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Toyota chooses Ford over Apple, will eschew CarPlay in favor of SmartDeviceLink

Future Toyota models will offer in-dash infotainment systems compatible with Ford's SmartDeviceLink system rather than Apple's CarPlay, the Japanese automaker announced on Monday.

SmartDeviceLink is an open platform based on the AppLink framework developed for Ford's own vehicles. It fills essentially the same role as CarPlay or Android Auto, but allows the vehicle manufacturer to retain control over the look and feel of the user interface.

Toyota's announcement comes nearly a year after the company first discussed its plans not to adopt CarPlay, despite being one of the first automakers to sign on.

"We may all eventually wind up [with CarPlay or Android Auto], but right now we prefer to use our in-house proprietary platforms for those kinds of functions," a Toyota spokesperson said at the time.

Ford has continued to push SDL as an industry standard — with some success — even as it enables CarPlay and Google's rival Android Auto in its own vehicles. Major automotive software supplier QNX has announced support for SDL in future products, while automakers including Mazda and Subraru have shown public support.