Apple’s significant update to the CarPlay system has revealed the company’s ambitious push into the in-car experience. Although very well regarded and used widely by iPhone users who own a vehicle that offers direct connectivity to the in-car entertainment (ICE) system, CarPlay — similar to Google’s Android Auto — has always been nothing more than an interface between the car’s infotainment display and a smartphone. To be precise, most owners use it for music and navigation.
This is for the very good reason of safety. Even now, a study by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory says that drivers take their eyes off the road for as long as 20 seconds when needing to play a track from Spotify; that’s long enough to travel a third of a mile at motorway speeds.
This is part of the driver distraction conundrum which has troubled safety advocates and governments ever since mobile phones first appeared. Current smartphones push the distraction factor even worse. The European Commission estimated that driver distraction is a factor in up to 30 per cent of all accidents in Europe. Thus, if anything, driver access to the phone should be less, not more.
The latest CarPlay update does more than that as it gives the phone access to vehicle data. This potentially could give phone companies access to information that no one should readily give away. These past few years have seen addition of larger touchscreens in vehicles, providing a user experience most people are already familiar with. However, some users are already expressing how too much of this is taking away tactility and quick control changes. For example, it’s far easier to change air-con settings using physical buttons rather than digging into menus and sub-menus, all the while needing to keep our attention on the road.
Above everything else, it still comes down to safety, and giving phone makers access to our vehicles is not necessarily the best move forward.
Connectivity company VNC Automotive shares the same idea. “While on the face of it Apple’s advances seem like a good thing, giving customers a familiar interface to interact with, it also cuts vehicle manufacturers out of the in-car experience and limits opportunities to create brand loyalty,” warns Tom Blackie, CEO, VNC Automotive.
At the same time, many OEMs are set on a path that will see them become software houses first and car manufacturers second, with the likes of Volvo and Volkswagen both hiring huge numbers of developers as they look to software rather than hardware to create differentiation in a marketplace that is increasingly electrified.
“That work is now at risk of being undermined,” warns Blackie. “By ceding control of everything from the speedo to the seat controls, OEMs are giving Silicon Valley unprecedented access to their customers’ lives, and relinquishing their own opportunities while they’re at it.”
There’s a risk, too, that a car’s features may become inaccessible to its owner if they switch to an alternative ecosystem or refuse to upgrade to the latest phone. Some may even disappear altogether should Apple decide to withdraw support in an overnight iOS update. “The car makers we work with go to great lengths to ensure features work just as well after ten years as they did the day the vehicle left the showroom. With customers now keeping their cars for longer than ever, there’s a real risk of digital decomposition. Only now, car manufacturers won’t be able to stop it,” says Blackie.
