[mcsa]

What do you guys think about current trend in car design, specifically screens and removing buttons.

Touchscreens are big, as more and more car manufacturers (Tesla, Audi, Porsche to name a few) are ditching buttons for a more cleaner, slicker design. Hence screens everywhere. Personally, coming from tech background, I understand very well that iPad, iPhone and everything that followed, changed how we interact with technology forever. And for better. My daughter was comfortable using iPad before she was able to speak. But back to the cars.

Touchscreens are replacing control buttons in cars and I think that is bad for drivers and huge safety problem.

Found this article "What went wrong with the interaction of modern cars?":
https://uxdesign.cc/what-went-wrong-...s-3789a2134158

It analyzes in detail evolution of interior design of VW Golf, but also mentions many other brands including BMW and its iDrive.

One thing is astonishing, and I quote: "on which car it is easier to turn off the A/C? On the new e-tron or on the Golf Mk4? You can do it on the Golf Mk4 with your eyes closed! That brings me to this question: which interaction method is safer?"

I like how BMW is thinking. Yes, we are getting digital clusters, big touchscreens in the middle and maybe some smaller ones for HVAC. But let's keep crucial control buttons for the driver, iDrive knob and add some options like gesture and voice.

At least until we have full self-driving...

What do you think?

[W0ut]

Me like buttons but we can probably do with a few less.

I only wish they hadn't put the 'start/stop' right above the 'sport' button.

two times already.....

[zhangyi17]

I like my car to read my mind

In all seriousness, I think a mixture of physical switch/dial/button and digital touch screen is the way to go. Digging down sub menu is dangerous when driving.

On a closely related subject, gesture control is gimmicky and personally I find weird talking to something not somwone (I don't have Google assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri)..

[Sirksael]

I wish they would have left the switch to select warmer/colder air between the front upper air vents there instead of burying it in the settings... I use that one all the time!

[Marty in NY]

Touch screens are ok provided the screen you are touching is stationary and you are too. Trying to touch a specific area on a screen while bouncing around in a car and trying to stay focused on your surroundings is not good.

[W0ut]

Originally Posted by Sirksael

I wish they would have left the switch to select warmer/colder air between the front upper air vents there instead of burying it in the settings... I use that one all the time!

So true, first time in the car I was trying to set the temperature by scrolling on the silver dials for opening/closing the vents.

It doesn't help either that they are positioned right next to the temperature display.

[VTENGR]

I think BMW did it perfectly with the right mix of buttons and touch interface. All touch is too difficult to manage while driving - some could say it's dangerous.

I remember watching a review video, I think it was for Land Rover, where they had buttons with LCDs and depending on which menu you were in the button icon would change. I thought this was genius.

[randybobandy]

I LOVE the mix of touchscreen and Buttons. The iDrive wheel is one of my favorite features. I find myself rarely using the touchscreen, but definitely a nice addition.

[Paladin1]

A touchscreen is great as an ALTERNATIVE control. As an EXCLUSIVE control in a two-ton hunk of moving steel with multiple other distractions, it's a recipe for disaster - absent a lot more dependable autonomous features than we currently see. You only need to see it demonstrated once in a YouTube of someone walking into a fountain in a mall, focused on their iPhone.

[MystroX5]

BMW has the perfect combination.

[ChiTownM]

Originally Posted by MystroX5

BMW has the perfect combination.

Yes, I agree, let me decide how to interact with the vehicle.

I would like faster and more inclusive voice control, with the car learning my propensity to interact with the vehicle.....

[FishJ]

Touchscreens are the main reason I didn't even test drive the Audi lineup.

I think having to take your eyes off the road to play with touch screens as a really bad idea. I think they are great secondary controls. I love the dial in the BMW.

[randybobandy]

Also, can we point out that they have the screen positioned perfectly? It's the most ideal position to catch a quick glance while not taking your eyes off the road. Most manufacturers put them too low and have touchscreen only. It's an accident waiting to happen. I never really appreciated this until BMW showed me the way!

[mcsa]

CBS on distracted driving:

[MGDisco]

Rotary controller is best way to interact with the multitude of options presented nowadays. Totally agree that touchscreens are a disaster in a car, unless you have an area to rest your wrist to stabilise it (as we did in our Land Rover Discovery (aka LR4) - but was still awkward to use.

I find CarPlay awkward with the rotary controller - want to move to sidebar , you have to spin it to go over all options on screen - tilting wheel would have been good but doing this sends you off to another music track, or another menu option that you don't want. That is where the touch screen works better.

iDrive nav entry is better with spoken request - works OK for the majority of the time getting destination spot on. Then rotary control for the fine tuning of sceen selection if needed (or even better, send to car from the app before setting off - that is really good!)

All in all, this is a good set of options to use - so much so, my next car coming along in March is the F40 1 series, as the 2 of us will have no issues in swapping vehicle as and just using the system seamlessly between vehicles.

[mcsa]

Not many Tesla takers here

[randybobandy]

Originally Posted by MGDisco

Rotary controller is best way to interact with the multitude of options presented nowadays. Totally agree that touchscreens are a disaster in a car, unless you have an area to rest your wrist to stabilise it (as we did in our Land Rover Discovery (aka LR4) - but was still awkward to use.

I find CarPlay awkward with the rotary controller - want to move to sidebar , you have to spin it to go over all options on screen - tilting wheel would have been good but doing this sends you off to another music track, or another menu option that you don't want. That is where the touch screen works better.

iDrive nav entry is better with spoken request - works OK for the majority of the time getting destination spot on. Then rotary control for the fine tuning of sceen selection if needed (or even better, send to car from the app before setting off - that is really good!)

All in all, this is a good set of options to use - so much so, my next car coming along in March is the F40 1 series, as the 2 of us will have no issues in swapping vehicle as and just using the system seamlessly between vehicles.

This is either an iDrive 7 thing or iOS13. On my previous F80 with iDrive 6 and CarPlay, tapping to the left to get to the other apps didn't take the track back. There's a way to do it with the current set up, but I think you have to be above the actual media control options. It drives me crazy, especially when I am at the best part of a song, but won't complain when I get to replay and blame it on the software.

[MGDisco]

Yeah, I thinks it's IOS13 - with the updated CarPlay that came with that, it displays differently from before, as there is the 2 options in the bottom right - the wide layout or the 'button' layout. Note, the sidebar is now on the right rather than on the left? - this might just be for RHD cars such as it is in the UK... as the side bar was a stretch before in my other car that had CarPlay accessible with a touchscreen only (prior to getting the BMW), where the sidebar was always on the left, as per pic grab from the web:

OLD


NEW


I never drilled into any settings for CarPlay mind you to see if you could change it on pre-IOS13 version. The settings on the iPhone now let you customise the list of apps that you can show on the home screen, but that seems to be all you can do. Suggestions on the web point to the settings of CarPlay in the vehicle system, but I don't see that anywhere on either cars system settings pages? (only option for RHD to LHD is for the headlights - would be weird to have CarPlay change with that, as the driver's seat position isn't changing, only that I'd be using the car in another European country on the other side of the road !

I think CarPlay is optimised for touch - makes sense since that is the interface for Apple on its iPhones & iPads, but that doesn't mean it's the best way to use as system in a car IMO. But is just not good with the iDrive rotary controller the way it seems to work.

I'd rather not touch the screen at all so don't really use CarPlay that often - iDrive is not exactly the poor choice in this regard though, is it?

[chrisny]

Originally Posted by MystroX5

BMW has the perfect combination.

+1. Had a Volvo XC90 and while I grew to like the touch screen, it was distracting at times. Not as bad as I initially expected, but I like the iDrive and balance with the touch screen and personal assistant much better. I've always liked the iDrive going back to my 2007 X5 and the addition of the touch screen and assistant just make it that much better.

[The Libertine]

Analog and buttons gets my vote.

[mcsa]

I wonder if these results ( ~90% iDrive) are good representation of future of motoring or we just really love our bimmers 🥰😁😇

[randybobandy]

Originally Posted by MGDisco

Yeah, I thinks it's IOS13 - with the updated CarPlay that came with that, it displays differently from before, as there is the 2 options in the bottom right - the wide layout or the 'button' layout. Note, the sidebar is now on the right rather than on the left? - this might just be for RHD cars such as it is in the UK... as the side bar was a stretch before in my other car that had CarPlay accessible with a touchscreen only (prior to getting the BMW), where the sidebar was always on the left, as per pic grab from the web:

OLD
Attachment 2229664

NEW
Attachment 2229670

I never drilled into any settings for CarPlay mind you to see if you could change it on pre-IOS13 version. The settings on the iPhone now let you customise the list of apps that you can show on the home screen, but that seems to be all you can do. Suggestions on the web point to the settings of CarPlay in the vehicle system, but I don't see that anywhere on either cars system settings pages? (only option for RHD to LHD is for the headlights - would be weird to have CarPlay change with that, as the driver's seat position isn't changing, only that I'd be using the car in another European country on the other side of the road !

I think CarPlay is optimised for touch - makes sense since that is the interface for Apple on its iPhones & iPads, but that doesn't mean it's the best way to use as system in a car IMO. But is just not good with the iDrive rotary controller the way it seems to work.

I'd rather not touch the screen at all so don't really use CarPlay that often - iDrive is not exactly the poor choice in this regard though, is it?

They need to figure out the scroll wheel and be more particular (Apple). It worked great before, but now..half the time I just restart a track. One thing I like is if you're scrolling down on music or contacts and want to get back to the top...you can push up on the knob.

I like being able to customize the layout, however...two complaints:
1. The "main" screen with all your apps and the sidebar are nice...HOWEVER, the sidebar needs the ability to adjust your recents. I can't stand that Maps is always there. I would like the ability to do Phone, Messages, and Music.
2. On the screen that shows maps, music, directions...I would like to have the option for Google Maps/Waze.

I wouldn't hold out on Apple changing anything until iOS14 perhaps? The iOS13 software has been a pain in the ass for the most part. Glad they're fixing stuff, and I don't mind constant updates if it improves. However, they need to get back to their roots. I'm convinced that no one at Apple uses CarPlay in the real world!