older school, but the lc500 does not feel 'ancient'. obviously when i pull the silent ioniq out of the garage that's rather different than the 'vroom' starting the lc and backing out. however the quality and design of the lc500 interior and exterior are exceptional and feel very special, and not in an 'old school' way.

both the lc and ioniq have very cool gauges, apple carplay / android auto, heads up displays, heated/cooled seats, and more. the ioniq has more/better safety features although i've noticed when lane keeping (vs just warning) is turned on in the ioniq, it's more aggressive than the santa fe i had before was and can at times feel like i'm fighting it slightly.

obviously i have to put gas in the lc but that's only every 5-6 weeks so hardly a big deal. maybe because i also have vgrs and rws on the lc and an obviously more sophisticated adjustable suspension, and the car being lower, the handling of the lc blows away the ioniq and the lc is MUCH more fun to drive.

the ioniq is a quiet 'jetsons' appliance with a great design and the ability to 'refuel' at home.

 

What benefits do you feel are offered with Apple Carplay/Android Auto? I know when you were EV shopping you were disappointed Tesla didn't have it. I've used it a decent amount in rental cars but not sure I personally see the appeal compared to other UI's (especially Tesla). Just wondering if I'm missing some functionality.

 

I've never used Carplay or Android Auto so I have no idea if I'm missing anything or not.

I'm thinking my phone does all the stuff I need.

 

For me I don’t see a reason NOT to use it. It controls the music, messaging and phone functions so well, I prefer Google Maps and Waze, why would I even try and use the OE UI? I literally have never used the Mercedes UI.

I also like how my experience is consistent in both my cars and any rental cars or loaner cars I drive.

Your phone doesn’t integrate with the car or the hands free functions of the car. CarPlay is just your phone on your cars screen, basically.

 

Interesting. I always use Google Maps on my phone when driving our truck, but I use the Tesla Nav in the car and I see no difference or advantage one way or the other (they'll take me the same route, provide me traffic data, etc). Spotify is integrated into the UI of the Tesla, phone sync for calls, etc. is seamless. I always seem to get annoyed with Car Play because the interface feels limited on the screen of the vehicle, and then when I want to use my phone to access something not available on the screen it has been difficult esp when using Google Maps because the phone is showing the text of turn-by-turn directions instead of just allowing me full reign of the phone interface. There is a chance of user error here as I've never owned a car that has CarPlay so I haven't used it enough to fully know what I'm doing.

 

I don’t have Tesla nav lol, I have Mercedes and Chrysler nav. I am sure what Tesla has is better. I like the satellite map view and I like the interface, I like being able to access multiple mapping apps and see how they agree or disagree when stuck in traffic etc.

It’s also just that CarPlay works great, I see no reason to try and use what’s built into the car.

The only issue with CarPlay is that you need internet signal for the mapping to work. That is an issue every once in a while.

 

the 'point' of carplay / android auto imo is to be able to use the same apps, accounts, settings and data that you use on your phone, tablet, laptop, etc. tesla doesn't even come close.

another factor is that with carplay/aa you're not streaming music/audio over bluetooth, you're doing it over wifi at much higher data/quality rates.

tesla wants control, i get it, and i get that tesla owners are ok living without cp/aa but i didn't want to.

again the need vs want and obviously if you don't know what it does you don't know if you need or want it. i want it, and while i wouldn't die without it, it's very helpful for work, play, everything.

 

oh and i think apple maps is now better than google maps where i live at least. i'm even getting to be friends with siri.

 

My experience with it is clearly too limited to fully comprehend what you're saying. On my phone, while driving any vehicle I want to be able to:
- Make and receive calls using BT (and have contact info show up on screen)
- Stream music
- Have reliable navigation showing on the car's main display

What I'm not understanding is what other apps, accounts, and "data" (really confused by that) you're using directly through CarPlay..? What about text messages and/or emails- does it display and read those to you and allow you to use your voice to respond and send the response without ever touching anything on your phone?

And you also mentioned something interesting about not streaming audio over BT with CarPlay. In Tesla, the car has cellular connection and syncs to my Spotify account so I'm not using BT to stream there either as it is playing natively through the main interface. It never occurred to me that could be a factor in why the sound quality is so good. I just assumed it was speaker quality and placement.

 

That's a little creepy. Haha 😂

As a computer guru does it not creep you out talking to a computer that you know is just code and an interface to drive the speaker?

They are so good at simulating human expression I laugh my keister off when I hear someone yelling at the voice commands on their phone, getting emotional about it. Lol

 

IMO, and this is just my opinion, I have absolutely have no need for Android Auto (I have an Android) in my Tesla. Everything I need is built into the infotainment. I never stream from my phone, so all I need is the ability to take calls using BT. My Polestars' infotainment is Android on steroids, so have no need there as well (it does have Apple CarPlay). I would probably use Android Auto in the Ioniq, as I don't want to pair my phone with that car because everytime my wife drives drives up, my phone suddenly connects to it (it's happened many times in the past), I could be in a middle of a call and it suddenly switches to her speakers

 

I have heard this from a few others, I will try it.

CarPlay does all of the things you listed better than the OE UI IMO. Siri reads you text messages and you can reply by voice or with a one click canned reply like "I'll get right back to you" etc, it shows your messaging app with the badges saying what new messages you have etc. It uses the same favorites list as your iPhone for calls, uses all your Contact pictures up on the screen etc. You can do everything without ever touching your phone. OE UIs can do that too, but its just not as polished.

 

You shouldn't be doing any of those things while driving.

 

Everybody talks on the phone when driving. Everybody changes audio when driving. Everybody uses a navigation system when driving. Listening to text messages and replying via voice is perfectly fine.

 

And "everyone" drives like a moron.