General Motors wants to ditch Android Auto and Apple CarPlay

Two weeks ago, General Motors (GM) said it wanted to get rid of Android Auto and Carplay. It will be replaced by a new, standalone operating system developed by GM itself. Although this system is currently still in the works, GM is already announcing that CarPlay and Android Auto support will soon be gone in favor of its own system.

Specifically, new electric vehicles from GM brands will no longer support CarPlay and Android Auto in the future. It is not immediately clear when this “future” will come. First, electric cars must start using the new operating system. Only then will petrol and diesel cars be separated from iOS and Android.

Since GM is not particularly present in Europe, the impact of this will be rather small. At most, anyone who will soon be buying an electric Chevrolet won’t be able to connect their phone to the car the traditional way, but they’ll have to use software from General Motors to do so. Will these services be behind the paywall? General Motors is very silent about it.

Why is General Motors making such a great move? In its own words, it wants to improve the driver experience. For this, GM’s operating system will be integrated into the vehicle in a “holistic manner”. Are you clicking in the navigation app looking for a charging point? Then, your car can begin to preheat the battery, so you can immediately start charging at full speed. GM’s software can make different aspects and parts of an electric vehicle work together, though it pushes existing systems away from that.

It remains to be seen if this far-reaching integration is enough for users to buy a car without CarPlay or Android Auto support. By the way, they seem to be at GM itself convinced of resolution.