My Jeep’s navigation system is out of date, and Jeep is trying to get me to pay $99 to update it. I get an email like this every couple of months.
The truth is, I tried the navigation system in my brand new Jeep in 2021 a couple of times, and it is atrocious. It is very difficult to navigate, to program destinations, the voice and cadence is awful, and the instructions are poor. I gave up, and very quickly resumed using Google Maps on my smartphone, which luckily, albeit awkwardly, connects with Jeep’s UConnect system using Apple CarPlay. I can use the same navigation system everywhere, in rental cars, when walking, and in my own car. I know how it works, I can navigate with it in my sleep, and it’s consistent everywhere.
Last year I was in Germany and rented a high-end Mercedes. I don’t remember the model. I tried to use its own navigation system. I was pulled over in a bus stop trying to figure out how to put in a destination. After fighting with it for quite some time, I gave up and resorted to my Google Maps on my iPhone. I tried to connect my iPhone to the interface on the Mercedes, but I could also not figure that out. It worked for phone calls, but somehow I wasn’t successful getting audible instructions from my phone through the car’s sound system. I am sure if I spent time with the manual, or I checked out some YouTubes, I could have figured it out. But who wants to bother doing this with a rental car for a week? So I just used my phone with speaker on and all was fine. I could leave the sound system turned off.
My Jeep also has this annoying “feature” where it always start playing the current playlist on my iPhone as soon as I get into the car. There is no way to turn this off. Every time I get into the car, I have to either turn off the sound system completely, or if I need it for navigation (through Google Maps), I have to tune it to some other channel, so it does not play music I don’t want to hear.
All these examples are signs that automotive companies are not experts in human-centered design, like Google or Apple are. Their attempts at the user interface level are dismal at best.
GM announced earlier this year that is would abandon Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto. They are citing it’s to keep people safer in their cars and minimize distractions. Does GM not know that that it’s a n0-go decision for many buyers? I certainly will not, under any circumstances, buy a car that does not connect with Apple CarPlay. I have absolutely no interest in putzing around with whatever inadequate and clumsy alternative they provide.
Good luck to GM with that utterly stupid decision. And good luck to Jeep trying to extract another $99 to “update” the navigation system.