Volkswagen will restore physical buttons to the dashboard in its latest compact car, part of a wider move away from touchscreens.

In a particularly retro touch, the new ID Polo will even have a volume dial.

For a decade or so, automakers rushed to replace knobs and switches with screens, Autoblog noted in October, but users largely disliked them: Controlling the air conditioning, for example, required delving through submenus while driving, which was both difficult and dangerous. Research found that using touchscreens took longer and distracted drivers.

Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and VW have all announced plans to return to more tactile controls, and US and EU regulators announced last year that cars with touchscreen controls could get worse safety ratings.

  • Boomer Humor Doomergod@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    One of my cars has climate control with a knob, so I have to look at the (small) screen to see what the temperature is.

    My other car has a hot/cold knob that I can just crank all the way to the stops. It even turns the A/C full blast on full cold.

    I prefer the latter.