[javierrmercado]

I test drove the Volvo re-charge and now I can't help but regret getting the ID4 instead of the Polestar.

The Android Automotive infotainment and the way it's baked into the whole car is a million times better than VW's.

I wonder why they didn't go for Android Automotive from the get go? VW is a hardware company, not a software company. Not even Samsung, which is a tech company, had the hubris to try and do their own software for their phones. What were the people at VW thinking? Stick what you're good at, hardware, and work with Google's software expertise.

If VW doesn't get Android Automotive I will switch my ID4 for the first comparable car that has Android Automotive baked in as soon as there is something available. There is really no contest between the two infotainment systems.

 

[SunWizard]

Yes VW has said they are going to use much of AA in the future. But most of it is not likely to make it to existing ID.4, big thread about it here:

Android automotive OS takes over the market, can we benefit?

VW has switched to using Android automotive as the basis for its open source VW.OS, and the ID.3 and 4 are the first to use it. This is the OS that runs on our infotainment head unit. They have 3000 software engineers working on it so they can get from the current 10% developed in-house up to...

www.vwidtalk.com

 

[Nai3t]

VW has been pretty clear from jump that they intend to bring software development in-house, which is part of the growing pains we're all experiencing with incomplete and buggy software, as they struggle to build a reportedly 10,000- member team, convert over a patchwork of legacy code from various vendors, all while launching an supporting a new platform and simultaneously developing its successor. It's truly crazy, but again, it's been no secret.

I agree with you, I drove the Polestar, and Android Automotive was pretty solid. I wouldn't mind having it in the ID. 4.

However, I also have a i3 with iDrive 6 and I'm super impressed with how far along BMW has come with their in-car suite, and 6 isn't even their latest and greatest. I hardly bother running Google or Waze in that car except for music. I expect the ID. 4 will be performing at that level in another year as they get their act together.

The future, VW realizes (I think) that software has become of equal importance to hardware, and they are investing in it like they know they must not fail.

Hopefully the investment pays off for us

 

[javierrmercado]

VW has been pretty clear from jump that they intend to bring software development in-house, which is part of the growing pains we're all experiencing with incomplete and buggy software, as they struggle to build a reportedly 10,000- member team, convert over a patchwork of legacy code from various vendors, all while launching an supporting a new platform and simultaneously developing its successor. It's truly crazy, but again, it's been no secret.

I agree with you, I drove the Polestar, and Android Automotive was pretty solid. I wouldn't mind having it in the ID. 4.

However, I also have a i3 with iDrive 6 and I'm super impressed with how far along BMW has come with their in-car suite, and 6 isn't even their latest and greatest. I hardly bother running Google or Waze in that car except for music. I expect the ID. 4 will be performing at that level in another year as they get their act together.

The future, VW realizes (I think) that software has become of equal importance to hardware, and they are investing in it like they know they must not fail.

Hopefully the investment pays off for us

I really hope you're right. It's pretty annoying to have to deal with all those glitches, specially knowing that there are much better things out there right now.

 

[Nai3t]

I really hope you're right. It's pretty annoying to have to deal with all those glitches, specially knowing that there are much better things out there right now.

I hope I am, too. The European manufacturers have been busy pooling resources building maps and trying to get away from Google and Apple. The i3 oddly comes with Car Play (finally!) but not Android Auto, uses Here maps, but continues to rely on Google for POI results and I assume speech recognition. It's about as good as talking to my phone, fast and generally accurate with a minimum of fuss.

Most of the improvements I want to see from VW are server-side changes, which is great because this helps the whole connected fleet past present and future. Hopefully we're not far from them getting to that level of usability.

 

[VW TECHNICIAN]

There are many car makers that they see additional revenue in IOT so VW like many other manufacturers are not letting this peace of revenue to be shared with others...
Good size Tablet will cure people who want something else....

 

[Nai3t]

There are many car makers that they see additional revenue in IOT so VW like many other manufacturers are not letting this peace of revenue to be shared with others...
Good size Tablet will cure people who want something else....

I'm sure you've driven this system on a Polestar or Volvo by now? I have to say it's a great turnkey solution for a manufacturer who doesn't want to (or can't afford to -- time or money) invest in the software development side of things, and as a consumer and specifically an Android user I "get" the appeal.

But I like that VW is facing this challenge and I have high expectations. I hope they don't let us early owners down.

 

[DeciusCaeciliusMetellus]

It's on the roadmap, but limited to the user facing systems (e.g. the infotainment system).

 

[SunWizard]

Wow that video was a waste of time if you have read the thread linked in post#2 which gives much more detail from 1-2 years ago. Short summary: they are going with Android automotive for all cars, but with their own play store so they can keep that revenue and sell all of the data about us. It won't be available until 2025. And they hyped OTA 2.3 update that we don't get in US, where they added more ID.Light function!