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New Vehicle Owners Largely Satisfied With Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

New vehicle owners who have purchased a car that's equipped with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto are satisfied with the system and are increasingly relying on it for all in-car tasks, according to a new report released today by Strategy Analytics.

In a survey querying new vehicle owners that have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto installed in their vehicles, Strategy Analytics found that 34 percent of CarPlay owners rely on CarPlay for all of their audio infotainment needs, while 27 percent of Android Auto users use the Android platform exclusively for audio infotainment.

strategyanalyticscarplayusage
32 percent of CarPlay users and 33 percent of Android Auto users rely on those systems for all of their navigation needs, with CarPlay's slightly lower number here likely attributable to customers who continued to be unsatisfied with Apple Maps compared to other mapping apps like Google Maps or Waze.

Speech recognition usage is said to be "strong" across both sets of users, with CarPlay owners taking advantage of Siri for hands-free tasks while driving.

Overall, more than 85 percent of CarPlay and Android Auto users are "somewhat or very satisfied" with their system, and more than 90 percent are likely to recommend those systems to others.

In a similar report from October, Strategy Analytics learned that CarPlay is becoming an increasingly important feature that consumers look for when purchasing a vehicle.

In the United States, for example, 23 percent of respondents said that CarPlay was a "must have" feature for a new car, while another 56 percent said they were "interested" in vehicles equipped with CarPlay.

While CarPlay has been available since 2015, car manufacturers did not begin widely adopting the feature until mid-2016. CarPlay is now included in many new vehicles from a wide range of manufacturers, with more than 200 vehicles on the market offering CarPlay support.

Related Roundup: CarPlay

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Top Rated Comments

Mac 128 Avatar
112 months ago
Rented a 2018 Dodge Durango with CarPlay. Can't say I was very impressed. It was kind of a mess, unless I just wanted to listen to Apple apps. A few times it almost caused me to lose control of the vehicle, just trying to do something simple I could do on the iPhone directly with no issues at all.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
112 months ago
CarPlay is awesome. I just bought a 2018 Lincoln Navigator and love it. I agree Google maps is better but Apple isn't to bad and the convenience of it all tied into my Apple ecosystem, messages, music, audiobooks, at bat for baseball, contacts, maps, phone etc. is worth it. HomeKit integration would be awesome.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Menopause Avatar
112 months ago
"Siri", "recognition" and "strong" in the same sentence. I need to buy a car with CarPlay to see how that Siri works.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
112 months ago
Carplay is oberrated already. The system should be this:

- airplay screen, doubling your phone screen
- touch sensitive

No separate OS, let the mobile device do the processor work, as a car lives longer than a phone. Latest phone with my concept? Then you have the latest experience.

These mobile processors are getting so powerful, that there is a lot of sense in my vision no? The most sense is made in the fact that at the longest extend, apps will need to be allowed or not allowed to be mirrored. I mean, the point being it should not replace a phone, but have the maximum available car relevant functionality, most of all: allowing us to use Waze or other nav apps.

Moreover, The driver integrity is guaranteed in thus way, which will more and more be a matter pf concern like the previous poster is alluding.
With car sharing becoming the future, CarPlay already is too old fashioned for my taste.
I think you may be misunderstanding what CarPlay is. The mobile processor does all the work. CarPlay is an overlay running from your mobile device.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
radiology Avatar
112 months ago
Got my wife a XC-90 which comes with CarPlay and I’m super jealous. CarPlay is awesome and a must have for my next car.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
112 months ago
Interesting you found that. I've had an XC90 for 18 months and have spent no more than five minutes on CarPlay. Complete waste of time in my experience. Having said that, the navigation and voice recognition is a waste of time on the Volvo. Easily its worst feature. But since I don't need navigation it's a bit irrelevant. Sound quality is way better using FLACs on a memory stick in the other port.

I might try it if it were wireless, but plugging a phone into a car is not something I can be bothered to do this decade.
CarPlay is a disaster. Android Auto is much better. I don't understand how one can say he/she doesn't need navigation. How is this possible? If you live in a city, you need navigation just to find the least congested route. If you live in the country, traffic may not be the reason to have navigation, but do you not drive long distances? Navigation used to be for finding the route from point A to point B. With live traffic, navigation is so much more than a map on the screen. It is a self-healing system that finds the best route based on the current road conditions.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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