Why GM will drop Apple CarPlay, Android Auto despite driver preference

Why would General Motors’ decide to drop Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across its gas-powered vehicle lineup when consumers prefer using their cell phones in their cars?

Because its predicting artificial-intelligence boosted software upgrades mean its infotainment systems will soon be much better.

Former Aurora and Tesla executive Sterling Anderson, who now serves as GM’s vice president of global product and chief product officer, told the Detroit Free Press in New York Oct. 22 that the Detroit automaker’s software is quickly surpassing that of handheld devices. 

“People have asked, ‘Why not CarPlay?’ Think about your laptop; it’s a better vessel for your email than your phone. You wouldn’t never use phone projection to get into your email on your laptop,” he said. “Same thing in our cars. They should be better interaction mechanisms.”

Car buyers struggle to adjust to vehicle technology that’s slower and clunkier than what they’re used to in cell phones, Anderson noted, and many prefer to project their iPhone’s screen onto their vehicle’s infotainment display to access contacts, music or navigation apps.

Right now, GM said there are no plans to change existing vehicles that support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and both will remain available in all GM gas-powered vehicles for the foreseeable future. The change is planned to occur steadily over time as the technology progresses, a GM spokeswoman added.

“As we advance toward our centralized computing platform, we’ll gradually move to a better, more deeply integrated experience — a direction the broader industry is taking as vehicles become more software-defined,” GM said in a statement. “We value our collaboration with Apple and Google and remain focused on delivering experiences customers love.”

Rather than force customers to choose between phone screens, car screens or hard buttons, GM is working to convert its systems to harness what comes most naturally to drivers – their voice.

“When you don’t have to hunt for a button or search through a test screen – if you could just tell your car, ‘Hey, turn off the radio for a minute,’ it would moot a lot of that concern,” he said.  

GM decided in 2023 that it planned to phase out cell phone projection options and instead offer a built-in Google-powered infotainment experience on its future EVs that offers versions of Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Spotify. GM confirmed to The Verge that it plans to remove the tech from gas-powered cars eventually as well.

GM’s “conversational” AI will be accessible as early as 2026 through a partnership with Google Gemini. Customers will be able to ask questions audibly and get responses from Google while driving, but GM wants to soon build these systems directly into the vehicles.

Advancements in software development and AI allow these upgrades to seem more attainable, Anderson said, and can be done safely. In 2028, GM will launch its new centralizing computing system – among the various upgrades the automaker touted at its GM Forward event – that consolidates every major system from propulsion and steering to infotainment. 

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In a choice of using your phone through your car, or using a stronger computer that is a car, consumers will pick the better option, Anderson said. Especially when the car can explain why the check engine light is on the very moment it pops up.

“I would certainly like a setup where I don’t have to worry about things,” he said.

Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@freepress.com.