Drivers who bemoan the tendency of modern cars to replicate the experience of a tech-laden Apple Store instead of a, y’know, mode of transportation should click on through to the next story. It seems the Volkswagen Group – VW, Audi, et al – is launching an in-car app store featuring products like Spotify, TikTok, and a karaoke app from Canada’s own Stingray Music.
Erm, okay.
Announced today as part of the Mobile World Congress happening in Spain, this brand-specific app store will initially launch later this year, in 2023 Audi models ranging from the volume-seller A4; to the fancy-pants Q8 e-tron. It’ll eventually infect be expanded to Volkswagen and Porsche models. It’s part and parcel of the group’s software subsidiary, the spellcheck-vexing Cariad, initially coming to market with a few dozen apps covering the likes of audio, entertainment, and EV charging.
Note well: apps bound for Porsche vehicles may not end up in VWs, and vice-versa. Bentley owners will have exclusive access to the Grey Poupon app, presumably. We think Stingray’s karaoke app should be available to all, given that product’s propensity to create mirth and hilarity, the type of which often ends up on social media platforms like TikTok — which will also be available in this app store. And the cycle continues.
Learn more about the cars
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2023 Audi Q5
MSRP $48,400 to $76,100
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2023 Volkswagen Tiguan
MSRP $33,995 to $44,495
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2023 Audi Q3
MSRP $40,350 to $49,600
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2023 Volkswagen Atlas
MSRP $42,495 to $58,995
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2023 Volkswagen Jetta
MSRP $23,295 to $34,495
“Our new store for digital apps is the first major milestone in CARIAD’s year of delivery. It is the result of a great collaboration between Audi, CARIAD, and HARMAN,” says CARIAD CEO Dirk Hilgenberg. “We will take the in-car experience to the next level — by integrating the digital world of the Volkswagen Group’s customers seamlessly into the car. Our Group application store already allows a first glimpse on a completely new infotainment stack: The store will be part of the ‘One.Infotainment’ system in the premium software for the next generation of Porsche and Audi.” Starting in summer 2023, Audi will integrate the application store in selected models.
We could write tomes of words on how we feel about these types of attention-diverting products being integrated into the dashboards of modern cars, but we fear crashing the Postmedia servers with the volume of characters being generated by our keyboards whist doing so. Suffice it to say we know the value of certain tech in vehicles to help keep us from turning turtle on slippery roads, though the proposition of karaoke and TikTok videos raises the spectre of distracted driving.
A staff member cleans the logo of a SUV VW Touareg on display ahead of the annual general meeting of German carmaker Volkswagen, in Berlin on May 3, 2018. Photo by Tobias Schwarz /Getty Images
Bean-counters are surely salivating at the thought of income streams from this app store, since there is the opportunity for lucrative monthly recurring revenue with little overhead. Sure, some third-party apps will retain money generated from specific micro-transactions, but if you think there isn’t money to be made for Wolfsburg, we have a bridge in Alaska in which you may be interested. The amount of data-gathering in this environment can also be quite high, though that’s a column for another day. This also ignores the obvious overlap with some mapping apps and the native systems built into the car, for example.
Caraid, the arm of VW responsible for this app store, describes its mission as one which transforms cars into “software-defined vehicles,” and that seeks to turn “the Volkswagen Group into a software-driven mobility provider.” Established in 2020 and based in Germany, the company currently employs over 6,000 developers, engineers, and designers at locations around the globe.
Keyword: VW Group's own in-car app store offers TikTok, karaoke