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by InUrNetz9 hours ago |
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upvoteby fullstop8 hours ago|
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I've been satisfied with Android Automotive on my Equinox EV. I did see that there are USB dongles which can allegedly add Android Auto to the car.
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upvoteby bluGill8 hours ago|
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My blazer doesn't have android auto either... where are these usb things, I might be interested. I really want my phone to respond to 'ok google' not the car saying 'this needs a subscription'
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upvoteby stetrain8 hours ago|
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Annoyingly "Android Auto" and "Android Automotive" are completely different things.

Android Auto is where you can connect your phone to the car and your phone projects onto the car's display with apps and navigation.

Android Automotive is when the car itself is running Android Automotive for its infotainment OS, meaning it has access to a limited Android App Store to install apps natively into the car's infotainment system and you can sign in with your Google account.

Some cars with Android Automotive also support CarPlay and Android Auto on top of it, but GM has decided to disable those features, meaning you have to use the built-in Android Automotive system to manage your media streaming apps and pay GM for the data access plan.

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upvoteby fullstop8 hours ago|
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These cars are sold with data plans which last quite a few years. What model year is your Blazer? I think that my Equinox has app access for 3 years and maps / google assistant for 8 years. I've tested tethering with my phone and it works with that, so I have a path forward once the built-in subscription lapses.

This is the one that I saw: https://evplay.io/shop/ev-play-lite-gm

It's kind of expensive, and there's a non-zero chance that GM does something to block it.

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upvoteby bluGill7 hours ago|
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2024. I refused their privacy policy, so that might be why I'm getting nothing. I don't drive much so I'm worth more to GM than they are to me.

If GM tries to block it there are a number of ways a lawyer can fight back and likely win. The Magnuson Moss warranty act was historically written about car radios for starters. There are other consumer protection laws as well. You need a good lawyer, but I suspect they will take the case for the expected gains in the return lawsuit. If I were them I'd get a lawyer to write this up in a "white paper" - It would be a few thousand, but it is also something GM will likely see if they think about doing anything.

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upvoteby segfaultex2 hours ago|
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We bought an F150 Lightning instead of a Sierra EV mainly because of this. I'm not interested in 'cars as a service'.
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upvoteby wlesieutre9 hours ago|
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Honda Prologue is an option if you really like the Ultium SUVs, sadly only a Blazer sized rebadge and no Equinox.

I do wonder what the outlook for that is now, they were supposed to be a shorter term bridge until Honda had their own EVs but Honda recently killed a bunch of EV plans so maybe the GM partnership sticks around a while?

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upvoteby bluGill8 hours ago|
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I have a blazer ev without it and I agree it is the biggest negative. If I drove 8 hours a day their onstar is better, but if you use a car a reasonable amount it isn't worth a subscription (or setting everything up that is already in the phone)
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upvoteby thumbsup-_-6 hours ago|
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Honestly I'm an apple guy and felt the same until I drove their Blazer EV and loved the native google maps. This is way better than projecting from phone. The native integration knows about car's battery state all the time and auto-suggests stops. Any native map in car do they but they usually aren't good quality maps. In GM's case, the native maps are google maps. I can also sign in on my google account and I don't need internet to use it (in case I'm in a remote area).

I feel I want every car to have native google maps now.

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upvoteby segfaultex2 hours ago|
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>The native integration knows about car's battery state all the time and auto-suggests stops.

CarPlay does this on my F150 Lightning. It manages state, preconditioning when routing to a charging stop, will suggest charging stops as I'm routing, etc. etc.

There's really nothing special about GM's implementation IMO, except that they charge you monthly to access it.

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