GMC latest to announce Apple Car Play and Android

Gorehamj · June 23, 2015

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
6/23/2015

Today GMC became the newest of GM brands to announce it is adding Apple Car Play and Android Auto to 2016 models. Last week it was Cadillac's Cue system that was announced as being updated for 2016 to include the ability to interface with one's smart phone. About a month ago, it was Chevrolet.

Still, the news is great. The trend towards having our more frequently-replaced phones be the brain and the vehicle's dash a slave to the information is one we all like. If there is any disappointment with the new technology, it is that a USB port must be used to physically connect the phone to the vehicle. Since Bluetooth hit its stride, many of us have given up that cord. With wireless charging now appearing it seems we are taking one step forward and two steps back.

GMC says the Apple Car Play features will be ready by the launch of the 2016 models, but that Android is trailing by a few months.

ember1205 · June 24, 2015

I said that this was the direction we would see things go well over five years ago. It's about time we stop buying technology over and over again and have a way to reuse what we already own. All we need in our vehicles is a display screen and maybe a couple of custom apps that are vehicle specific. This garbage about having navigation on our phones AND in our vehicles has made no sense to me for a very long time.

On the down side, all of the US carriers pulled unlimited data plans away from us. Sprint and T-Mo have brought them back in some fashion or other, but you pay through the nose for data overages (or large allotment plans) with VZW and AT&T. And, with there being no apparent way for GM to leverage its sheer size to get VZW to come up with a more cost-friendly hotspot plan, this is what we're going to have to be careful of.

On the NAVI front, specifically, I'd love a Garmin-type app that would allow me to pre-fetch maps whie I'm at home on Wi-Fi and then not have to access the data connection for navigation use while in the car. And, no, I don't mind having to buy the larger capacity phone to make that happen (my current Garmin unit requires about 18G to store a complete North America database of info).

I don't care about having to hard-wire (USB port) connect the phone - that makes perfect sense. What I -don't- like about it is that my phone will always be charging now as a result. There needs to be a way to USB connect the device and NOT have it be in charging mode as a result so that we aren't causing premature wear on our device batteries.

Yes, I understand that prematurely charging a NiMH or Lithium Ion battery doesn't affect its ability to hold a full charge. But, those batteries are only good for about 1,000 charge cycles. And, every time you plug it in to charge, that counts as a charge cycle. I purposefully run the battery in my phone down to maximize the length of time (in days/months) that the bettery will perform well.

Nargg · June 24, 2015

@ember1205, Garmin has very high quality apps both on iOS and Android. They allow pre-fetching maps, and more. And, if you are an average user, you'll end up replacing the phone before the battery is a problem anyway so why worry about that?