this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
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Meanwhile in my Volvo
Although it’s been this for a long while now
I know, I intentionally bought a 2017 so I would have physical buttons 😂
Thing is, I really wanted CarPlay / Android Auto support. Having had that with a 3rd party Alpine deck, I really got used to it. It’s hard to go back.
But, having some of those controls behind several menus and screens is really annoying. Oh well, at least it’s not a Telsa and I can turn the air vents manually.
I usually just prop my cellphone in front of the car's screen if I don't want to bother setting the car's NAV and I only play two radio stations when I drive so it doesn't bother me, but I understand what you're saying (although my experience with Android auto wasn't great).
Honestly I just wished the NAV could sync with my phone via Bluetooth even if it used Volvo's map, that's all I would need for it to be perfect.
I’m mostly in CarPlay land. Personally, I like that the car UIs are much more glanceable, have bigger touch targets that are easier to hit on a bumpy road, and default to voice control UIs for a lot of stuff. All in all, it feels safer to me and helps me keep my eyes on the road.
But once you get outside of controlling CP and AA for audio, messaging, and mapping apps, and you start talking about controlling the vehicle, I want physical buttons for common stuff.
My Volvo has some annoying collision detection sensors that I have to toggle off on certain roads, and going through menus to get to that is stupid.
At least they have physical buttons below the screen for media, hazards and heated windscreens & seats, plus all the steering wheel controls.
For now. The new Volvos are getting what they developed for Polestar. Android Automotive for the head unit platform, which is dope, but even fewer physical buttons on the dash. 😬
https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/08/the-volvo-ex30s-interior-is-the-ikea-take-on-teslas-playbook/amp/
My guess is that this will change though. I don’t even see hazards on the dash. I don’t think that’s even legal in a lot of places.
Edit: also, the current generation setup on Volvos has physical controls for audio, hazards, window defrost, lights, cruise, voice control, seat position, drive mode, and vent orientation. Seat temperature is on the screen next to climate controls.
Unfortunately that’s absolutely hideous.
Functional vs pretty... When it comes to something that affects safety I'll take functional.
That’s totally fair and everyone has different preferences. But I really don’t think it needs to be a trade off at all. My ‘13 Focus has buttons for everything important in addition to the touch screen controls and they made it look nice too.
If I’m gonna spend XC60 money, I want the styling to be something I enjoy as much as I enjoy the rest of the car. This console might actually be a deal breaker for me if I were shopping.
What year model?
2017 xc60 in my case, it's not exactly like that (I've got a couple of blanks this one doesn't have) but they still had it up to 2018 in the S60 and V60.