{"id":53220,"date":"2026-09-16T12:53:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=53220"},"modified":"2026-09-16T12:53:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:53:32","slug":"carplay-in-gm-trucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/16\/carplay-in-gm-trucks\/","title":{"rendered":"CarPlay in GM Trucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan M. Gitlin<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

GM made the decision to drop Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone casting from its newer EVs, and it’s one we’ve been pretty critical of. Although the automaker told us it made that decision in order to offer a better, more unified experience to its customers, that may well have changed: here, customers still have the choice to just cast their phone to the center screen.<\/p>\n

And it has done a better job of integrating CarPlay and Android Auto into the experience, putting the casting apps in a large window or tile that takes up most but not all of the infotainment screen. To the left is another card that allows you to access other native apps, like towing or music (although you can still have CarPlay as the source for that native music app, should you start feeling a little Inceptionish). Porsche took a similar approach to working with, rather than against<\/a>, users who enjoy CarPlay, and this looks like a welcome step from GM.<\/p>\n

GM’s spokesperson wouldn’t be drawn on whether this means we’re going to see a corporate retreat from the previous stance on EVs, but I will note that the press release it sent Ars does say that the system was built “as a single scalable foundation across electric<\/em>, gas and diesel-powered vehicles, it transforms time spent behind the wheel into an effortless, personalized journey,”—emphasis mine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Matthew Haughey<\/a> (via John Gruber<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\n

The car industry accidentally did something I’ve always wanted to see, which was to release basically the same car under two brands and models, with one major consumer-facing difference. It’s kind of remarkable how good of a experimental design this is, since the performance and driving characteristics of both cars are identical, but drivers in one model get a major phone integration the others do not.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

For the years these cars were sold together, the Honda outsold the Blazer by 43%, 73%, and 166% in each time period. Today in 2026, people are buying a Honda Prologue over one and a half times more often than the Chevy Blazer EV the Prologue is based on.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Marco Arment<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

My favorite CarPlay feature is when it’s reading a text message to me and I go to tap the “Done” button and it suddenly turns into a “Call” button underneath my finger and I have to wait for all of the animations to finish before I can actually end the call and then I wonder (a) did the person notice that I called them for a few seconds and (b) do I need to explain that now and (c) are they going to call me back now and (d) HOW DID THIS INTERFACE EVER SHIP oh my god<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n