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All of this leads back to an old rhetorical question I’ve often asked. Why the fuck isn’t the whole entertainment system and car connection just a standard touchscreen and communication protocol?
The fact that I need these proprietary patent-gated apps to use parts of my car, instead of just a driver that could work on any device with the right port, is overtly user-hostile.
Because the greed of corporations knows no limit. They sold you the (expensive) hardware, now they want to sell you the (specific, usually compatible but not really, and slightly buggy implementation) software. Can’t do that with open specifications.
When XavDub contacted the German car maker, the company responded that GrapheneOS “is not an official Volkswagen offering” and advised them to contact their OS provider instead.
This is the only official word from Volkswagen in the whole article. To me, this reads less as “We are blocking GrapheneOS users” and instead “GrapheneOS is not something we give any official support” which I think is a key distinction.
It’s not clear what’s different in the update that doesn’t work with GrapheneOS, whether it’s an API call that doesn’t work or if they’ve implemented the Play Integrity API - but I think this article is a bit sensationalist and everyone’s reacted only to the headline.
Cars didn’t need apps in the 1900’s and they sure as hell don’t need them now.
You don’t need a computer to make a car. But you might need most of one to meet fuel economy and safety standards.
But they force me to pay for parts I can’t use without doing things I won’t and agreeing to things I don’t.
Hopefully this doesn’t affect me
Hell yeah, brother
It does, unfortunately, affect you. Your van does not support GrapheneOS.
It’s glorious!
Nice!
I love it!
That’s a wonderful creature.
Awesome!
Ty ,for info , next car will be no VW.
Change it from they block GOS to they spy on you. Get it in front of as many people as possible. If they get huge negative press they’re more likely to change.
They literally murdered millions and were in the press about it. I think they don’t care about headlines anymore.
This is highly misleading. Hopefully there’s a link in the article to the original report on the GrapheneOS forums, where they talk about the app update breaking it on multiple platforms, not just GrapheneOS. It does not appear to be a block.
All in all, it’s just another brick in the VibeCoded Wall…
It’s probably just using googles play integrity, that tends to break apps in pretty much in everything that isn’t stock manufacturer android.
It is
Class action for unilaterally modifying the agreement about feature access after the fact and to the detriment of the consumer.
There’s about 1000 companies to sue for this already
OK…?
Why does a car need an android app?
So you can buy a subscription for the soft locked features like remote start. And so they get you to agree to a location tracking EULA. Got a VW this year and the dealership pushed the app really hard, apparently they have to pay VW a fee if they don’t hit a quota for sign ups.
Why does car need to be an android app?
It doesn’t need it, it will drive just fine without app connection, but it provides convenient remote access and control capabilities.
I’d prefer a car that’s entirely analog. What a crazy dream.
My first car was a 1992 honda civic. As time went on and cars cot more modern, i yearned for a more modern car. Infotainment seemed like so much fun, all thr convenient knick knacks and gizmos.
Now, unironocally my dream car is my 1992 honda civic from back in the day
90s Civic or Miata has been my dream forever, I’m with ya.
Two pieces of modern tech, though: security and sound.
90s Civics were notoriously easy to steal, so I’d definitely want something to prevent that.
When I was younger, I’d always dreamed of having a nice sound system in my car, but could never afford to do it. Now that I have a car with a super nice sound system and a sub, I can never go back. No “infotainment” BS tho, just gimme a standard deck. USB support is nice, but an aux jack is all I really need.
I have a suzuki samurai that was intended to just be a project car.
But now, I think the highest technology item it has is whatever transistor is firing the spark plugs. Its tempting to just daily it.
I remember seeing guys in samurais off roading down ATV trails and I was always a little jealous.
I’d love to get one to wrench on, but I don’t need another project.
In my civic i installed a “killswitch”, which was just a hidden switch to turn on the fuel pump. Not really sure how much that would prevent theft in the real world, but i think it was hard enough to find that someone trying to steal the car would rather give up than spending more time on this car. I had a pretty good sound system, which i wouldn’t need anymore. Infotainment is super overrated, my dream setup now is just something that mirrors my phone
I had a similar switch on an old truck, and it did prevent it from being stolen once. It appeared to have started and moved far enough to get out of its parking space and was left in the lot with the door open.
So it will work if your vehicle is such a sad decripit POS that it just appears to be broken when they try to start it.
We had an old manual Ford Escort that we had drilled the ignition out of and put a switch in instead. No one figured it out without us telling them (friends family borrowing). Ours wasn’t even really hidden, just unexpected… thieves rarely want to spend extra time and effort on unexpecteds.
I switched to a 1989 VW Golf a couple weeks back. No regrets
I’m a convert for the fob systems. Despite having grown up a locksmith, I still lock my keys in my car more than I’m proud to admit. But ever since I got a newish Avalon, it hasn’t let me do it once. Plus I got tactile buttons for most all control. Ac is still touch screen type buttons, but everything else I get a reassuring click.
Well there’s always buying an old beater or a classic and restoring it. But you’d have to go more than 40 years back to find cars that are entirely without digital components.
That would not even be legal on today’s roads, at least in EU for new vehicles.
It’s the one modern feature I wouldn’t want to give up. Cooling my car down before I get in it without having to walk out to it is very nice.
Infotaiment system. It integrates your audio library, your maps, contacts and other apps seamlessly. You get current traffic info, automatic updates and huge app library (for example CoMaps and many apps for public chargers). Integrated infotamiment system were left far behind years ago.
You get all that through android auto. The manufacturer app is for when you’re not in the car.
Oh, I thought we’re talking about android auto. If this is the specific car app it’s a different story, yes.
Just another shitty company.
Holy crap I miss old times 2013 when nobody was even bothering and all bootloaders was unlocked by default no play integrity just do what u wanna do with ur own device
Well, a lot of apps didn’t work very well back then either. As in this case.
i want a car with zero touchscreen. Heck, even no reverse camera - older folks have been driving just fine for years with just the side and rear mirrors. 3 pedals.
and no airbag, my granddad crashed 6 times and never needed one
It helps if you’re drunk, keeps you from tensing up during the crash.
Sounds like the upcoming Slate. But it’s more of a pick-up platfom. I hope they keep going and extend their product line.
At least it’s supposed to be a smaller truck, about the size of an SUV, if I remember right.
Time to de-Volkswagen, then.
It’s time to un-pimp ze auto?! Oh, snap!
But why?
The title makes it sound intentional. The reality is because they added a security feature that verifies the integrity of the OS. Only to make it work on other OS they have to manually add it, but the number of users is so small that they don’t even think about it. This was Google’s intention when adding it.
Their intent was to block third party app, not GOS specifically. GOS not working is a side effect.
Why blocking third party? As said below: to force the use of privacy invasive apps, and collect more data.
Now they will change course only if they suffer from a sufficient backlash. And that needs to be painful enough to deter other car makers from doing the same.
Because fuck GrapheneOS users, apparently 🤷♂️
Is there really a ton of overlap between people privacy-conscious enough to install graphene on their phone and people who care so little that their car has an app?
Basically all new cars have an app, you don’t have a choice if you’re buying new
My 2012 Toyota has an ‘app’ that I maybe tried once over ten years ago but haven’t used since. This is nothing new. It is called “Toyota Entune”
Well, I have Corolla and I use the app mainly in winter to start the car and unfreeze front and rear windows. It’s quite convenient
Decisions that nobody understands. What do they have to gain with this?
I dunno if this is a rhetorical game we play with ourselves in our heads but whether it’s or it isn’t, we know exactly why they are doing it and we have for many years.
Your car has an active cellular connection whether you pay to rent time on it or not and it transmits your location, an ID number, usage habits including driving controls, music preferences, and possibly keywords spoken while in or near the vehicle, to the manufacturer. They relay that data to the government who uses it to learn who you associate with and when and where, and they sell it to your insurance company who monitors you for risky behavior, and they also sell it to advertisers who also profile you to device what the best things to try and sell you will be.
