At home we have two cars: a 2018 Seat Leon belonging to my partner, with a radio with Android Auto and Apple Carplay and my 2015 Volkswagen Polo, which despite being relatively new, has a screen where you can see what song is playing, driving data and little else. Although we use them interchangeably and I admit that I prefer the experience of using Android Auto despite the fact that I like iOS more than Android, when I’m in my car, I put my iPhone in the holder, enter the destination in Waze and start driving..
In fact, I have a screen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay for my car, but I still prefer the mobile experience… even though it’s not perfect: here are my reasons.
Having an infotainment system is fine, not having one is fine too.
Allow me a story about Grandma Onion: About a decade ago, the gear stick of my old Polo (2003) broke while I was driving: I would go into first, second, third… but the stick wouldn’t stay in fourth and fifth. The incident happened about 20 km from home, so I managed to get back to the garage in an exceptional way. With my current car, this wouldn’t have happened: a fault would have appeared in the dashboard, which would have prevented me from driving.
Yes, it is a security measure and welcome, but the feeling is that at this point Cars are so automated and have so much technology inside them that it may be too muchAs a result, they leave little to manual work. This means, among other things, that repairs are more expensive and more dependent on the protocols established by the manufacturer.
Have Android Auto or Apple Carplay or other infotainment systems is great for transferring what is useful for driving from your mobile to the car dashboard, but it also involves certain problems: for example, I think in the medium to long term, in which planned obsolescence appears. Because I change my cell phone every two years, but I expect my vehicle to last at least 15 years.
In my partner’s Seat Leon we still connect without problems, but it will be a matter of a few years before compatibility problems arise due to the passage of time and outdated components. If you allow me the analogy, something similar happens with TV.: You make a significant investment in an OLED TV and within a few years the operating system starts to give you problems: it doesn’t update, lags… signs that indicate the inexorable passage of time. What do you do at that point, change your TV? No, you probably buy a set top box that will do the trick. And what do we do with those on-board computers that get old?
And then there is another basic question: your car arrives with an infotainment system and may not be compatible with your phonea device that you use every day (in my case, for personal and professional purposes), and changing your phone is not a feasible option. With a support, there is no problem: I have the phone I want, I have it updated and I have it with the necessary apps for driving and many more.
Finally there is a minor practical issue: When connecting your mobile phone to your car, there is always a certain risk of connection interruptions. (especially if the connection is wireless, but not exempt if it is done via cable) that we avoid by using a support.
By placing the mobile phone with a good support in a suitable place so as not to hinder our vision or driving and that complies with the DGT regulations to avoid sanctions, we will have a smaller screen and a denser interface, but with many more possibilities, freedom and flexibility: I connect via Bluetooth to the car to listen to music from the vehicle’s sound system, I can use the voice assistant for calls or for the relevant navigation app and that’s it. Maybe you don’t need that much.
Cover | Photo by Antony Freitas in Unsplash