Last week, GM announced a new application experience for its upcoming Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks, including a new appearance for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the famous phone mirroring systems that the automaker made a big agreement concerning removing from its electric vehicles in 2023.
Naturally, this led to several disturbance concerning whether GM was “bringing back” CarPlay and Android Auto to its vehicles. Yahoo Finance reported it that way, calling it an “about-face” by the automaker, during Apple Insider’s headline boasted that GM “cave[d]” on its decision to eliminate the interface from its gas-powered vehicles. Even The Verge’s own commenters were a bit flummoxed concerning what was going on.
It’s certainly true that GM has not offered phone projection in any of its electric vehicles for the former three years. That method no CarPlay or Android Auto in the Chevy Equinox, Blazer, Bolt, and Silverado EVs; Cadillac Lyriq, Optiq, Vistiq, and Escalade IQ; or GMC Sierra and Hummer SUV and Truck EVs.
All of those vehicles have Google application products embedded in their systems, akin Maps and Gemini. That’s since GM builds its functioning scheme on top of Android Automotive, which is frequently called Google Automotive Services or GAS whenever bundled alongside the complete suite of native apps. But if you’re expecting to plug in your phone, or nexus wirelessly, and see the acquainted app layout on the infotainment display of a GM electric vehicle, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
The identical can’t be stated concerning GM’s many gas-powered trucks and SUVs. GM never impaired phone projection in its best-selling ICE models. Tens of thousands of owners of GM-branded vehicles regularly project their phones’ displays on their vehicles’ infotainment screens without any issue. And now CarPlay and Android Auto are the two getting spiffy new picture-in-picture upgrades in the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, a sign that perchance GM is learning to co-exist alongside phone mirroring.
GM is partially liable for the confusion. In an October 2025 appearance on Decoder, GM CEO Mary Barra defended the company’s decision to prohibit CarPlay in its electric vehicles and indicated that the guideline would eventually broaden to GM’s gasoline-powered lineup as well.
Everyone freaked out for a second time. Removing phone projection in EVs was one thing, but many truck and SUV owners were understandably incensed concerning the potential of losing the capability in their cherished GM-branded vehicles. But a few days later, GM seemed to stroll rear that statement, clarifying to a figure of outlets that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto would remain accessible in its gas-powered vehicles “for the foreseeable future.” Last week’s notice of a new application cognition in the Silverado and Sierra trucks would appear to be included in that “foreseeable future.”
Allow me to add several additional reporting here. For the Silverado/Sierra announcement, I said to Colin McCormick, collection merchandise director for Google built-in, projection, and profiles at GM. Here’s what he had to say concerning how GM’s stance on phone projection has evolved complete the years:
And so the way that I appearance at this is that we were among the first adopters of CarPlay and Android Auto whenever it archetypal came out. And we do have a small section of EVs correct now that don’t recommendation that, but there is a ample bulk of our vehicles that do recommendation that. And our big stance on this is that it shouldn’t be two competing systems. So as we activity together alongside Apple and Google to provision solutions that we think are finest for the customer, this is what we’re representing in this new UI design. So I think we’re landing in a place anywhere … we don’t have a client that has to decide, ‘Oh, I’m going to use projection,’ or, ‘Oh, I desire to use the native system.’ That’s our saccharine place for us. And that’s anywhere we desire to live.
GM most apt realizes that its stance on CarPlay and Android Auto isn’t popular. People really akin mirroring their phones! It’s clean, it’s familiar, and it’s (mostly) dependable. The identical can’t be stated for most contemporary cars’ native software. Even the ones that are really fine designed, akin Rivian and Tesla, motionless battle alongside several center functions akin overview logins and messages. And you can discover plentifulness of owners of the two brands that would provision their firstborn kid for the capability to mirror their phone.
CarPlay and Android Auto aren’t perfect. They have dependability problems and connectivity problems aplenty. But they are worlds improved than the bulk of the native functioning systems in cars today — most of which are fair trash. Yes, they’re getting better. And GM is not incorrect in thinking it can recommendation a improved experience. But group get testy whenever you obtain distant their choices.
So GM is finding ways to coexist alongside CarPlay and Android Auto. It doesn’t desire to endure additional customers complete it, which is why we’re getting this most latest resolution that includes picture-in-picture phone projection. GM thinks this solves the “two competing systems” problem, as mentioned by McCormick. But what it really does is get it out of the border it backed itself into complete phone mirroring.
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