I added more to my post to clarify.. hope it helps.

 

Unfortunately, at least in my experience, the way Lexus integrated their info systems, interaction with Siri for tasks that Enform can also do (call, text) is actually slower... This is sort of the opposite behavior of what I would've preferred. But yes, you can at least initiate a convo with Siri through a button on the steering wheel. Not CarPlay, but a small consolation prize.

 

I would say that 90% of carplay is about Siri and seemless interaction with the infotainment system without having to touch it or use a jog dial or whatever buttons.

as I said above, carplay essentially is one universal interface, making the need for proprietary clunky OEM interfaces obsolete.

 

I'd prefer to do away with clunky OEM interfaces. That is the main attraction for me with CarPlay. Siri is nice, but I don't mind using the ****/selector/clicker to do most of the heavy lifting.

 

Very helpful. Thanks, I do appreciate it.

 

That's another part to the Apple Car Play and Android Auto popularity. Some people want it instead of the original factory system because sometimes they could suck. But like I was saying earlier, most of the time, luxury car companies offer better systems than the phone mirroring service. iDrive, MBUX and MMI comes to mind as being amazing systems that is 10x superior than Apple Car Play.

This goes back to why Apple sells so well. Their ECO-system of making things super easy to use and similar through product lines is what attracts people. People want to get into something and use it right away without a learning curve. That's that problem.
Its not that car companies system are hard to use - its that people just want to not learn it. If people took the time to learn iDrive, MMI or MBUX - its very rewarding and its flawless. Even the Lexus Enform system is not half bad. The problem is - majority of the reviews on the Lexus Enform system, specifically, is that you have people who use the car for less than a day for a review. And if they don't "understand" it, they'll write negative things about it.

Chances are - if you are owning the car for the long haul, majority of the luxury car company infotainment systems are good if you learn it.

Ehh...? Are you assuming that I don't like iPhones? I have the new iPhone XS Max already. But I don't let my love of iPhones mix into my feelings about cars.

Are we or are we not talking in the context of composing text messages? If we are, then Siri is the same for both situations. Siri functions the same way in Siri Eyes free and Apple Car Play if you are sending and receiving text messages. In Apple Car Play, you use Siri to write and read you a text message. Siri Eyes Free does the same thing. Please further explain to me what else Siri (in Apple Car Play) does in the context of composing a text message.

Its ridiculous? Its not ridiculous. Not in the world of cars anyways.
Think about it this way. You think a "stripper" Mercedes Benz without the MBUX system is equal to the same luxury level as a Mercedes Benz with every option ticked and has the MBUX system? Its not the same. You are essentially getting a different car. This is why the price is dramatically different.

Actually - no Virtual Cockpit is not available on the base level Audi A4. Virtual Cockpit is only available as an option if you pick the Premium Plus trim and its standard on the Prestige Trim. Base-level Premium Audi A4 gives you only standard gauges.

That's your opinion. I don't mind that car companies offer Apple Car Play and Android Auto. Its good to have choices for everyone. I just personally think its not one that makes or breaks the car. You are literally over-exaggerating. It does not take 30 seconds to draft a text on the Lexus Infotainment system. It probably takes the same amount of time as Apple Car Play. I feel like you just have a thing against the Lexus infotainment system, like Hoovey suggested.

 

agreed, but for me I prefer Siri, or any voice system. I don't want to have to look away from the road when I drive.. with all these cars going to in dash tablets and the like, you can't just reach and using tactile touch know where a button is. you have to divert your eyes and attention from driving.

with voice command AI you don't and for me that is where carplay wins, OEM voice commands IMO have always sucked. I hated the voice feature in my RCF, it only understood 1/10 of what I said, couldn't even get it to set the damn HVAC temp without repeating myself 5 times.

 

Well to your point, my original comment was basically that if infotainment went the way of standardization, and Apple knew it would be rolling it's system out to that many more users, eg, imagine the possibilities. iOS doesn't exist without global adoption. Everyone wins and costs go down.

To extend that argument a bit, Tesla will likely never achieve true, full autonomous driving capabilities until every car on the road is a Tesla and they can all talk to each other...

 

 

I completely understand Siri, Alexa and Google Assistance though. This is why Lexus Enform 2.0 in the ES has Alexa. Alexa only interacts with Lexus Enform and not Apple Car Play. I think to be more fair - I think Apple Car Play as a mirroring service that replaces your infotainment system. I think it'll be better if its integrated all together - where you can still use your Lexus functions with your Apple functions. You can't split screen with Apple Car Play - you have to exit out and do other stuff then go back. Imagine if you can split screen your iPhone apps + Lexus maps. That would be good.

That's what I was thinking though. If customers demand it, they'll likely cave and give it to you as standard like Mercedes Benz.

Yeah. If BMW wanted to take money from people, they would have left it as a optional extra that would charge a 1 time fee. Essentially - by doing an annually sub-based service, they are saving people money. People that keep their cars for less than 4-5 years will be saving money. This is why I think BMW just doesn't really care about it.

Besides - MB and BMW have double their funding of their own systems while other car companies are adopting 3rd party stuff.

The integration of Waze, Pandora, AudioBook and stuff is only 1000x superior if you have the need for it. This is why I, like I said earlier, option is a good thing. I find Apple Car Play useless because I don't use Waze, Pandora, or Audiobook. Everything I need to be done can be done on the infotainment system it comes with.

Actually, no opinion is "wrong". I could say that your opinion is wrong but I'm not because I'm not trying to start crap with you. This is just all a debate. Not sure why you believe you are so "right".

I never said that described you. I'm saying it describes some people. Some people just love their "stripper" nothing packaged cars that they need Android Auto/Apple Car Play on it. I actually applaud this. It gives people options.

I understand where you are coming from. You want the option (or another option) in case your navigation is being funky or you just don't like it. You like the choice. However - I just don't see how not having a choice of using Android Auto cancels out an entire brand of cars? That's pretty much cutting down so many cars you can potentially buy.

 

google maps and waze rollout out to carplay in IOS 12, so both now project to the carplay screen..

the google map UI is pretty crappy IMO on Carplay.. Waze just updated today so I haven't played with it, but I'll check back tomorrow and report on how good or bad it's UI is.

 

I agree. Google maps is one of the best map services out there. I don't doubt that and I use Google maps while walking too. I have mentioned it before - I think Apple Car Play and Android Auto is only a must have if the applications are merged into the functions of the standard infotainment system. What I mean by this is - you can fully interact with everything. Right now - as it stands - you have to exit out of the Apple Car Play screen to use Lexus system stuff. What I want to say is - IE: Google Maps functioning and you can split screen it on your Lexus to do other things.
At its current state - with the car companies keeping Apple Car Play and Android Auto at an arm's length by not properly mixing them together. It'll just be clunky, in my opinion.

 

Virtual Cockpit is available on an A4 - you're arguing semantics. I know because I had a loaner with it equipped.

A bit about me: I have an Audi and a Lexus. My Audi recently spent an inordinate amount of time in the shop, so I had a number of different (new) Audi loaners available to me, all with varying options. I can't speak for MB or BMW, but Audi MMI is not "10x superior" than CarPlay. In the Audi loaners I had that were equipped with CarPlay, I found myself skipping right to it. Audi MMI has not changed in 5+ years. It's literally the same interface with a slightly faster cpu. Anyway, in each of these Audi's, there was no way to do anything with MMI other than navi and place a call.

Back to my original point, the savings would be tremendous and the upgrades to (CarPlay in this instance) would be by leaps and bounds if it was widely adopted. Again, I'd rather have software companies developing software, hardware companies developing hardware, and auto manufacturers developing cars. Or, in other words, I want iOS in my car, not Audi MMI, MB or BMW. To be honest, I'm not even sure what about these infotainment systems is so alluring to you. Do they make espresso? I just don't get it.

I don't know in what world Lexus software devs produce a better embedded system than Apple or Google. You can still keep Lexus Enform, just let Apple develop it.

 

Lighten up Francis. Please note there was a silly smiley at the end of that sentence. I get that people's opinions and use cases will differ.

You did say "most people". I was providing a counter-example.

It cancels out an entire brand of cars (for me) because critical functionality is missing. My wife's prior Lexus was fully loaded, including Navigation. I think we used it three times total. But she used Waze on her phone every single day. My Father-in-law's Nissan (he lives with us) has their navigation system, and we plugged an old iPod loaded with music into its iPod interface. But instead he streams Pandora from his phone, and if we need navigation, we use our phones, not the built-in system.

It's not so much a navigation being funky thing as the fact that a static, fixed map system that's rarely updated and doesn't have real-time traffic is of nearly zero value to me, except perhaps on a Sunday morning where there is no traffic. When I said I don't use AA all the time, it's because sometimes I'm just making a short trip out to a restaurant, or my kid's sports practice, and I don't need navigation/traffic. That said, I know for a fact I'm going to use Waze for my evening commute, because it's proven over the years to take on average 15-20 minutes off that commute vs. not. 2 extra hours per week of not sitting in traffic is valuable to me, and becomes even moreso when we're on long trips and there are traffic snarls. Why would I want to spend $50k or more on a car that requires me to either give this up, or continue illegally holding my phone?

 

Re-read what I said about the Virtual Cockpit, please.
Virtual Cockpit is only available on the Premium Plus and up trims - not the Premium base trim.

My cousin owns an Audi S4 with Virtual Cockpit. Its by far the best digital gauge system out in the market right now - better than MBUX. I didn't feel the need to use Apple Car Play once while driving his car. I customized the maps to my liking on Virtual Cockpit display and left it there. It updated me with live traffic and did the job better than using the smaller screen for Apple Car Play.

You keep bringing up money and cost. The thing is - people in the higher price market range are likely not going to care. When you are spending well over 40K for a car, you are putting in an investment - you'll pay for the options. A lot of times - money isn't an issue for people at this price range. Yes - it would save money. But it comes at a cost to owning a vehicle that is less luxurious than it really is. Its similar to people saving over 10K and buying a stripper 3 series over a loaded 3 series. The thing is - the empty 3 series is worst than a Honda Civic.
I can ask you the same thing - what's so important about Apple Car Play that is so alluring to you too? Its just difference of opinions. I think Apple Car Play is main function is for people that doesn't have navigation or don't have the fancy upgraded navigation.
I used Apple Car Play multiple times on different cars - I never really found the need for it.

Again - it goes back to needs. All I was saying is Apple Car Play and other mirroring services are important if you like Waze, Google Maps, Audiobook and Pandora. If you don't really find the need for those things, you are pretty much never gonna use it.

If we are going to have a 3rd party company develop software for Lexus, I wouldn't have Apple do it. I would rather have another software company do it.