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Comment by greesil | Hacker News Reader

I really enjoyed having Android Auto in my Chevy Bolt. It's just letting my phone display stuff on my screen, but not running Android. I could run Maps, play spotify as a I drive, and if I had root on my phone I could also play youtube videos for my kids :)

I have to wonder, is having Android in my car going to lead to a situation where I'm stuck with some old, insecure version of Android, just like my shitty Verizon phone which they never bothered to upgrade from Oreo? Because if that's the case, no thank you.

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>is having Android in my car going to lead to a situation where I'm stuck with some old, insecure version of Android

Of course it is. This plagues every single device that runs Android. And Ford already has an awful track record of inflicting infotainment software horrors on their customers.

> This plagues every single device that runs Android

huh? My Samsung S20 is on the latest OS and security patches

So is mine. The point here is that it won't be 1-2 years from now when it gets abandoned just like every other Android device.

Considering that the lifecycle of the average Ford is many years longer than that of any mobile device, this is clearly going to be problematic.

No it won't. Samsung has 3 upgrades policy now. With security updates it is 4 years or more.

Isn't the Galaxy S20 basically a brand-new phone? It hasn't even been out for a year yet.

My current car is 3 years old and us the newest on the street. There are dozens of phones and Android devices the same age that haven't received updates.

I'm going to own my truck for 25-30 years. Android devices are abandoned after 2.5-3 years.

The average car on the road is 6-7 years old and won't be junked until about year 15. Show me how well Android devices that old are supported.

> My Samsung S20 is on the latest OS and security patches

The latest available from Samsung. It takes 60 days for updates to get down the pipe to OEMs.

This isn't nearly as much of an issue as it used to be. People complain about google grabbing more control over android by cutting manufacturers off from play services, but they needed to get their asses kicked in a lot of cases.

Cars already do this. Most Hondas made around 2016+ are running Android 4.x. Most Hyundais/Kias from 2015+ are running running Android 2.3 or 4.x (including my 2015 Genesis sedan). Meanwhile, most other vehicles are running proprietary embedded OSes (QNX, Windows Embedded) or very old versions of Linux.

So Android Automotive OS is an improvement over this, since Google will be updating the system (or mandating some updates) and system apps will be receiving updates decoupled from the OS. Cars are already insecure and connected.

Currently there's one company that uses Android Automotive (Volvo/Polestar) and in that case Google is pushing updates directly - similarly like ChromeOS works.

Still, I guess the update contract will run out eventually, just like on every single other car. The details about how long it'll take for that to happen aren't public though.

Afaik, the images are signed by Volvo and pushed by Volvo.

Ah, I misread the articles then, thanks for correction.

Of course the alternative is that you get the same shitty version of the Ford infotainment software that is never updated from the day you buy your car. So there at least things are actually improving in that respect.

But really the model of just running everything from your phone is probably the best approach.

My 2016 focus did get some updates, but on the other hand it wasn't connected to the internet so in terms of risk it wasn't nearly as much of an issue

Doubt it...Tesla has made OTA updates a new baseline/table-stakes for the industry, I would expect everyone to follow suit eventually.

Have to wonder if this "partnership" will also result in Waymo tech ending up in Ford vehicles...

Tesla owns the entire car and bears full responsibility for virtually everything in it, including the software that steers clear of reliance upon Google and Apple technologies.

My opinion: The split responsibility of Google and Ford on the entertainment system will inevitably result in the same early obselesence of the software as compared to the car hardware. We have seen this in much Android phone hardware (a year or two of updates, usually not including a major version), and I see it in my Android TVs (Sony). Even Apple, which IMO has a track record of longer support, has done it with Apple TV recently, and Sonos threatened it with perfectly fine working old hardware until outrage forced them to change plans.

All in all, I prefer less integrated things with clear responsibilities that work together under well established protocols. I want a dumb TV with good HDMI and other specs, to which I can connect whatever display device I want (or many). I want my car to be perpetually supported (unlikely beyond Tesla) or a simple display (Android Auto or Car Play or whatever) so I can upgrade the thing doing the display whenever I choose.

Of course, if Ford committed to having a computer module that could be upgraded occasionally for the price of a mid-range phone, and commit to supporting it for 25+ years, that would be okay too. My Acura is in its 12th year and because it is so "dumb" I haven't felt any urge to upgrade it. My (2020) Tesla gets updates probably monthly via WiFi. It changes too much IMO; I want stability from my cars and devices, but honestly the changes are almost all improvements in my (software engineer) opinion.

> Even Apple, which IMO has a track record of longer support, has done it with Apple TV recently...

This caught my eye because I'm not sure what you mean here -- AFAIK, the current "tvOS" release runs on all Apple TVs released from late 2015 on, and they kept updating the 3rd generation model that came out in early 2012 up to 2019. This still seems to be a pretty good track record, all things considered. (There's a pretty huge CPU jump between the 3rd generation and 4th generation, including a move from 32-bit to 64-bit.)

Unrelatedly, though,

> I want a dumb TV with good HDMI and other specs, to which I can connect whatever display device I want (or many).

I would have loved to have found one of those that also met the 4K HDR requirement I'd set to upgrade from my blissfully dumb plasma set. I'm not unhappy with my my LG OLED by any stretch, but it would be really damn nice if there was a "turn all of WebOS off and just be a TV set" feature.

Other manufacturers have OTA updates. My Ford pickup does, my Chevy Bolt does. What Tesla brought to the table was the idea that it is acceptable to update the software on the car every week. The incumbent manufacturers default stance is much more conservative.

I own a Tesla so I'm curious, what kind of updates do you get? Are they mostly bug-fixes and performance improvements or does Chevy also send new features and doodads? I'm curious because I took a look inside someone's bolt at a charging station and the interior looked very nice. I was hoping I could get some feedback on it!

And at 55kW charging rate, the Bolt charging experience won't be like what you're used to with the Tesla (170kW on the SR+). It is a nice car, but they are close in price once you add some must-have options on to the Bolt (DC fast charging!) so really the only reasonable way to get a Bolt is with some unusually large discounts.

I would say it’s almost a certainty that will happen

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