Honda Boosts iOS Car Integration with New HondaLink Services for 2014 Civic, 2015 Fit

Following last week's announcement of Siri "Eyes Free" integration for select Honda and Acura vehicles, Honda today held a Google Hangout to announce even deeper integration for the 2014 Honda Civic and 2015 Honda Fit.

The new Civic, which goes on sale tomorrow, and the upcoming Fit, which launches early next year, will offer an all-new Display Audio interface featuring a 7-inch touchscreen that will be familiar to smartphone users, offering easy access to a variety of features.

Offering one of the largest touchscreens in its class, Display Audio uses the familiar pinch, swipe and tap functionality of a smartphone to access audio, phonebook, media, vehicle information and available navigation features.

Icons resembling smartphone apps are displayed on a 7-inch, high-definition, capacitive touchscreen, making the interface intuitive and easy to use.

hondalink_ios
Leveraging the large touchscreen display, new HondaLink apps for iOS will allow users to seamlessly connect their iPhone 5, 5s, or 5c to vehicle systems for accessing online content. The suite consists of four iOS apps now available:

- Connect App – Provides convenient access for many services including location searches, local weather, messaging, Maintenance Minder alerts, service scheduling by phone, and access to the Owners Guide. Users can tap for weather updates and store favorite destinations for quick routing with the Navigation app.

- Navigation App – For the first time Honda is offering a comprehensive cloud-based navigation app for purchase [$59.99 in the App Store] that includes 3D mapping and continuously updated traffic information. As the first navigation app developed by an automaker with mapping data provided by HERE, a Nokia business, this app offers a variety of location search options including search by point of interest, text search, or previous locations. Routes can be pre-planned on a smartphone and will display on the vehicle’s touchscreen. Turn-by-turn routing guidance is available through the vehicle’s audio system as well.

- Aha App – provides access to an extensive and diverse selection of audio content across multiple genres and demographics, plus featured new stations, Internet radio, podcasts, audiobooks, news, Twitter and Facebook updates and nearby location listings for restaurants, coffee houses, hotels, weather, parks, and gas stations. Users can tap to personalize stations or add favorites via smartphone or directly through the Display Audio interface.

- Launcher App – Finds and organizes Honda-approved 3rd party apps so they can be quickly integrated into the Display Audio system. Approved apps can be found through the Launcher and shown on the Display Audio screen for easy access.

Beyond the new HondaLink features, the Civic and Fit with Display Audio will also be the first Honda vehicles to have factory installed support for Siri Eyes Free, with the compatibility for 2013-2014 Honda Accord and 2013 Acura RDX and ILX models announced last week arriving as a dealer installed accessory.


Honda's Google Hangout offering more information on iOS integration with the new Civic and Fit is archived here.

Top Rated Comments

DTphonehome Avatar
128 months ago
I knew automakers wouldn't go for the full "iOS 7 in the Car" feature. It's too integrated and overrides their own crappy UI with a nice, useful Apple interface.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pgiguere1 Avatar
128 months ago
...so basically it does everything the built-in maps and google maps does? i dont get this.

Only Honda has control of the apps that can be shown on your dash screen, so they're basically using this to sell you the privilege of displaying maps on that screen for $60.

That's something iOS in the car would have done for free, and probably with a much better UI.

It seems like they're competing with iOS in the car instead of adopting it. This is very disappointing news from a consumer perspective.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
grimmace Avatar
128 months ago
Look, you can pinch, zoom, and aaAAAAAHHH!!! SMASH!!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HiRez Avatar
128 months ago
SIXTY dollars for a navigation app? WHAT?!
Sounds like a lot, but just a few years ago, car manufacturers were routinely charging an additional $1.5K to $2.5K for a crappy in-dash screen that did nothing but navigation, with really stale/sketchy map data. And map data had to be updated through a disc, which you could get from your dealer for several hundred dollars. So, progress.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kwikdeth Avatar
128 months ago
another closed system that will probably have zero API access for 3rd party developers. in other words, more of the same.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SockRolid Avatar
128 months ago
- Aha App - provides access to an extensive and diverse selection of audio content ...

"Take on me..."
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17 and iPhones Feature

iOS 17: 10 New Features That Just Launched

Sunday September 17, 2023 12:35 pm PDT by
In June, Apple announced iOS 17 with a wide range of new features and changes for the iPhone. Following over three months of beta testing, the free software update will be released this Monday, September 18 for the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have recapped 10 key features coming to the iPhone with iOS 17, with additional features coming later this year. The update should be released to...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 17 With StandBy, Live Voicemail, Improved Autocorrect, FaceTime Video Messages and Tons More

Monday September 18, 2023 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, the latest operating system updates that are designed for the iPhone and iPad. As with all of Apple's software updates, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 are available for free. iOS 17 is compatible with the iPhone XR/iPhone XS and later, while iPadOS 17 runs on the iPad mini 5 and later, the iPad 6 and later, iPad Air 3 and later, the second-generation 12.9-inch...
flighty standby

Best Apps With New iOS 17 and watchOS 10 Features

Monday September 18, 2023 3:02 pm PDT by
With the release of a new operating system, there are multiple features and design elements for developers to adopt. Now that iOS 17 is out, many major apps are getting interesting updates today, which we've rounded up below. watchOS 10 also has a new design language, so there are a range of Apple Watch updates to check out too. Flighty (Free, Premium Subscription) Popular flight tracking...