Porsche Explains Why They Chose CarPlay Over Android Auto

Jonny Lieberman from Motor Trend Magazine attended a seminar with Porsche executives in Frankfurt, Germany, on 9 September to find out more about the new 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera S cars, and he claims he was told “off the record” by sources from Porsche that the firm was concerned Google wanted too much sensitive data to be sent back to its servers about the cars.

Well, if we are to believe a report coming from Motor Trend, it’s because Android Auto seeks to collect data that the carmaker sees as confidential.

In contrast, the report notes that Apple’s CarPlay demands no such information and only needs to know whether or not the car is in motion. Moreover, giving such data to a multi-billion dollar corporation that’s actively building a vehicle, well, that ain’t good, either.

“Basically Google wants a complete OBD2 [on-board diagnostic] dump whenever someone activates Android Auto”. Porsche did not want to give away their secret that makes their high-end automobiles so special and especially to a company that could be a potential rival.

Google denies the fact that Android Auto aims to collect specific data such as throttle position or engine revs. At this point, it’s unclear if every Android Auto agreement requires that car manufacturers send back a full trove of data, but it’s certainly an issue to keep in mind for the more privacy-oriented folks out there.

However, with GM and Ford having widely adopted both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay systems in their vehicles, the two automakers said in their statements to TechCrunch that Android Auto, and also CarPlay, have access only to simple vehicle information – like the time of day and whether the car is parked or in drive – and to GPS data.

The car may, for instance, share GPS location information with a user’s phone because it’s more accurate and saves the phone’s battery.