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I still miss the tactile feel of the Qwerty keyboard on my Blackberry every time I type a long message on my iPhone. Never mind the fact that Blackberry has long since succumbed to the merciless march of progress, every time I watch a video on said iPhone I see the value of a screen that extends from end-to-end. I’ve since also fallen hook, line, and sinker for the Apple ecosystem, so I’m certainly not yearning for the good old days. Or am I?You see, while I clearly see the point of maximising screen size for my phone, I can’t quite follow the same logic for the dashboard of my daily driver. To adjust the temperature of the AC, for instance, I’d much rather reach for a dedicated button without having to take my eyes off the road, as opposed to having to navigate through a bunch of menus while attempting to avoid rear-ending the car in front.Check out <a href="https://www.autox.com/opinion/srinivas-krishnan/are-buttons-in-cars-going-to-give-way-to-touchscreens-forever-119767/" target="_blank">this column</a> by Srinivas Krishnan where he also goes on a rant on this particular pet peeve. Except, he does so by citing facts and customer satisfaction surveys (or dissatisfaction surveys as the case may be), which point out that the number one concern that new car buyers have today is the result of on-board systems that are unintuitive and cumbersome to use.Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autox.com/news/industry-news/euro-ncap-to-give-higher-safety-ratings-to-cars-with-fewer-screens-heres-why-116394/" target="_blank">Euro NCAP to Give Higher Safety Ratings to Cars with Fewer Screens</a>Add to that a myriad of active safety features that are being added to new cars, all of which also require users to go through numerous menus and sub-menus to deactivate or tweak before being able to set off in peace. In Europe, for instance, all new cars are fitted with an ‘Intelligent Speed Assistant,’ which monitors speed limits using GPS and digital speed maps and triggers a speed warning every time the driver is deemed to be even 1km/h over the speed limit – even if that happens to be on your own driveway. Perversely, this system is also designed to be difficult to disable – in fact that’s mandated as well (ostensibly by someone with a sick sense of humour) – and if you do choose to disable this “Speed Assistant,” you have to do so every single time you turn the ignition.It's this type of over regulation and excessive computing power that’s taking the price of new cars through the roof. And it’s this tech for the sake of tech, as opposed to so that it improves the experience for the driver and passengers, that’s putting people off buying new cars and driving up demand for used cars in the West. If we’re not careful, we’ll see a similar trend in India as well. Designers, product planners and regulators all need to remember that tech should enhance the experience, not detract from it. Nor should it be a vanity project.Vanity projects lead to exactly the kind of slippery slope that the industry seems to find itself on at present… let’s hope they’re not too distracted by navigating through complex menus to apply the brakes before it’s too late.

The iPhone-isation of the Car Dashboard is a Mistake!

You see, while I clearly see the point of maximising screen size for my phone, I can’t quite follow the same logic for the dashboard of my daily driver.

Before we start, some essential disclosures: I drive a 1960 Volkswagen Beetle, listen to music from compact discs and own a few wristwatches that don’t run on batteries. I also listen to FM on a dedicated radio set and, for 20 years, had a cathode ray tube television. I like my other car (which is from this century) because some bits of it are resolutely analogue. In fact, after a year of owning it, I was told that I could use Android Auto if I connected the car to my phone with a C-type (?) cable. So to answer the question of whether the analogue interface in cars is soon going to die out, my answer is no. You may wish to read on if you want to know why I think so.So what’s exactly the problem? The conversations on today’s cars are getting sidetracked by the number of touchscreens and their size instead of the fundamentals of the car. In the attempt to make cars an extension of your personality (actually not yours, but your cellphone’s), cars today are ditching simple controls for complex ones, governed by infotainment and software code. Seduced by what they see when they peer over the Great Wall, OEMs are increasingly offering what Chinese OEMs do, especially in their EVs. Several European carmakers have decided to out-Chinese the Chinese and do away with all sorts of physical controls, even for the most essential features. Imagine going through menu options on a giant screen or using touch-sensitive buttons to control the air vents, turn down the volume, roll up the rear windows or activate the wipers. Now imagine doing it while driving. It is highly distracting and downright hazardous. Not just Europe, but this could become an industry-wide epidemic.I suspect it is not just overzealous product planners and Applephile designers who are responsible for this, but number crunchers too – physical buttons are arguably more expensive than giant screens. Also replacing a faulty touchscreen will make the OEM more money than replacing a button panel, I am sure. ‘Right To Repair’ as a concept for Software Defined Vehicles is a bridge that is yet to be approached, let alone crossed.Inevitably, car owners are also finding this new-fangled tech cumbersome and irritating. A 2023 JD Power survey of American car owners showed an increase in customer dissatisfaction, owing mainly to complicated touch-based infotainment systems. Even Porsche – which famously believed in the philosophy of ‘one button, one function’ in all their sports cars – succumbed to the touchscreen in the Taycan just because it was their ground-up all-electric car and wanted to make a clean break from the past. Well, that break is not going to last too long. Media reports say that new Euro NCAP tests in 2026 will nudge OEMs to use ‘separate, physical controls for basic functions in an intuitive manner, limiting eyes-off-road time and therefore promoting safer driving.’Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autox.com/news/industry-news/euro-ncap-to-give-higher-safety-ratings-to-cars-with-fewer-screens-heres-why-116394/" target="_blank">Euro NCAP to Give Higher Safety Ratings to Cars with Fewer Screens</a> The reason why outlandish features and techno wizardry, and giant touchscreens and infotainment refresh rates are dominating automotive conversations today is that cars will soon start getting homogenised like never before. There’s not much to distinguish what’s underneath different brands of Chinese EVs, so they have to stand out by giving you a dozen screens, getting your car to order your microwave to start making dinner and take-your-drone-along capabilities. Should the rest of the world follow suit? Perhaps not, because many wise people are talking about an impending split in the world of manufacturing: ‘In China, For China’ and ‘Rest Of The World.’I think we Indians may flirt initially with the techno-wizardry in infotainment systems in new cars, but reality will soon sink in. I’ll draw a parallel with smartwatches. A December 2024 article in The Economic Times said that smartwatch sales in India have dropped precipitously. The reason is that consumers were shifting back to analogue watches because they found smartwatches highly distracting and invasive, owing to constant monitoring of health parameters, office e-mail notifications, chats and more. Some of the examples of ex-smartwatch users quoted in the article included tech entrepreneurs and fitness enthusiasts who would ideally be heavy users of these hi-tech devices. But even they have declared enough is enough.Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autox.com/news/industry-news/next-gen-apple-carplay-to-offer-more-customisation-and-control-functions-117437/" target="_blank">Next-Gen Apple CarPlay to Offer More Customisation and Control Functions </a> So, do you want your horoscope read out by your car or want to know what’s in your refrigerator by looking at one of your car’s screens? Well, some of you may, but that should not be at the cost of the tactile sensation of using a physical knob or button while driving your car. Hope sense prevails.

Are Buttons in Cars Going to Give Way to Touchscreens Forever?

Will the analogue interface be overwhelmed by the dazzling dominance of touchscreens and UI/UX of tech-laden cars?  Maybe not.

Apple may have given up its grand plans of creating a car to rival Tesla, but that doesn’t mean it’s parked its long-standing aim of automotive dominance. Project Titan, Apple’s thus far top-secret car development program, has been shelved in favour of a more insidious plan to take over the screens in your car.

And while the industry may be wary – for fear of losing data, control and potential revenue as a result – for car users this is mostly a good thing. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto have become so ubiquitous that pretty much every new car on the market today has no option but to offer these connectivity options as standard features.

In fact, Ferrari has become the first automaker that’s <a href="https://www.autox.com/news/car-news/ferrari-12cilindri-purosangue-and-more-future-models-to-drop-built-in-satellite-navigation-system-117642/">decided not to provide a native navigation system in its new models</a> – presumably because all its well-heeled clienti already prefer to mirror whichever Maps they favour on their phones. Truth be told, though, you don’t need Ferrari wherewithal for this. Perhaps much to the dismay of automakers who slave over in-car systems, we all use Google Maps anyway! And that’s because the maps on our phones are more accurate, more intuitive, and, most importantly, provide real world traffic information that’s far better than anything the in-built system can do.

Also Read: <a href="https://www.autox.com/news/industry-news/google-maps-gets-six-new-features-in-india-flyover-alert-metro-ticket-booking-and-more-added-117866/">Google Maps Gets Six New Features in India; Flyover Alert, Metro Ticket Booking and More Added</a>

General Motors, however, is taking the fight to the likes of Apple and Google by threatening to stop offering CarPlay and Android Auto in its new models. At this point, though, not only are these systems ubiquitous but they’re also mandatory as far as car buyers are concerned, so I wouldn’t be surprised if GM rolls back this decision once customers start voting with their chequebooks – which is to say by keeping them closed.

After all, technology companies like Apple, Google and Amazon have so much more data and expertise in developing intuitive screen interfaces and apps that it makes sense for automakers to stick to doing what they do best – develop great cars – while letting the tech giants do what they do best.

The next phase of development for Apple is to offer CarPlay options that take over each of the many screens in your new car. They’re in the process of co-developing customisable solutions with automakers that would enable them to create interfaces for all the screens, right from the instrument cluster to the various infotainment displays.

Also Read: <a href="https://www.autox.com/news/industry-news/next-gen-apple-carplay-to-offer-more-customisation-and-control-functions-117437/">Next-Gen Apple CarPlay to Offer More Customisation and Control Functions</a>

But all is not lost for automakers. While connectivity issues and clumsy interfaces are the number one complaint for new car buyers across the globe, some carmakers do it better than others. <a href="https://www.autox.com/exclusive-stories/bmw-7-series-interior-review-the-big-bang-theory-116121/">BMW perhaps does it best with it’s iDrive system</a>. But keep in mind that it’s been working on the system for over two decades now. Similarly, Mercedes-Benz, with the latest version of its MBUX system, is offering augmented reality driving directions using its own OS that’s integrated with the car’s front-facing cameras. In fact, this is already being offered on the brand new EQA that’s featured <a href="https://www.autox.com/subscriptions/">in this issue</a>.

So, the key for both Apple and the automakers will be to merge the skillset of their respective experts to provide a seamless, intuitive and user-friendly in-car UI and UX. Frankly, since carmakers simply can’t keep Apple out of the cockpit, they may as well work with them to ensure that they retain their own identity while also keeping their drivers happy.

The Latest Car Wars Have Moved from the Streets to Your Screens

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto have become so ubiquitous that pretty much every new car on the market today has no option but to offer these connectivity options as standard features.

A live demonstration of the software in a BMW vehicle will be shown&nbsp;for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020.

Prospective&nbsp;BMW owners and Android phone users are in for smoother in-car user experience as BMW is all set to bring wireless Android Auto connectivity to its cars from July 2020. All vehicles with BMW Operating System 7.0 will get the feature factory-installed. However, there's no word on whether the software integration can be done for current BMW owners with vehicles running the same BMW OS.

What's more, BMW&nbsp;will offer complete integration of Android Auto into the car's fully-digital cockpit. Therefore, not only will the interface be available on the car's central infotainment screen but all the information from Android Auto can also be seen on the information display integrated into the instrument cluster, as well as on the car's head-up display.

<img alt="BMW Wireless Android Auto Interface" height="336" src="/uploads/2019/12/P90379156-highRes-bmw-google-android-a.jpg" width="642" />

'Many of our customers have pointed out the importance to them of having Android Auto inside a BMW for using a number of familiar Android smartphone features safely without being distracted from the road, in addition to BMW’s own functions and services. We will offer this service to our customers starting in July 2020.'&nbsp;said&nbsp;Peter Henrich, Senior VP -&nbsp;Product Management at BMW.

As mentioned above, BMW will present the first-ever live demo of Android Auto in one of its vehicles at the upcoming&nbsp;Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020. In the months following the global launch, expect the same update to be offered in the India-spec cars as well.

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BMW cars to get wireless Android Auto from July 2020

Prospective BMW owners and Android phone users are in for smoother in-car user experience as BMW is all set to bring wireless Android Auto connectivity to its cars from July 2020. All vehicles with BMW Operating System 7.0 will get the feature factory-installed.

New updates will be available as part of an optional smartphone connectivity package on new cars. Currently, existing customers in the UK can avail retroactive updates for their cars.

British marque Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed that 2019 model year onwards, all Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles equipped with its InControl Touch Pro or Touch Pro Duo infotainment systems will be available with an optional smartphone connectivity package, which will include&nbsp;Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity options. However, the package installation is being rolled out at an additional cost, as it won't be factory-fitted even on new cars.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Keeping in mind the growing popularity of both the connectivity apps, even the existing owners of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles with an InControl Touch Pro or Touch Pro Duo infotainment system can avail the new feature via a retroactive upgrade for the existing infotainment system on their cars.&nbsp;While the retroactive updates have been rolled out in the United Kingdom, the US will perhaps be the next location to&nbsp;receive these changes. However, there is no&nbsp;fixed date as yet.

Similarly, it's also not certain whether these upgrades will reach India-spec models&nbsp;or not.

On the whole, 2018 has been a successful year for Apple's CarPlay adoption, with major brands like Toyota, Lexus, Mazda and now Jaguar and Land Rover joining the bandwagon to offer the software platform as a pre-installed option on their vehicles.

JLR models to soon get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity

New updates will be available as part of an optional smartphone connectivity package on new cars. Currently, existing customers in the UK can avail retroactive updates for their cars.

Android Auto

The iPhone-isation of the Car Dashboard is a Mistake!

Are Buttons in Cars Going to Give Way to Touchscreens Forever?

The Latest Car Wars Have Moved from the Streets to Your Screens

BMW cars to get wireless Android Auto from July 2020

JLR models to soon get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity

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