General Motors will stop offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity

In a rather bold move, General Motors has confirmed that it will not include Apple CarPlay or Android Auto compatibility in its future electric vehicles.

Yep, while the US giant says it will continue to support both systems in existing models and in its combustion-engined cars, the new Chevrolet Blazer EV will be the first car to not support either type of connectivity.

However, the upcoming Silverado EV pickup truck will still get access to both. Very confusing. 

Dropping the phone-mirroring systems from all other future EVs won't go down well with some, particularly developers: easily issuing updates was the main reason Apple CarPlay and Android Auto became so popular. Imagine telling, say Spotify, that its app now has to make special allowances just for Chevy? Hmm.

Apple itself reckons almost 80 per cent of new car buyers look specifically for the CarPlay feature when making a new purchase. However, the next iteration of CarPlay, announced in June 2022, is set to target control of the seats and climate control. Could that explain why GM has done the unthinkable?

GM wants its system to run all the apps that occupants could possibly want, rather than supporting a third-party platform to give this access. You might think this enables GM to capture all the (very valuable) data being created on every journey, but it says 'the new experience will be an evolution of the Google built-in system recently launched on select GM vehicles, but without phone projection'.

And arguably, owning the whole suite should also help GM to keep the system secure, in anticipation of a greater roll-out of autonomous driving features.

The carmaker has confirmed that Bluetooth connectivity will still be available in the Blazer EV, for drivers who wish to continue using certain apps directly from their mobile phone.

So, what do we think folks? Is this a good move from GM?