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New Video Shows 'iOS in the Car' Functionality from iOS 7.0.3 in Action

Tuesday January 28, 2014 4:36 am PST by Eric Slivka
Last week, app developer Steven Troughton-Smith shared a series of screenshots of what seemed to be Apple's "iOS in the Car" feature announced by Apple as "coming soon" to iOS 7 devices. The feature is intended to allow an iOS device to take over the in-dash display of a car, providing access to navigation, phone functions, messages, and music.

Troughton-Smith has now posted a video showing iOS in the Car in action, via a barebones implementation that is actually present in the already released iOS 7.0.3 but not accessible by default. The video shows the feature being run in the iOS Simulator software for developers, with the in-dash display represented by a separate 800x480 window.


In notes posted alongside the video, Troughton-Smith points out that the iOS in the Car feature supports multiple resolutions of external displays, touch input and hardware controls, and voice input.
- Supports Multiple Resolutions
- Supports touchscreens (presumably single-touch?), hardware buttons, wheels and touchpads
- Does not support multitasking - car display will always show same current on-screen app as iPhone (which can be locked/asleep)
- Whitelisted to specific Apple apps - no public API for developers [yet?]
- Has no keyboard UI - voice recognition as input
- UI clearly subject to change
- Missing functionality in video is due to iOS Simulator not containing all the stock iOS apps
ios_car_7_1
iOS in the Car from iOS 7.1 (Source: Twitter)

Troughton-Smith does also point out that the user interface is subject to change, and while the demo shown in the video resembles the screenshots shown on Apple's site, his earlier screenshots and a Twitter response indicate that the overall look has indeed seen a redesign for iOS 7.1, bringing more of the blue text and overall feel of iOS 7 to the in-vehicle display.

Related Roundup: CarPlay
[ 70 comments ]


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brand
68 months ago

As someone who takes mass transit and doesn't even own a car: this (and Apple Maps in general) is completely useless to me.


As was your post to me. If everyone chimed in about how irrelevant stuff was useless to them this forum would be worthless. Thankfully not everyone does that.
Rating: 15 Votes
Avatar
Xenc
68 months ago

As someone who takes mass transit and doesn't even own a car: this (and Apple Maps in general) is completely useless to me.


It's a shame Apple didn't consult with you before wasting time developing this! :p
Rating: 10 Votes
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aforty
68 months ago
As someone who takes mass transit and doesn't even own a car: this (and Apple Maps in general) is completely useless to me.
Rating: 6 Votes
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bacaramac
68 months ago
For those who take mass transit only and don't own a car, I guess thanks for letting us know you won't use this feature and contribute nothing else to this thread.

However, I'm looking forward to this and will surely use it.
Rating: 5 Votes
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Derekeys
68 months ago
Time to go buy a new car... :eek:
Rating: 3 Votes
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Menel
68 months ago

Time to go buy a new car... :eek:


Show me a new car with this feature?

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Car touch screens (and decks) are so awful. I have been wanting apple to do this for so long. Any deck you buy looks likes it's from 1990 still. The software is clunky and not intuitive.

I hope Apple will sell separate decks that can be installed, but I highly doubt it.

Apple will not. But others will. Pioneer (and I think Kenwood) have noted they are working on it.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
flux73
68 months ago

As someone who takes mass transit and doesn't even own a car: this (and Apple Maps in general) is completely useless to me.

Well I guess Apple should stop working on this then. Clearly there aren't enough cars in use to warrant the development of this.
Rating: 3 Votes
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osx11
68 months ago
Deleted
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
zedsdead
68 months ago
Car touch screens (and decks) are so awful. I have been wanting apple to do this for so long. Any deck you buy looks likes it's from 1990 still. The software is clunky and not intuitive.

I hope Apple will sell separate decks that can be installed, but I highly doubt it.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
mattopotamus
68 months ago

Wish we could integrate this in cars that will not support iOS in the car.


hopefully apple sells a stand alone device that can be added to cars!
Rating: 2 Votes

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