Those who are still looking forward to Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (AACP) in Proton models, perhaps it’s time to accept that the smartphone mirroring that you desire will not happen, at least not in the near future. Proton’s latest model, the X90, doesn’t have AACP, and neither will the upcoming ‘SS11’ sedan that we’ve been calling ‘S50’.
This was confirmed by Proton’s deputy CEO Roslan Abdullah, who pre-empted AACP questions at the recent X90 media drive.
“The simple answer is ‘not too soon’ but we’re still looking into AACP. because if I mention ‘soon’ then when the new model comes (the SS11), it won’t be there yet, but the team is looking into the opportunity,” he said, ending the statement on a diplomatic note.
Instead, the current infotainment head unit (IHU) as seen in the X90, and before that, the X70 CKD, will be improved upon.
“And at the same time, we still look into improvement of the current IHU that you experienced in the X90. The platform also will be changed to accommodate the rapid changes of technology currently in China,” Roslan added.
So what’s behind Proton’s reluctance to adopt AACP? It is surely not a technical hurdle (the X90’s IHU is high tech and looks very slick, ditto the digital instrument cluster), as even Perodua is now offering AACP in the Alza AV, but in our opinion, it’s about Proton vision for its IHU.
We’ve analysed this ‘why’ question before, and first, you’ll need to understand how it’s like in China, where Proton’s partner Geely is from. As many of you know, the services from Google, Meta and many of the other Western tech giants aren’t available in China, which have their own local champions and equivalents.
Chinese users simply prefer their own apps and services. Navigation apps like Alibaba’s AutoNavi and music streaming services like Tencent’s QQ Music take the place of Waze/Google Maps and Spotify, for instance. These services are usually either natively integrated into the car’s infotainment system or can be used in indigenous screen mirroring services like Baidu CarLife. As such, there’s little incentive for Chinese carmakers to invest in AACP-compatible systems, and while some brands have made the effort, Geely isn’t one of them.
Can Proton go its own way? Even if it could, there will always be the issue of cost, and volume in Malaysia is relatively small. Localising what’s given will continue to be the approach, and those who have AACP desires will just have to accept that. A quick poll in the office showed that we’re split on the importance of AACP – some demand/use it while others (like me) are dinosaurs. How about you, is the lack of AACP a deal-breaker? More on the SS11/S50 here.
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Can’t get personal info / listen to conversation / indoctrinate ideology if everyone stopped using their platform.
because the poor buyers are worthy?
Exactly. They aren’t worthy.
You 3rd worlders don’t deserve 1st world car infotainment. Just be happy with a little hook to hang your brown diabetes liquid filled in a toxic plastic bag!
No offense, Proton, but that is just an ass-backward way of doing business. The people want Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Many went with third party HU just to be able to do that, why won’t you give them what they want? This arrogance is just baffling.
Ori car is from China. CCP land. they don’t have the configuration to put in stock android or apple carplay cos got google. they prefer baidu, bilibili, youku
Who cares what the donor car is? You’re marketing and selling this car as a Proton in Malaysia. Proton engineers should be able to retrofit or extend the functionality via software. It’s more likely that Proton looked at this and thought that it wasn’t worth their trouble, because people like you will continue to defend them instead of hoping for a better product.
read my comment again. i never said i supported those CCP commie apps/software. i was actually mocking them
Why are you mocking other country’s apps? That’s quite childish. I hope you’re ok.
You say “people want an AACP”. Yet, the X50, the X70 and even the Saga continues with the GKUI, selling in numbers that send them to the top or near the top of their categories.
It is not a deal breaker for thousands of people, including the article’s author.
Mercedes also don’t use AA or CP and instead use their MBUX nobody gives a f*ck.
Poor people asking for too much. No wonder they remain poor.
Tell me u’re poor without telling me u’re poor.
At the very least, should provide the essentials like Maps, Waze & Spotify. Only then, people wouldn’t gives fck AACP or not.
I suppose you might be wrong. Merc mbux does support AACP.
One of the boring brand and also boring luxury brand but poor quality which is merc
no android auto or apple car play for ME is not the end of the world becos i take it as a distraction while driving.
for those that desire it, there are plenty of other brands that offer this like perodua, chery, honda, toyota etc.
also whats the issue if a car is coming/based fr china – labelling it as ccp land, commie cars and spewing all the western propaganda is silly.
Not having it is fine, just please don’t push Atlas OS or the X50/70 headunit OS.
No sh*t! I’ll happily stick my ipad holder with suction cup directly onto the screen. I don’t even listen to any audio tbh.
Other China brands start giving AA and CP meanwhile Geely is stubborn to stick with its own ATLAS OS. I am thinking how many will buy the S50 1.5NA CVT if it price around RM 80-90k, meanwhile its competitor Vios and City are with AA and CP.
The price will be from 59k – 79k. People will still buy it.
For real though. 59k-79k? Is that the estimated price? If yes that’s surely a good competition to vios/city.
Yes, from reliable insider. It might increase another 5 to 10k if the ‘sambutan’ higher during booking. So your choice. Price not yet final.
I would consider if the price is right and it offer better value than city/vios – AACP is not a must, the car still works LOL.
you all do know that your data are being track 24-7 right? first its your HP followed by pc, wearable, smart homes and now your car. The final step will be 100% digital currency
Lmao you proton supporters will NEVER gonna get AC/AA! Existing owners been bitching for years since X70 out but until today nothing to show.
I may take issue with this sentence: “Can Proton go its own way? Even if it could, there will always be the issue of cost, and volume in Malaysia is relatively small.”
I’m not sure how different the code base is between GKUI and Aco Tech’s ATLAS OS. However suffice to say, Proton has shown that they’re willing to invest infotainment R&D in Malaysia. Just not for Android Auto and Apple Car Play.
Fun fact, it’s not about whether Proton wants to integrate AACP or not, it’s simply whether Geely will or not. Roslan is just a messenger of the leadership at Geely.
I still wonder if they really need that big of an operation to reengineer LHD vehicles to RHD.
You wonder but you won’t seek for the answers. There is a whole lot of engineering that goes on with LHD conversions. Beam angles, headlight fixture re-engineering, harnesses, pedal positioning, dash fascia angles, seat angles. They all need to be reengineered.
Even with the established names, they save costs: look at many Contis that still have their push start on the left side of the centre console instead of on the right. It seems small, but a penny saved is a penny gained
Are you asking if the lack of AACP is a deal-breaker? Let’s break it down real quick.
What is the VISION of Proton aka 49.9% Geely, if it is built for the people then the lack of AACP of coz is a dealbreaker, why? Because most of your customers buy and kept the car for more than 5 years. So to normal people who use logical thinking, buying & keeping a car for more than 5 years without AACP is 100% deal-breaker.
TBH NO CARPLAY IS A DEAL BREAKER FOR ME.
Their infotainment in x50 x70 is integrated into the car like climate etc so you cant go aftermarket.
actually the best solution is what AA used to be. where you use your phone for AA to run and the car HU is just for streaming the BT audio output. you can use google command, waze, maps, reply message etc. you can get upgraded performance when the phone app update and also when you upgrade your phone to a more powerful hardware. there is no need for AA to reside in the HU.
Finally can kick out UMW…
I tried survive on native navigation apps and give up after 3 months; paid to enable AACP.
My personal take is, I don’t need the navigation or even media player in the HU.
Just give me FM radio and AACP, the rest I can’t be bothered.
You, my friend, are a BMW owner. But it’s true, some won’t mind paying for AACP but it has to be once in a lifetime and not a yearly subscription. That’s why BMW Malaysia got a lot of flak from owners and now gives it free.
Nothing wrong with iDrive, in fact it works well.
Center console map, dashboard map and audio integration is perfect, despite some route to Holland.
I nearly forgot about AACP I had in my previous ride.
Until, I went to a new place I never been before, the integrated map just don’t show me the right direction.
I have to rely on my phone map at that moment.
Immediately I enable AACP on my return trip.
Chery Omoda 5 even has wireless AACP. the latest Atlas OS….. is laggy, it is annoying to use. When you open the door, it tells you loudly that “Doors must be fully closed”. Again, why do you need to tell me that. The previous version allows the user to turn the annoying feedback off. Now we are stuck. When you start the engine, it tells you something…. but have no idea because the voice is broken….. Give us back GKUI. It is far better than the Atlas version. Put into reverse, it takes a full 3 sec for the reverse cameras to turn on. Sigh. You have a good product (as in the car) but let down by a made in Malaysia software that irritates more than anything.
shower rain temperature approximately…. *opens door* means i failed to open door fast enough, its a struggle 24/7/365
Honestly its not a big deal.. All i need is BT to pair my phone with and listen to podcasts from YT premium in the background.. I dont need anything more.. But i understand ppls frustrations.. Also, i doubt its a purchasing factor as well going by how many x50/x70 you see in the road..
need to feed cronies project here? giving lower spec with same price of ori part. this is basic practice in bolehland.
I think the bigger question is ‘who is behind AcoTech’? Why haven’t they been booted out due to their incompetence and lack of initiative? Must be someone with ‘strong connections’ who owns AcoTech in my kopi-tiam uncle mind lah. :) I’ve side-loaded Spotify on my X70, so much better than the rubbish Joox!
Just give us Google Map then which is useful for local traffic and road updates. Even Apple gave up on their own map and offer Google Map too…Apple, a trillion dollar company can’t even make a good map, who the F is Geely and it’s China map.
Joker.
if they’re so adamant with whatever they are doing but don’t want to get with the times why even exist honestly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
i thought most people here are china supporter and..long live china apps!
Kuat minyak, leceh maintenance, harga kete mahal the big deal.
U want cheap n come with everything, build it urself
Hapuskan je le P1 & P2 tu. Buat kereta low standard but sell it at exorbitant price (Msia logik)
Then lastly kata ‘value for money’.
Proton is just a puppet for Geely.
then just lower the price by RM5k so that buyers can use that money to install else where.
Persoalannya ialah ;
Kenapa jual murah kalau boleh jual mahal?
sigh… things were so much simpler back then. just push buttons or adjust knobs
If the upcoming Smart #1 (Geely owns 50%) can have wireless AAAP, and Volvo can have native Android Automotive OS – what is really Geely’s excuse to not have AAAP on Proton cars???
what a bunch of communistic pigs
what’s it got to do with commie? the way you put it, it sounds like proton fault where they force malaysian to use OS comes from a home grown supplier sorry i mean crony
There can run huawei HiCar natively. Get an aftermarket usb dongle for carplay or aa ok from taobao ok.
Haha I laughing so hard at pupil Komen no apple no watermelon haha what some more you want this car is for rubbish pupil like you but not me
I thought they using Atlas OS developed by local team? Still need to depend on Geely?
“ We’ve analysed this ‘why’ question before, and first, you’ll need to understand how it’s like in China, where Proton’s partner Geely is from. As many of you know, the services from Google, Meta and many of the other Western tech giants aren’t available in China, which have their own local champions and equivalents.”
That’s a weak argument on why proton doesn’t have Car Play. Chinese brands like BYD, Haval and Dongfeng already have the support. It’s just geely forcing users to adopt its platform rather than letting people to choose
what bs is this china car cant have AACP… BYD, Chery, Haval are japanese car is ittt?????
If no Apple car play or android auto, then please just do a Axia E arrangement and leave it out and give us a 2 DIN empty space so that we can custom install what we want.
Dont charge us some useless head unit that we dont.
Eww..simple stuff also dont have..dont want to buy
the china cannot use apple carplay or android auto nonsense excuse is no longer valid
Hey Proton, welcome to the year 2024. Where’s my apple carplay and android auto? LOL
Yet another example of how we’ve sold the country to China. No vision, no ambition, no strategy – can’t even dictate having Apple car play in our cars, a world standard at this point, imagine mineral rights and investments. Volvo is owned by Geely too – they have car play.
Barred PT from future PROTON launches
Tuan Poslan said said many times If you want AA or whatnot crabs BUY other brands
They need to take a cue from Nokia, still doing their own things when everyone is expecting a modern car to come with AA or Apple Carplay as standard.
Please get your head unstuck from the toilet Proton.
Have hello Winnie or not, can send back data
Deal breaker for me. I kindda need my spotify and waze / google maps is a must as I been saving important adressess … i am big fan of Proton (bought a few myself) but in 2023… not having AACP is a no no for me. But im sure there are plenty of those who dont actually need it, and hence my opinion carry no weight nor it represent the voice of majority… just me not going to buy and doubt Proton would lose anything from my decision