LAWSUIT: Next Gen Apple CarPlay Will Take Over All Screens

[ice-capades]

LAWSUIT: Next Gen Apple CarPlay Will Take Over All Screens

https://fordauthority.com/2024/03/next-gen-apple-carplay-will-take-over-all-screens-lawsuit/

 

 

While General Motors has already announced that it will no longer offer Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support in its upcoming EVs, Ford remains committed to those third-party applications, which many consumers have long preferred over OEM infotainment. In fact, Ford CEO Jim Farley has gone so far as to criticize GM’s decision and reiterate that Ford will continue offering Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in its vehicles moving forward – and we’ve seen multiple improvements and new features added recently, too. However, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has now filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Apple claiming that the next-generation version of CarPlay is taking things a bit too far.

 

“Apple’s threatened dominance over the automotive industry goes well beyond the Apple Wallet and Apple’s demands on car makers to allow innovative products and services on the iPhone,” the lawsuit reads. “Apple’s smartphone dominance extends to CarPlay, an Apple infotainment system that enables a car’s central display to serve as a display for the iPhone and enables the driver to use the iPhone to control maps and entertainment in the car. Like the smartphone market, infotainment systems are increasingly considered must-have capabilities in newer vehicles.”

 

“After leveraging its smartphone dominance to car infotainment systems, Apple has told automakers that the next generation of Apple CarPlay will take over all of the screens, sensors, and gauges in a car, forcing users to experience driving as an iPhone-centric experience if they want to use any of the features provided by CarPlay. Here too, Apple leverages its iPhone user base to exert more power over its trading partners, including American carmakers, in future innovation. By applying the same playbook of restrictions to CarPlay, Apple further locks-in the power of the iPhone by preventing the development of other disintermediating technologies that interoperate with the phone but reside off device.”

 

This is certainly an interesting development given how important Farley says Apple CarPlay is to Ford’s future, and it comes at a time when the automaker is working to make it more prevalent in its vehicles. However, some experts disagree with the DOJ’s interpretation of Apple’s next-gen software, noting that automakers still control how it will work.

 

“Even with the next-gen system, OEMs don’t actually have to let Apple take over all the screens,” Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst at Guidehouse Insights and an expert on vehicle software, told The Verge. “They can limit the interface to whichever screens they want.” Abuelsamid noted that automakers still need to provide their own software to operate these features, and can’t assume that every customer has a smartphone – or an iPhone, specifically – which means that they must provide an alternative, regardless.

Edited March 22 by ice-capades
Additional Content

[akirby]

Oh good grief.  It’s 100% voluntary and the automakers have complete control over what is allowed.  And what about Android Auto?  Stupid lawsuit.

[Harley Lover]

Mods, the word "alleges" should be added to the subject title. Otherwise, the title is simply parroting the allegations of the lawsuit as being true, when, in the OP, an expert explains the fallacy of the central allegation of the lawsuit.

[rmc523]

I personally don't want the Apple interface taking over everything in the car - I'd rather have the factory setup, and the apple version within for certain functions.

[SoonerLS]

On 3/22/2024 at 10:35 AM, akirby said:

Oh good grief.  It’s 100% voluntary and the automakers have complete control over what is allowed.  And what about Android Auto?  Stupid lawsuit.

Hell, the gov't is still trying to continue the lawsuit to stop Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard after the court told them no, that's stupid, you can't do that, and let the acquisition go forward.

[Roland]

By what standard is Apple "dominant" in the smartphone segment?  What monopoly power do they hold other than people's preference?

 

I suspect the feds are just upset that Apple isn't playing ball with their surveillance plans.

[SoonerLS]

1 hour ago, Roland said:

By what standard is Apple "dominant" in the smartphone segment?

The last numbers I heard put the iPhone at about 60% of the US cell phone market. That’s a pretty good chunk of the market, but I don’t think I’d call it dominant. 

[akirby]

1 minute ago, SoonerLS said:

The last numbers I heard put the iPhone at about 60% of the US cell phone market. That’s a pretty good chunk of the market, but I don’t think I’d call it dominant. 

Not compared to Android and Android Auto PLUS the fact that using CarPlay or AA is 100% voluntary.

[ice-capades]

28 minutes ago, SoonerLS said:

The last numbers I heard put the iPhone at about 60% of the US cell phone market. That’s a pretty good chunk of the market, but I don’t think I’d call it dominant. 

 

Yeah, the market is pretty much split between iPhone and Android. I used Microsoft Windows Phones for years and they were incredible. The phone market was another major blunder on Microsoft's part. 

[silvrsvt]

I'm figuring this goes no where...its not a true monopoly like Bell or ATT back in the day where there was no choice what so ever.

[SoonerLS]

9 hours ago, ice-capades said:

I used Microsoft Windows Phones for years and they were incredible. The phone market was another major blunder on Microsoft's part. 

Yep. Even when my work phone was an iPhone, my personal phones were Windows phones. They were sooo much better than iPhone or Android that it wasn't even funny.

[ice-capades]

6 hours ago, SoonerLS said:

Yep. Even when my work phone was an iPhone, my personal phones were Windows phones. They were sooo much better than iPhone or Android that it wasn't even funny.

 

A big part of the Windows Phone demise was that Google/Alphabet didn't create Android, they purchased it and then gave it away to any manufacturer that wanted it. Microsoft charged a licensing fee that, although small per unit, added up to an expense that the manufacturers didn't want to pay and went the cheapest route with the free Android platform. 

[Gurgeh]

On 3/28/2024 at 2:14 PM, SoonerLS said:

The last numbers I heard put the iPhone at about 60% of the US cell phone market. That’s a pretty good chunk of the market, but I don’t think I’d call it dominant. 

Latest market share numbers come in at 57.93% for iPhones in the U.S. market, but 70.29% for Android taking the world as a whole.

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/iphone-android-users

[fordmantpw]

On 3/28/2024 at 11:04 PM, SoonerLS said:

Yep. Even when my work phone was an iPhone, my personal phones were Windows phones. They were sooo much better than iPhone or Android that it wasn't even funny.

 

Agreed! I loved my Windows phone, and was sad when I had to replace it with an iPhone (it was a work-supplied phone, and my only phone).

 

I'm sure @akirby is shocked by this revelation...

[akirby]

1 hour ago, fordmantpw said:

 

Agreed! I loved my Windows phone, and was sad when I had to replace it with an iPhone (it was a work-supplied phone, and my only phone).

 

I'm sure @akirby is shocked by this revelation...

I had to really restrain myself from making a Windoze joke……..

[HotRunrGuy]

2 hours ago, fordmantpw said:

 

Agreed! I loved my Windows phone, and was sad when I had to replace it with an iPhone (it was a work-supplied phone, and my only phone).

 

I'm sure @akirby is shocked by this revelation...

 

And I can proudly say, in a company with thousands of employee's, I was the last one to give up my Blackberry,,,,,,

 

HRG

[fordmantpw]

48 minutes ago, HotRunrGuy said:

 

And I can proudly say, in a company with thousands of employee's, I was the last one to give up my Blackberry,,,,,,

 

HRG

 

I loved the BB I had before the Windows phone (the physical buttons made it the best for sending texts/emails).  Except that time the Sheriff showed up at my door after I somehow inadvertently (and unbeknownst to me) called 911 from the phone in my pocket while I was weed eating.  The lock function didn't work very well...

[Captainp4]

Had no idea iPhone was that much of the market, I always assumed they were like Tesla.. people that have them love them, but everyone else finds them weird and foreign. Guess I learned something as a now smaller market share Android user lol. Have always liked Samsung and Android, but much like cars, everyone has an opinion on what's best.

[sullynd]

I read an article recently that placed blame for Apples dominance in the US with the carriers; The articles theory as to why is Apple provides support for their phones and as a result offloads a lot of the support that would otherwise be provided by the carrier. 

[fordmantpw]

20 minutes ago, sullynd said:

I read an article recently that placed blame for Apples dominance in the US with the carriers; The articles theory as to why is Apple provides support for their phones and as a result offloads a lot of the support that would otherwise be provided by the carrier. 

 

That's not to "blame" the carriers, that's Apple earning the market share through their support.

[sullynd]

11 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

 

That's not to "blame" the carriers, that's Apple earning the market share through their support.

The article called it blame; the gist of the article was that the government should go after the big three carriers rather than Apple. 

[fordmantpw]

1 hour ago, sullynd said:

The article called it blame; the gist of the article was that the government should go after the big three carriers rather than Apple. 

 

Ugh, doesn't the government have better things to do?  Why do we always have to have somebody to "blame?" Sheesh!

 

BTW, not directing that at you, you're just the messenger.

[akirby]

3 hours ago, sullynd said:

The article called it blame; the gist of the article was that the government should go after the big three carriers rather than Apple. 

What is there to go after?  It’s a completely free market with multiple carriers, multiple OSes and multiple phone mfrs.  Apple was first to market with a capacitance touchscreen smart phone back in 2007 and they had an existing base of iPod users.  So of course they dominated the market early on. 
 

People like Apple products because they just work and have a lot of cool features.  Our family has been iPhone / iPad users since 2008-ish and I have 37 years in IT including Unix programming.  I’ve never found something on our Apple devices that I wanted to change but couldn’t or something that I hated or couldn’t do.  ICloud and Apple Pay work great.  I can send text messages to the family and most friends from my iPad with only wifi.  
 

I’m sure Androids do certain things better or allow more customization but nothing I care about.  And I’m certain that’s the case for most Apple users.  If you do those things and prefer Android, more power to you.  
 

But I suspect a lot of Android Users just don’t like the control Apple has over apps and hardware.  But to me that just allows them better quality control and until that causes me a problem directly I’ll stick with them.

[silvrsvt]

7 hours ago, akirby said:

I’m sure Androids do certain things better or allow more customization but nothing I care about.  And I’m certain that’s the case for most Apple users.  If you do those things and prefer Android, more power to you.  
 

But I suspect a lot of Android Users just don’t like the control Apple has over apps and hardware.  But to me that just allows them better quality control and until that causes me a problem directly I’ll stick with them.

 

I used to switch between them and stopped about 14 years ago...just wasn't worth it. My Apple stuff just works and it does what I need it to do. 

[HotRunrGuy]

18 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

 

I used to switch between them and stopped about 14 years ago...just wasn't worth it. My Apple stuff just works and it does what I need it to do. 

 

After a FordPass update in Jan 23 obsoleted my Android, I found out that while Androids don't update OS's, iPhones do.  Got tired of app after app no longer working with my 'droid, the FordPass update was the last straw.

 

HRG