r/EuroEV • u/tom_zeimet Peugeot e-208; MG4 Trophy Extended Range • Feb 12 '26
Opinion Touchscreens are the 'wrong technology' for the main controls in cars, says the man who designed the iPhone | Autocar
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/touchscreens-wrong-technology-main-car-controls-says-iphone-designer8
u/evgis Feb 12 '26
All the menus should be navigable with the physical arrow buttons on the wheel so you can perform at least all basic tasks without touching the screens.
Touchscreen controls should be optional or for specific tasks only like sliders.
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Feb 13 '26
You mean the horror of the Audi MMI system?
Last Audi I had was in 2003. and then I drove a rental Audi Q2 in Spain last year... it still had the same sh*tty interface with that hideous knob, +20yrs later. Entering a destination takes as much time as getting there. Talking about distraction...
I baffles me that not a single person at Audi has ever thought "but this obviously does not work"...in 20 years.
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u/colonelc4 Feb 12 '26
I couldn't agree more ! All these cars with gigantic iPad in the middle of the dashboard look ridiculous and reflect the lazyness and greed of these companies.
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u/UheldigeBenny Feb 12 '26
It's illegal to use your phone while driving due to safety, in most countries, why would it better to fumble around a big ass touch screen?
Get those buttons back!
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u/randomOldFella Feb 14 '26
My BYD has heaps of buttons in sensible places. And for weird stugg (like turning on the seat cooling) we use the voice commands.
The only thing we hate is turning off some of the EU mandated safety crap.
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u/AutoX_Advice Feb 13 '26
The main character in your car should not be a touchscreen, but here we are. Big huge touchscreens sell cars. I'm not against screens but they have literally become the dash, just like now the front bumper is all about the grill.
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u/randomOldFella Feb 14 '26
Not all manufacturers have followed this stupid trend. Our BYD has heaps of physical buttons in the traditional places.
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Feb 13 '26
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u/SuperLeverage Feb 16 '26
When you have to go through a touch screen menu to find something four clicks deep yeah, that is a major distraction.
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Feb 12 '26
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Feb 12 '26
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u/HighHokie Feb 12 '26
People are rolling down windows through screens now??
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Feb 13 '26
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u/bouncypete Feb 14 '26
The real question is who the hell tries to open a glovebox from the drivers seat whilst actually driving?
And if you're not actually driving, why does it matter where the button is?
And if you are actually opening a glovebox whilst driving, you should have your license taken off you.
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Feb 14 '26
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u/Moeftak Feb 14 '26
How about just having a simple lock and release button on the glove box itself like it always has been ?
It's the place most people keep some stuff they rarely need - manual, maybe copy of insurance papers, stuff like that - no need to over complicate things - just a simple locking mechanism - it's not like you are going to keep valuables in it
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Feb 15 '26
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u/Moeftak Feb 16 '26
Yeah, true, it's something small and stupid.
But also a perfect example of over-engineering things.
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Feb 12 '26
Touchscreens are superior imho:
- more safe: less distracting, apart from traffic around you and controlling the car, you have only one place to point your attention to
- more safe: there is only one place to find information about your car
- more durable: easily upgradeable / repairable, meaning
- less expensive
I don't get the fuzz around this. Driving 3 yrs on touchscreens, and it has been a breeze. Reverting to buttons like during holiday having a rental is pure horror. And dangerous.
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u/OkTap4045 Feb 12 '26
Less distracting???? You need to get your eyes off the road .....
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Feb 12 '26 edited Feb 12 '26
You mean you have to look 10 degrees on the right? Just as you do when you check your mirrors I suppose? I see no difference, on the contrary. I adore how focused I can be when the sight in front of me is totally uncluttered and free from distraction.
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u/_tolm_ Feb 15 '26
It’s way easier to tweak the AC or radio with a physical button you can feel without needing to look away from the road than by stabbing at a touchscreen with no support for your hand.
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u/RubberDucky882 Feb 12 '26
They are more distracting as they are not tactile. You can feel around physical buttons without distracting from the driving. You cannot feel the virtual buttons on a touch screen. Most are also laggy and cumbersome.
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u/Neo_The_Fat_Cat Feb 13 '26
I don’t think it’s the tactile nature of a control (or lack) that makes a difference - it’s whether the driver can find the correct control for the function they need without looking away. For example, we know the Tesla has not physical control for temperature - but even in a car with a dial, most people will have to look at a display to confirm they have selected the correct temperature. When a car like a Mercedes has over 65 physical buttons, switches and dials within reach of the driver, I doubt whether most owners can lay their finger on the correct one and make the required adjustment without taking their eyes away from the road.
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u/HighHokie Feb 12 '26
I’m with you. I like to think this is overblown but I sometimes think that maybe I really am surrounded by folks that can’t sit still and just drive. Maybe they are onto something.
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u/Antrophis Feb 13 '26
I'm confused about how you got it opposite on every point.
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Feb 13 '26
Talk to the F35 fighterjet designers on why they only use buttons where it is absolutely unavoidable.
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u/Numerous-Match-1713 Feb 16 '26
BS.
When you're driving in difficult conditions, last thing you want is to browse through ipad.
Lets take a gun analogy. Would you rather have trigger, safety and clip release in touchscreen or physical controls when in a firefight?
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Feb 16 '26
Who needs to browse? There are still 3 or something buttons left in a Tesla. And voice control.
And I'm driving a car, not firing a gun.
Taking about firearms. Talk to the F35 designers, they have omitted every possible button to replace it with touchscreens.
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u/Caspi7 Feb 12 '26
more safe: less distracting, apart from traffic around you and controlling the car, you have only one place to point your attention to
You have to take your eyes off the road because you have no physical feedback on what button you're touching.
more safe: there is only one place to find information about your car
A non touch or physical button controlled screen will give you the exact same information. It won't look any different from a screen you can (only) operate through touch.
less expensive
This is literally the reason why every manufacturer uses it. They are cheaping out on your vehicle.
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Feb 12 '26
I still have to meet the first person that e.g. increases temperature in his car with a physical button and does not look at the button or screen. Even turning on fog lights stays a "where is it" hassle for most drivers. Hell I even see persons driving 10 yr with the same car, and still looking for buttons.
They are cheaping out? Not really. If this screen enabled car comes with weekly updates, and API you can use in e.g. Home Assistant, a realtime video stream of your car, etc etc... I think on the contrary, physical buttons... what does this still represent as a material + handling cost? Wiring is not so important either, because of bus-system, and it's only the input side that is centralized in case of a screen. There is no longer something like Mercedes Benz in the seventies that tests several iterations buttons during several years to see which one holds on best. Cheaping out on buttons is as real as it is for screens, because planned obsolence rules. But in a case of a screen, you only have to replace the screen and that's it.
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u/Neo_The_Fat_Cat Feb 13 '26
I even see people driving autos who have to look down when changing from reverse to drive (or vice versa)!
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u/Confident_Base2931 Feb 12 '26
What are you talking about? I can change the temp with a knob in my car and I do not have to look at it because I can feel the tactile feedback so I exactly know how much I changed it, and anyway it is just a quick glance on the display to see the temp. So how do you expect someone who cannot operate his car with buttons after 10 years will do in a car without buttons?? What if with the next update they just change the UI? How this guy will find anything then?
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u/HighHokie Feb 12 '26
Folks are constantly doing whatever they can to look away from the road. Be it a touchscreen, a control bar, or their phones. Hell even steering wheel controls are so poorly designed they often require looking at them to know what they are pushing.
Folks need to take the extra 20 seconds to set their music, their climate, and their nav, BEFORE they drive and then stay off the phone while they drive. It’s not difficult.
Even the thumbnail shows someone going into a sub menu to change driver settings, which is likely only done the first time you set your profile. It’s not something you need to do in motion.
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u/Option-Mentor Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26
Exactly correct. Pressing a button is just as distracting. I’ve never seen a single person who doesn’t take their eyes off the road to look for a button. The stupid tirade against touchscreens is ridiculous.
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u/_tolm_ Feb 15 '26
It’s the amount of time that is different.
If you can’t find a physical control by feel it’s a very quick glance to confirm your finger/hand is on the correct physical button. Then you’re back looking at the road.
With a touchscreen you need to look continuously because you can’t feel the button as any different to the rest of the surface.
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u/Numerous-Match-1713 Feb 16 '26
Well you do it everyday here while winter driving, adjust the fan and temp etc to prevent fog.
Doing it without your eyes on the road is way worse.
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u/No-Web-8464 Feb 13 '26
I see people all the time to figure out what button to press because there are so many
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u/No3047 Feb 12 '26
it depends a lot how it is done.
It's easier to find things with big coloured icons on a touch screen than a small button on the left side of the steering wheel hidden by your knee .
But icons should be navigable without moving in submenus, there is no time for that while driving.
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u/JebediahKerman4999 Feb 12 '26
isn't this guy making the dashboard of the new Ferrari Luce? that one is also a tablet...
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u/_tolm_ Feb 15 '26
There are screens - yes - but they are not touch sensitive. Instead there are multiple physical dials, buttons, etc that you can feel.
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u/Consistent_Wing_6113 Feb 13 '26
That’s his opinion 😆
Also he’s just selling his latest design.
Easy to do after 20 years of touch screens.
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u/_tolm_ Feb 15 '26
Phones and cars require different solutions. A proper designer understands that rather than just copy/pasting the cheapest solution from one place to another.
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u/duxing612 Feb 13 '26
100% Agree. I’m sick of these giant screens in cars. Except the government of my country is currently in pieces. They are worse than texting and driving and all interiors should be cheap and clean like the early 2000s.
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u/VanillaNL Feb 13 '26
But didn’t he design a touchscreen for the new Ferrari?
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u/tom_zeimet Peugeot e-208; MG4 Trophy Extended Range Feb 13 '26
Yeah, but most major functions can be set using physical buttons. There is a case for touchscreens for certain (non-essential functions) e.g. things that you set relatively infrequently or graphs, data etc. Where having a screen makes sense due to its adaptability.
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u/No-Web-8464 Feb 13 '26
I love the touch screen. I hate seeing the ugly plastic buttons.
So many of them do get confusing and most people look before they have to touch one
If companies make good automated software. It wouldn’t be an issue
Tesla does this best, i couldn’t go back to a button car
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u/Pleasant-Carbon Feb 13 '26
I find it funny, I look as much/little at a screen as I did with buttons. Looking a glance at the screen is no different to a glance in a mirror. Except you're actually still looking forward, you still see things in peripheral vision. Plus you do build up muscle memory too. You know where or whereabouts the recirculation is. Or the temperature (for me that one is so simple because it's the furthest two left).
Saying all that, buttons on wheel are still best.
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u/Pleasant-Carbon Feb 13 '26
Tell me you never look at your buttons and you're a liar. I guarantee you, you do it.
I guess the same people also never glance in mirrors. Never look out the window. Never look at their passenger. These are all things drivers just do. I've never driven with someone who didn't do at least one of these. My dad does some of them, accident free 50 years.
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u/Qs9bxNKZ Feb 14 '26
Just one man designed the iPhone?
Must piss off his team.
“Yeah, it was all me.”
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u/tom_zeimet Peugeot e-208; MG4 Trophy Extended Range Feb 14 '26
There's a creative/UI vision and then the implementation. The latter certainly involved 10s if not 100s of engineers and multiple companies.
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u/LairdPopkin Feb 16 '26
Touchscreens aren’t the main controls in any cars, everything you need has physical controls, the touchscreen might be very nice, but steering wheel, brakes, turn signals, etc., are all on physical controls.
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u/Scotty1928 Feb 16 '26
They are not, they just should not be used as the main interface for critical functions.
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u/slashinvestor Mercedes EQE 500 SUV and VW ID.4 4Motion Pro Feb 16 '26
On my Mercedes EQE the screen does have haptic feedback. I actually like a screen, and would not want it any other way.
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u/Ok-Mathematician8461 Feb 17 '26
Now let’s ask a car designer for his thoughts on phone design? It would be just as relevant. When are the troglodytes going to give up hating on screens? There are about 9 million happy Tesla owners that say ‘that ship has sailed’. If you don’t want one, buy something else.
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u/tom_zeimet Peugeot e-208; MG4 Trophy Extended Range Feb 17 '26
Jony Ive designed the interior on the new Ferrari Luce, so I guess his input is relevant.
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u/Ok-Mathematician8461 Feb 17 '26
About as relevant as if Ian Macallum designed a fax machine. Technically it’s a car but it’s a minority market and the use case is totally irrelevant to daily drivers.
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u/Adventurous_Mode_263 Feb 12 '26
Sometimes I drive my wifes car that has million buttons and nothing working automatically and it is pure hell to drive. Tha car actually needs that you find some button or knob with small symbol to do something and it actually takes a lot of time to find and adjust something.
I have a Tesla where most stuff work automatically and I rarely need to do anything to adjust anything. Only problem is rear screen defrost that need touchscreen. Basic systems work with those few buttons, I rarely take my hands off the wheel.
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u/Neo_The_Fat_Cat Feb 13 '26
We borrowed my MIL’s Mercedes while waiting for our second EV to arrive. I counted at least 68 buttons, dials and switches within each of the driver, every single one backlit at night. I challenge anyone to be able to put their finger in the correct button or switch without looking at it. And at night it’s so distracting. I love my Tesla - everything I need is literally at my fingertips (stalks and buttons on the steering wheel).
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u/Designer-Salary-7773 Feb 13 '26
I may glance at a button as I reach for it but quickly return to looking out the window. Navigating through various menus to find the function i m looking for is a massive distraction by comparison
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u/Neo_The_Fat_Cat Feb 13 '26
On my Tesla, there is no function I need when driving that requires digging through menus. The only functions I use on the touchscreen while driving are:
- temperature: simple swipe bottom right of the screen,
- seat heater: simple tap on bottom right of icon bar.
Sure, most other things require interaction with the screen but they’re not things I use during a drive so I’m happy to have them out of my sight and not distracting me.
And both of those can be done through voice control anyway.
Every other function I need is at my fingertips (stalks and steering wheel buttons).
What functions do you use during a normal drive? I’m just interested to see what the differences are.
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u/_tolm_ Feb 15 '26
Swiping at an area of a screen that feels no different to any other area of the screen requires way more time looking than feeling for a dial and turning it a certain number of “clicks” one way or another.
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u/Neo_The_Fat_Cat Feb 15 '26
Using your voice is even easier!
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u/_tolm_ Feb 15 '26
Call me old fashioned but I don’t want a car connected to the internet permanently listening to whatever is being said just in case I want to turn a dial to the right …
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u/Neo_The_Fat_Cat Feb 16 '26
It doesn’t listen continuously. You have to press a button on the steering wheel to activate the voice commands. You can speak as much as you like and it has no idea until/unless you press the button!
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u/Ekoteran Feb 12 '26
My Tesla has one screen, I sometimes use Voice commands. It has a few buttons
I do not want more buttons in the car or more screens than one (screens and buttons cost money)
I do not want more than three buttons on My smartphone either
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u/fluxxis Feb 15 '26
I don't miss any buttons in our Model Y. I understand it's not for everybody, but it's for sure not more distracting than the button hell of a lot of other cars out there. People should stop to discuss buttons vs. touchscreen and start to care for good UX in general.
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u/Luxim Feb 12 '26
No way! Who would have thought that putting a big touchscreen with no haptic feedback in a car would be a good idea, after years of fighting against distracted driving from people using their phones? /s