Carmakers are ditching touchscreens for physical buttons again

After a decade of minimalist, touchscreen-dominated dashboards, automakers are reintroducing physical controls. The shift stems from user frustration with glitchy systems, delayed haptic feedback, and the cognitive load of menu diving while driving. Climate, volume, and navigation controls benefit from tactile feedback and muscle memory rather than swipe precision. Manufacturers face safety and liability concerns over infotainment complexity, and the reversion to buttons addresses those risks directly.