My rant in 3....2.....1

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Or else I am going with VW Golf (or maybe even the Chevy Spark). I have been an avid Honda fan since my 1987 CRX but my current car is the 2008 Honda Fit. Unfortunately I missed the standard Bluetooth by one year and the patchwork solution that I have isn't great (FM Tuner). So for the past 7 or 8 years, I have suffered.

I will not miss Android Auto (or Carplay) by one year as I expect to have my next car for at least 10 years (I am commuting a lot less and taking less road trips).

I could replace the head unit with a Pioneer but OEM head units always worked the best IMO. Plus you will start to see diagnostics baked into Android Auto, which I suspect will be only good with OEM units (I could be wrong). As a consumer, we shouldn't have to update our "new" cars with current technology. Especially when cheaper cars are offering that technology and it would probably cost about 5% of the current cost of the car (including labor).

I almost bought a 2015 Fit but decided to hold off until Honda put something in writing, which I am glad I did. Now with nothing in writing for the 2016 models, I sincerely doubt Honda will update the current Fit with Android Auto (or Carplay). With VW and Chevy pretty much announcing their support for both Android Auto and Carplay for almost every one of their cars, it clearly puts Honda's 1 model (Accord) to shame. I could hope that the 2016 Fit would get Android Auto but given your history, you don't care about your consumer once the sale is made.

Honda, you announced your commitment to AA about a 1 year 3 months ago (Google I/O 2014). You have had plenty of time to get your act together. Honda used to be innovative company, now they are reactive, at best.

You will not only lose out on a new car sale but also the repairs my car would need throughout the 10 years I have it (I use my local Honda dealership.....Piazza). As a person in the tech field (web developer), people come to me for advice on car technology. I actively tell them which manufacturers to consider and which to avoid (the latter is unfortunately Honda).

The year is 2015 and you are selling 2016 models. Nowhere on your Fit site does it even say you support Android. Does that not seem like a problem?

- A 30-year consumer of Honda Products

</rant>

Edit: New Golfs are coming out in September (sorry I forgot about context):

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/07...s-within-days/

 

Any lawyers here? Is there a case for pursuing a class action against Honda for their reneged promise of CarPlay support for the 2015 Fit (and other Honda models)?

This *one feature alone* was a highly weighted factor in my choice of the Fit.

es

 

LOL! Enjoy your Golf. It's a good car. Good luck

 

What is so far fetched about having a car for 10 years? I am now commuting less (3 out of 5 days instead of 5 out of 5), I go on less road trips and I get more vacation time (even less time traveling). Here is the kicker, Google will update my "infotainment" as I get a new phone every couple of years......2015 and 2016 Fits infotainment are already outdated

 

I never remember them saying that they would have Carplay support but I am Android man (although they certainly could have). They did initially say they would support Android on their 2015 but removed that from their site.

 

As mentioned, enjoy your Golf.

 

Enjoy your Honda Fit Nav:



I will enjoy my nav:



I bet you I get to my destination first

 

I don't care one bit about Android, but I do agree that Honda has been behind the eight ball for a long time. Well made cars, but lagging in most areas. No sporty car, their hybrids, (not that I would ever own one), are second rate, and other than the Civic Coupe, styling is at best, boring

 

You, of all people, will know that the first version of any software, be in MS or Google, will have significant growing pains. Let's face it: software just does not come out of the oven fully baked. You need a bunch of iterations for it to taste good.

We're just not there for AA yet, not for VW, Chevy, or even for Pioneer. The reviews for the Pioneer Head Unit for AA are mixed at best, and buggy at worst. These things take time. Honda will use the 2016 Accord and Pilot to work out their AA bugs. Even if you buy your Golf, I'm sure you will find many "special features" with Android Auto that are undocumented and not fixable. Before you jump, research AA support and open issues for VW, Chevy, and Pioneer. When there is an API for Android Auto that I can play with, then I'll be convinced to move. it would be cool to write an app so you can customize the head unit's display, and tweak it as you please.

You (and I) are 2-3 years ahead of the curve, unfortunately, and there's nothing we can do about it. Life will continue. I'm not even sure how often not to mention how Honda will update their software. Going into a dealership for a software upgrade is so backward for 2015. Our timing is a bit off. Enjoy your Golf, and hopefully they are able to update AA on a regular basis, by the user.

How about you keep your 2008 Fit for another year, maybe upgrade the head unit to a Pioneer with AA (warts and all), and wait for the 2017 Fit? Then you'll be able to chuckle with the rest of us as the AA problems surface in the 2016 Accord? You know there will be lots of teething issues, that is for sure.

 

And for how many of those years will Android actually support the car's interface? After two or three or four years Android will come out with something that makes the car's hardware obsolete and we know that there is no way that Honda will upgrade the hardware.

How about something much simpler, a simple dedicated phone niche in the dash that supports wireless charging and bluetooth audio? I already have that built into the CD storage door of my xB and it works great. Flip the door open, set the phone in the holder, and off I go with Google Maps, Waze, or whatever I want.

 

I agree, they do make great cars but their other aspects are just downright pathetic. I work for a company and our motto is "do what we do best and outsource the rest". Honda should take note.

 

My car is at 170k. I wanted to buy a 2015 but because of the lack of AA, I decided to wait. Little did I know Honda would not even update their 2016 models. My commute is 104 miles round trip, while I think it might be okay for another year but I am not willing to take that chance. My commute takes me on one of the most dangerous roads in the USA.....I95 through Philly.....the last thing I want to ever do is have problems through that stretch. Unfortunately it is time.

 

It is your phone that does the updates not the head unit. The touchscreen is kind of like a monitor.....a quick handshake with your phone and you are golden. Basically your phone might have to be updated but you do that anyway.

 

I have a Note 4. And while I do get the phone displaying on the monitor, I do not get the other features the iPhone does.

 

Not gonna lie, i wish i paid a few thousand more and got a GTI.

 

Dude's got a point. A friend donated a Nexus One to me a couple of years ago, from the ancient time of 2010, under API Froyo. Even though it is only 5 years old, apps are difficult to find.

Google is known for its penchant to dump older technology after a couple of years and move to something else. This way they need not support legacy either philosophically or physically. While we can begrudgingly buy new phones, we are in uncharted waters in AA. There is no precident that says that AA will be supported for any length of time in the future. There are many examples of Google trying something and then dumping it after a few years. Who knows how long or in what format AA will be in the future of less than 5 years, don't even think about 10 years. Avg American keeps his/her car for 11.3 years.

 

To this point, Google just broke YouTube functionality in a bunch of TVs, disc players, and similar that were as young as two years old by eliminating an "obsolete" YouTube interface. GoogleTV also comes to mind. And on and on. If you think Google cares about owners of the installed base, you haven't been paying attention.

Breaking an ancillary function in a $89 BluRay player is bad enough. But giving the car makers a free pass to put in crap base functionality "because we can use Android Auto" (or CarPlay, same problem) is going to seem like it was a really bad trade in three or four years when new phones no longer support that "legacy" interface and we have to revert to the crap base functionality from the auto maker or keep our old phones as long as the car.

I'm a Android fan for sure. But merging cars and state-of-the-art mobile device software just seems like a bad marriage. The development and ownership life cycles are just too many orders of magnitude apart.

But, hey, I hear a Golf calling your name!

 

Even if they don't update AA, then you still have the current system. Unless of course you think Google will abandon Google Maps? They cannot erase it from your phone (well I guess they technically can but then there would be lawsuits).

 

Users buy new phones every 1-3 years so unless you plan to keep your phone for a REALLY long time, I am pretty sure this a moot point. Remember it is the phone that carries the program and not the stereo.

Given that the amount of connected cars is going be exponentially growing, I doubt that Google (or Apple) will remove support from it.

Edit: And if one company (Google) stops supporting it (and that is a really really really really big if), then I switch to Apple. Also it has MirrorLink so I could use a Windows phone. VW went all out on this one.

 

Uh ok...good for you that you beat me to where ever it is we are both going...But what if you are driving to a farther destination than me? Will you still beat me because of your fancy gps device? Does that device somehow make you defy the laws of physics?

and just so you know....I don't use navigation. I actually know where I am going. I carry an atlas in the car when I don't. Maps rule! YMMV.

PS.Why is this turning into a pissing contest? Sincerely....Enjoy your Golf.