Google's Competition with Apple: Battle for Automotive Operating Systems

Yesterday, Android Auto, the long-awaited Google car operating system that has been smashed by CarPlay, Apple's on-board system, officially landed in Japan. This globally important automobile manufacturing country has brought important strategic significance to Google's in-vehicle system.

Android Auto

Google held a press conference in Tokyo yesterday to announce the details of Android Auto's visit to Japan. The system will support models including the Audi Q7 and A4, the 2016 Honda Accord, and unknown models such as Maserati and Volkswagen. Nissan and Panasonic's navigation unit will also work on Android. Auto said well, but the Japanese auto giants Toyota and Mazda are not included in the cooperation list. Industry figures believe that Apple’s CarPlay, the Google rival, first landed in Japan, which has hindered the development of Android Auto in Japan.

In early 2007, Steve Jobs released the first iPhone with the iOS system on the stage of the Apple Global Software Developers Annual Conference, which triggered a revolution in smart phones. As Apple's most powerful competitor, Google released Android at the end of the same year, and it has grown and expanded in the following years. It has since taken over and surpassed Apple’s bundled iOS with its open source advantage.

After years of development, the smart phone industry has entered a bottleneck period. Both companies have begun to look for new growth points in the field of smart hardware. They are invariably targeting the automotive sector. This time, Apple is the first in the software industry.

In the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Apple Worldwide Software Developers Annual Conference (WWDC) on June 10th, 2013, the Apple Car operating system CarPlay was made public for the first time, but at the time of the WWDC, Apple applied this application to the car. The iOS feature is called "iOS in the Car" and was not officially changed to CarPlay until March of 14th. Google’s Android Auto is a full year behind Apple. Google released its preview version of the Google I/O opening ceremony on June 26, 2014.

CarPlay

Compared to Apple's sensation when it launched the CarPlay, Google launched Android Auto and it did not make people feel very surprised, because Google has always maintained a "enemy move" strategy against Apple's strategy, the two mobile platform competition has been from Mobile phones, tablets, and even smart homes extend to on-board solutions, and Apple is leading the way in this journey. Judging from the competition in the previous field, although Google is mostly a latecomer, there has been no more investigation than Apple, and even some aspects are even better than those of Apple.

The two giants seem to have inherited the historical tradition of previous smartphone competition. Android Auto vs. iOS CarPlay is highly similar to both features and interfaces. For example, both solutions are "Invariably" adopts a design that does not rely on separate hardware. Instead, it requires the support of a smart phone. It only designs interfaces on the car to reduce costs. In operation, it is necessary to map the mobile phone system to the car touch screen by connecting to the car. , in order to achieve the operation of various functions and so on. However, this is not surprising, because from the beginning of the competition in the mobile era, the two major systems began to learn from each other.

As mentioned above, no matter if it is research and development, publication or promotion, Apple will always lead Google by half a step. This time doing car solutions is no exception.

As early as 2013 WWDC, Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, announced that some automakers will begin to participate in the implementation of CarPlay's functions since 2014, and that BMW, Ferrari, Ford, GM and other world famous Manufacturers have a keen interest in their CarPlay project. In addition to these European and American manufacturers, Honda, Hyundai, and other Asian automakers, such as Toyota, which is not a big fan of Android Auto, also expressed their desire to introduce CarPlay into their cars.

In contrast, Android Auto, although it started a bit later than Apple, it has a rapid development rate. It does not have to be Apple at all. Since its debut in 2014, it has landed in more than 30 countries, and now it has launched an important market in Japan. Can be described as even more powerful. But compared to CarPlay, Android Auto has lost a very important market - China.

Google announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market in 2010, which led to the majority of Google services in China has become a "furniture", mobile phone Android system due to its open source, so able to get around in the country, but most are mobile phone manufacturers based on Android In-depth modifications and customized systems are not available in Google services in native systems. The vehicle-mounted solution in this respect is not as free as the mobile phone system. As a result, Android Auto has not been able to access the Chinese market so far, and Apple’s CarPlay has been flying in the Chinese market for quite some time. If Android Auto is to be opened in the future, In China, trying to catch up is not so easy.

The two systems, whether mobile phones or car phones, are inseparable from the support of third-party applications, but the strategies of the two companies are not the same. Apple still continues its stringent personality. Although CarPlay supports third-party applications, it needs to face Strict authentication mechanisms (approved by the Apple Store, etc.) to ensure good quality, but the drawbacks are undoubtedly leading to slow application development and auditing.

Google, on the other hand, announced a number of good and bad third-party applications at the outset, and the Android Auto SDK is completely open. It encourages software vendors to join, and the development environment is relatively free. It can discuss the interface effect with car manufacturers, and Google will not conduct any Intervention, everything is the same as the mobile phone Android system. Of course, whether application quality and design language are unified may be a hidden danger.

YunOS Smart Rearview Mirror

Car solutions are another brand new area that has been thriving after smart phones. In this area, neither Google nor Apple have fully stood firm, let alone fully occupy the market. At present, startup companies in this field are also emerging. Foreign countries, for the time being, do not say that domestically, Ali's operating system, YunOS, is quietly eroding the market for automotive solutions. At present, it has seen countless entrepreneurs choose to use YunOS as a development system. Among these reasons, there is no lack of iOS too closed, Android is castrated in the country. Therefore, the two giants want to occupy the market of car-mounted solutions in the smart phone era. They have a long way to go.