Opinion: voice controls in cars aren’t an excuse for a rubbish user interface

The demise of physical buttons and knobs in new cars is well documented these days. While I do prefer proper switchgear over touchscreen-based controls, this isn’t going to be an “old man yells at cloud” rant about how things were better in the olden days and we should turn back the clock.

I drive lots of new cars in my line of work, and most of them have an infotainment setup which is logical and easy to use. However, there are some which are beyond infuriating, with key features buried two or three layers deep in a labyrinth of menus.

Our Omoda 9 long term test car is a great example. Social content producer Tommy Allen made a video showing how many screen taps it took to simply turn on the heated seats. The answer was five, and that’s not counting the erroneous tap while trying to find the right menu.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by carwow (@carwow)

And while a lot of viewers were commenting on how ridiculous this is, there were also quite a lot of people scoffing, saying he should just “use the voice commands to do it”.

I’m sorry, but voice controls are not an excuse for a rubbish infotainment system.

Suggesting that pressing a button, telling the car to “turn on my heated seat”, waiting for a response and then enjoying a warm bum is easier than tapping one icon on the screen is insane to me. And that’s not accounting for repetition due to misheard commands.

The Omoda isn’t the only culprit. I recently drove the Xpeng G6, and when you’re using Android Auto you have to swipe up from the bottom to change the temperature. If you want your heated seats, heated steering wheel or the window defrosters, you have to swipe down from the top of the screen and find them in a grid of identical icons.

In fairness, the voice commands did respond quickly to my instructions and never failed to understand me, but it’s still more irritating than just having a simple user interface.

I understand why manufacturers are deleting physical buttons from cars. It’s cheaper to route everything through a screen, and it allows for features to be added later via over-the-air updates. I’m not saying I like it, but I get why it’s happening.

However, the loss of buttons shouldn’t mean we have to all start yelling at our cars to turn on simple features. My Skoda Octavia vRS has the temperature and heated seat controls as a permanent fixture at the bottom of the screen, and there are proper shortcut buttons for things like your demisters and one to bring up the full climate menu. That’s fine by me.

And Tesla has also got the screen-based UI right. The Model 3 and Model Y may have no buttons at all, but the screen is so easy to use on the move that it’s rarely an issue.
There are also some scenarios where I love having voice controls. Being able to quickly reply to a text or change your playlist without pulling over is really handy, I just want the key features I use all the time to be at my fingertips, not the tip of my tongue.

It’s possible to have a clean, button-free interior which is also easy to use, and the argument that voice commands make up for poor design doesn’t fly with me.

Car change? Carwow!

Looking for a new set of wheels? With Carwow you can sell your car quickly and for a fair price – as well as find great offers on your next one. Whether you’re looking to buy a car brand new, are after something used or you want to explore car leasing options, Carwow is your one stop shop for new car deals.

Click here to follow us on Reddit, where you can keep up-to-date with all the latest news, reviews, advice guides and videos. You can also subscribe to our WhatsApp channel to get the latest news sent straight to your phone.