Touch Screens Are Making [Vehicles] Worse. It’s Time to Bring Back Buttons and Knobs.

DJTorrente

DJTorrente

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Touch Screens Are Making Cars Worse. It’s Time to Bring Back Buttons and Knobs.

Big touch screens look cool, but they’re difficult (and sometimes dangerous) to operate.
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This tracks with my own intuition when touchscreen avionics hit the market. I assumed Garmin was driving the bus there to drive down its manufacturing costs, including unifying hardware with their other lines (auto, marine). In light GenAv, piston singles and twins, I would have thought turbulence would have made these more of a pain that wasn't as much an obstacle in other vehicles.

Full disclosure: I've never flown behind anything with a touchscreen. Is touchscreen cockpit a good development?
 
I don't like the touch screen in our Cad XT5. It does take my eyes off the road for too long. Too easy to touch the wrong button sometimes.
But I think they are here to stay for a while anyway.
 
I agree. I much prefer physical buttons and knobs for most functions. During training I flew with a G3X Touch, and I loved the features but it was challenging to navigate sometimes. As I recall, it did have some hard buttons and knobs which simplified things.

One reason I like real controls is that I can use them by feel, without having to look at them. I also won't accidently hit the wrong thing when I'm getting bumped around in rough air.

In my Musketeer, I have steam gauges but also a panel-mounted iFly 740b gps. It's VERY easy to accidentally tap the wrong thing when I'm bouncing around. My 740b at least came with a remote control, so when it's bumpy I'll sometimes use that rather than trying to tap the screen. The remote won't access all functions, but I can use it to zoom in or out, change modes, change orientation, and a few other things. If I need to tap something on the screen, like an airport, I can use the remote to zoom way in so I'm less likely to tap the wrong thing.
 
Yep. I think touchscreens without alternate physical buttons or knobs should be outlawed on cars. Like on the GTN625, even though it's a touchscreen, you could still use knobs and buttons.
 
I've never driven a new car that has all touchscreen gizmos but I've always been amazed that OMG you can't answer your phone in your car OMG but wait, you can use a full touchscreen giant hideous tablet built into the car to control literally everything. makes zero sense.

as for the plane, every two years I check to see if I remember how to use a VOR (spoiler alert, I do!). also, every two years I check that stoopid knob thing on the 650 to make sure if my touchscreen goes out that I can still navigate using the knob (spoiler alert, I can't! if I lose the touchscreen my checklist is mags off master off and ride her down to the crash site!) can't stand knobology. I think I'd rather have a 650 than a g1000 cause the g1000 is like a big 430 and aint nobody got time for that knobby ****!
 
I'm trying to think of a touchscreen avionic that doesn't also include knobs/buttons? I use touch-type/soft keyboard on the garmin 750 about 99 times for every time i dial something with the knobs.
 
Can't speak to aircraft touch screens, don't have one! (aside from the iPad with ForeFlight).

But for cars I think we've reached a point where the systems are more painful and distracting than the alternatives. That may change but for now I prefer regular buttons and using my phone for most nav/text (which I handle safely).

My favorite is my super tech-oriented brother and best friend who insist on using every gizmo a car has, especially related to infotainment, nav and comms.
So they try and show off this Integrated Technological Excellence and how easy it is to give your car directives and it always goes something like this...

Them: "watch this"
Me: *fully prepared to be unimpressed*
Them: "Navigate me to Bogart Tavern"
Car Readback: "OK. Navigating to Bolingbrook Top Golf"
Them: "Weird that it didn't get it, it normally does..."
Them: "Navigate me to Bogart Tavern in St Charles"
Car Readback: "OK. Navigating to Bochardt's Candies in Geneva Illinois"
Them: "Huh weird, it's usually perfect" (surrreeeee it is...)
Them (speaking slower): "NAVIGATE... ME... TO... BOGART TAVER.."
*Car Beeps* "Sorry, I didn't get that"
Them: AHHH!!!!

Meanwhile there's me, sitting back applauding the display of this frictionless user experience, with the nav directions already pulled up on Google Maps on my phone. No car integration needed.

It's even more painful watching people to try to dictate text message responses while they drive. Those systems, whether touch screen or verbal, are pretty awful.
 
I like my car’s touchscreen. However it’s mostly driven by Apple car play. The baseline car functionality is pretty straightforward…. Touch screen to turn on seat warmer, etc.
 
Much depends on how well the car's user interface is designed. Most are not very good.

The ipad in the airplane is a good example of a pretty good one. I have no desire to go back to paper.
 
I find car touch screens distracting, I find myself just about to run off the road when looking at the screen to change temps, or anything else,. mY New F 150 has touch screens and knobs and I use the knobs or the buttons on the steerinhg wheel I like the heads up display F 150 has.
 
Really depends on layout. I absolutely hate my mom's kia Nero screens. A clunky mess is an understatement. The lone knob might be radio volume. Or it might be fan speed depending on what button on the screen you pushed.

One reason I went dynon in the plane is that nearly everything can be touch screen or it has a physical button to press for when you're in turbulence.
 
My car would trigger you. :D The homelink garage door opener has buttons at least.

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My GF’s Caddy has Apple Car Play. Works fine with either her or my iPhone. Car has knobs/buttons tor HVAC, etc and Nav, Phone and Radio control via Car Play interface is simple.

My X3 has buttons and knobs for everything being a 2016 version and a small screen for BMW iDrive. I’m thinking about retrofitting a Car Play screen/interface. They are pretty cheap ($100-$200) for a dash mount with Bluetooth.

When my Ercoupe was built, there weren’t any TV’s much less touch screens :biggrin:. Suits me to leave it that way.
 
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We had a rental car recently that the only controls for the heated seats were buried in an on screen menu, not a physical button or an on screen permanent button. The last driver left them on (probably couldn't figure out how to turn them off), and I had a hell of time trying to get them off while driving. The ironic part is almost all of these screens have automatic warnings when you turn them on about not driving distracted, yet it now an inherent part of the design of the car.

Even worse, how creative all the manufacturers are getting with the shifters. Used to be two choices, a lever on the steering column or a shifter in the center console. Now its a knob, or buttons, or even a twist stick where the wiper function is in some cars (Buick, took me a few minutes to figure that one out). Soon you are going to have hire an instructor for a type rating in every car you drive.

Or the new symbols on all the buttons that you now have to guess what they do. My truck has a jellyfish launcher button.
 
I miss the foot click switch for high beams in cars, crank windows, and the little smoker vent windows that swung out (not sure their proper name), I’m of the opinion that stuff has gotten way more complicated (and expensive) than it needs to be. (Cowl vents also worked very good in summer to stay comfortable without air conditioning as long as you could keep moving).
 
Car manufacturers loved touch screens because it cost them way less money to hide everything behind them than to build physical controls and they could sell it as “futuristic”

Thankfully I think we are past the zenith of that trend and the backlash has been sufficient that car manufacturers are starting to (slowly) bring back (some) physical controls.
 
AKiss20 said:
Thankfully I think we are past the zenith of that trend and the backlash has been sufficient that car manufacturers are starting to (slowly) bring back (some) physical controls.
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Lexus has been doing that.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Even worse, how creative all the manufacturers are getting with the shifters. Used to be two choices, a lever on the steering column or a shifter in the center console. Now its a knob, or buttons, or even a twist stick where the wiper function is in some cars (Buick, took me a few minutes to figure that one out). Soon you are going to have hire an instructor for a type rating in every car you drive.
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Had a GM (Chevrolet maybe?) rental car this past weekend, and I tried to turn the wipers on to remove some of the salt slush on the windshield. Yep, that was the shifter. Accidentally put the dang thing in neutral while driving about 75mph on 96 South with no easy or intuitive way to shift back to drive. Fortunately, the traffic was light, and I was able to coast to the shoulder and figure it out. Oh, and that car also had all the climate controls on touch screen. Grrrr.
 
My headlight switch is on a touch screen. The horror you say? Well I’ve never had to turn my lights on or off in 90,000 miles since it does that automatically. I’d never go back to knobs. And don’t get me started on start buttons or heaven forbid: KEYS?!?? I love automation—in cars.
 
As a retired airline mechanic I've watched the progression from steam gauges to glass cockpits and while some touchscreen stuff has appeared the Mode Control Panels have remained buttons and knobs. I bought a new Honda last year and a big part of my choice was based on the fact that they had reverted to mostly physical controls. Tesla started the automotive touchscreen fad and I think most people are through with it. It's okay for functions that are mostly automatic and rarely need to be changed or adjusted but for shifting gears, opening windows or doors, adjusting volume it's stupid to put it in a menu on a touchscreen.
 
There’s simply too much functionality to be controlled by hardware buttons, switches, etc. Garmin can provide voice commands for some functions. If turbulence is so bad I can’t control the avionics I am going to be looking to land or I’ll turn around.
 
My next car is going to be a crown vic.

The only people that like all this crap are those that don't want to drive, they want to be driven. They want the automatic system to automate and remove them from interacting with the thousands of pounds of metal encasing them.
 
schmookeeg said:
No, I have to push it manually like a common beast. :D
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You actually have room in your garage for a car?!!!

My 2023 Jeep has a touchscreen, but big knobs and buttons for all the stuff you're most likely to use while driving, e.g. sound, climate, headlights. It even has hand cranked windows! :yes:
 
My car has buttons and knobs for many functions that your want to directly access. But it also has a touchscreen and voice command. For different functions and during different phases, different controls are more appropriate.

I never drove a car with anything more advanced than cruise control until last year, but I find that all the automation in my current car seriously reduces the workload on long road trips--just like an autopilot in the airplane.
 
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Racerx said:
Really depends on layout. I absolutely hate my mom's kia Nero screens. A clunky mess is an understatement. The lone knob might be radio volume. Or it might be fan speed depending on what button on the screen you pushed.
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That's the main thing I dislike about my 2025 KIA. I've never heard anyone say anything good about that. It seems at least they could make it so that it stays put once you make a suggestion. But it always switches back to the default after a few seconds and if you aren't fast enough, you have to reset it again.
 
The Buick Riviera was the first car with a touchscreen (green CRT, back in the mid 80s). People complained about being a distraction and it didn't last long.
There was another attempt at being stupid by BMW with their first generation iDrive, which didn't even have a dedicated menu and back button. They did come to their senses eventually and provided a decent set of physical controls.
Things really went downhill in the 2010s with the Model S in a process I like to call "Enmuskification". It went even more downhill in the Model 3 with the lack of an instrument panel, having to look sideways at your ipad on a stick to see how fast you're going.
Then all other manufacturers decided to follow suit in the name of looking cool and cutting costs.
In some states, you can get a ticket for using your phone while standing still at a traffic light, but somehow the NHTSA thinks these massive built-in distractions are ok. Nothing screams safety like having to go three menus deep to change the fan speed and which way air comes out of the vents.
 
I fly behind a G3X touchscreen. Yes, it is painful to use in turbulence. Do I prefer more physical controls? No.
 
Now on the other hand, I recently had a Ford Expedition equipped with Blue Cruise for a rental. I was skeptical at first, but after some practice came to like it. Much like having a three axis autopilot in an airplane, it frees part of the mind from the mundane tasks so you can concentrate more on the bigger picture and situational awareness.
 
Flatiowa said:
I miss the foot click switch for high beams in cars, crank windows, and the little smoker vent windows that swung out (not sure their proper name), I’m of the opinion that stuff has gotten way more complicated (and expensive) than it needs to be. (Cowl vents also worked very good in summer to stay comfortable without air conditioning as long as you could keep moving).
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I remember in the early '90s. 4 year old me saw my first crank window and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
 
In school, I like the precision of digital measurement and presentation. But there is a set-up cost. Flying a two-seat glider, round gauges provide required information in a more timely manner and representational format. In the relatively few automobiles that I have driven that are equipped with touch screens the manufacturers have somehow managed to capture the worst aspects of both.
 
I was probably 6 when I saw my first power window in a relatives early '70's Cadillac, I was fascinated and would have played with it if my dad had let me.
 
Flatiowa said:
I miss the foot click switch for high beams in cars, crank windows, and the little smoker vent windows that swung out (not sure their proper name), I’m of the opinion that stuff has gotten way more complicated (and expensive) than it needs to be. (Cowl vents also worked very good in summer to stay comfortable without air conditioning as long as you could keep moving).
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Vent wings.

My car has 'em. It was built when grandpa was 3. Takes 6 full circles to lower the window, has no-reel shoulder harnesses, a foot dimming switch, and mechanical carb enrichers (chokes).
 
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