users vehicle should be an accessory to their products as opposed to the phone being a vehicle accessory. I find this to be a conceited narcissist paradigm, but then again it is something that Apple is frequently know and criticized for. Personally I find it outrageous that Apple should expect a user to have to purchase a new vehicle in order to utilize a CarPlay upgrade. That said I also find it likely that those that accuse GM of abandoning CarPlay in favor of a built in features so they can charge for it make a valid point. However I should also note that GM said nothing about abandoning Android, assuming that like other vehicle manufacturers, GM also supports Android. I feel it is also important to note that that Google, who owns Android is also invested in AI, of which adding it to Android navigation could prove to be highly beneficial while so far I have seen nothing related to this rapidly emerging technology from Apple and seems to be totally lacking in Siri.
Ideally what I would like to see is an IEEE standard set up and adopted for connecting mobile devices into vehicles. While it happened with the cigarette lighter socket, excuse me, now vehicle accessory socket, I agree with the naysayers that say that this is not likely to happen anytime soon if ever.
One can always hope that the NHTSA will acquire some gonads and insist on proper testing and reliability of mobile device integration into vehicle, approaching aviation standards, in order to insure safe driving practices with a minimum of distraction when using such devices so that lives will not be lost over these issue and injuries will be minimized.
The reports I’ve read indicate that GM is dropping support for third-party devices interfacing with their system, whether through CarPlay or Android Auto. The new system will be Android-app-compatible, but the apps must be installed from a specific subset in a special GM-approved Google Play store. Nothing has been said about any changes to Bluetooth connectivity, but the probability is high that it will be comparable to that of existing non-CarPlay/Android Auto infotainment systems, meaning you can do calls and play on-device music (not streaming), and maybe do texts, and that’s about it for what you can do with your phone through the system.
So it likely has less to do with “abandoning Apple” than with wanting complete control over the infotainment system. If it were just about sticking it to Apple, they wouldn’t have partnered directly with Google to bypass other Android phone manufacturers. They want to take the third-party devices out of the equation.
Again, you are basing your opinions on what works on experiences with a single vehicle. Your experience may or may not be typical, but it is a sample size of exactly one. You don’t appear to even know if this problem is replicable in other 2019 Acura RDXs, let alone other Acuras. The symptoms you’ve described can be caused by a hardware issue and thus could be specific to your vehicle alone, and not typical of Acura’s implementation in general or even of that specific model and year.
As for Google’s AI, if it gets applied to navigation apps, it will surely be available in Google Maps on all compatible devices and thus would be available to iPhone users as well as Android users—and Google Maps works just fine in CarPlay. Unless GM pays them a ridiculous amount of money to have exclusive use of it, Google has zero reason to restrict it from other platforms. And I doubt that GM could afford to pay Google enough to get them to do that, considering the vast difference in magnitude of the GM user market compared to the Android-and-iPhone user market.
Standards maintained by a regulatory or independent third party are a great idea, but given the state of the US government and business in general right now, there’s little hope of that happening unless lack of standards leads to a massive safety issue resulting in large numbers of incidents involving injury and/or death. I think we can all agree that we don’t want that to have to happen.
Your whole issue about whether the vehicle is an accessory to the phone or vice versa seems odd to me. Which do you use more, your phone or your car? Which is useful in more situations? I don’t want my car to be the central device in my life—my phone has all my stuff in it and can be used in a lot of places where I have no need of my car at all. I think most smartphone users would agree that it makes more sense for the car to accommodate the phone than the other way around. And do you think you’ll be able to transfer data from one GM car to another? It’s doubtful. It’s far more likely that you’ll have to re-enter all settings and information separately for every vehicle. Doesn’t sound like an improvement to me.
And it’s not Apple that’s expecting you to buy a new car to get a CarPlay upgrade—it’s the automakers. They could provide these updates via their dealer networks if they thought it was in their best interests to do so. They instead choose to make it difficult to upgrade software and impossible to upgrade hardware without buying a new vehicle. Until Apple has their car out in the market (if it ever happens), they gain nothing by making you buy a newer car. Now, it is true that they haven’t put much if any pressure on automakers to provide upgrades in existing vehicles, but given that their intent is to make CarPlay a universal feature, I can understand them not wanting to drive automakers away from offering the platform by being too heavy-handed about such things.
I’m still baffled as to why you expect GM’s “new” system to solve even a single one of your problems when every indication is that it will at best be a feature-limited replication of the Android Auto experience with less integration with the device that already has all the information in it.
I’m not trying to be an apologist for Apple here. I just don’t understand why you’re placing all the blame for these issues on them while treating automakers as though they’re infinitely better corporate citizens than Apple, despite their long histories demonstrating just how horrible they can be.
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