Eight new CarPlay experience apps spotted in iOS 17.4 beta code

AppleInsider

As Apple continues to work with manufacturers to make CarPlay integral to cars, new apps including EV battery level, a trip counter, and more have been found in the iOS 17.4 beta.

Apple is working with Porsche to customize CarPlay (Source: Apple)

Apple originally gave a quite rare sneak peek at WWDC 2022 of its future plans for an improved CarPlay. Then in December 2023, it showed how adaptable CarPlay will be for different car makers, specifically Porsche and Aston Martin.

Now that the beta of iOS 17 has been released, most of the attention it's had has been focused on all of the App Store changes that are coming for users in the European Union. However, two developers examining the beta's source code have uncovered a total of eight entirely new CarPlay apps.

CarPlay app and alert icons found in the iOS 17.4 beta (Source: Steve Moser)

In alphabetical order, they are:

• Auto Settings -- a System Settings for the car


• Car Camera -- displaying a feed from the car's rear camera (if it has one)


• Charge -- battery level and charging status for EVs


• Climate -- A/C, heating and so on


• Closures -- notification that one or more doors are open


• Media -- radio stations and others including SiriusXM


• Tire Pressure -- including low pressure warnings


• Trips

Calling some of these apps is generous, since the driver is never going to launch the Closures app, for instance. So instead it's practically just a notification, which presumably could be just part of CarPlay instead of a separate app.

The last one, however, is potentially something a driver will use more often. The Trips app works to replace a car's usual display of fuel or battery usage, average speed, plus acting as a trip counter measuring distance travelled.

This data will still be gathered by the car's systems, but this all fits with the aim that CarPlay provides a driver with all of the car's details as well as all of its entertainment and navigation options.

The eight apps were uncovered by Steve Moser and Aaron Perris, of MacRumors.



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jeff fields

That Media app will be a godsend. The UI for SiriusXM, on every car I have ever seen, is incredibly awful. Having another way to control SiriusXM would be a huge improvement.

notwichred

So will this work on any car that uses CarPlay?  Or only new cars that integrate some sort of API going forward?

Xed

notwichred said:

So will this work on any car that uses CarPlay?  Or only new cars that integrate some sort of API going forward?

That's a good question. My guess is that it's only with the newer implementations of CarPlay coming down the line, which likely means BMW first.

byronl

notwichred said:

So will this work on any car that uses CarPlay?  Or only new cars that integrate some sort of API going forward?

only new cars that adopt the new generation carplay apple announced in wwdc 2022

dewme

I truly appreciate all the effort Apple is putting into CarPlay. Now if Apple could only convince automakers to use CarPlay as their native infotainment system we'd all be much better off. Until Apple makes its own car, if they ever do, we will always be at the twisted mercy of the automakers and their own highly convoluted homegrown infotainment systems. Not only are the ones I've used all horrible when it comes to user experience (UX), they distribute the horror far and wide by slicing up functionality across trim lines, option packages, and car models.

Adding Apple CarPlay as an option on certain manufacturer's automobiles provides a little island of semi-sanity in middle of the automakers garbage dump of infotainment confusion. However, in some cases the CarPlay functionality is fully redundant with native functionality and confusion can arise. Also, there are many aspects of the automobile's infotainment system, e.g., maintenance information and system settings, that are outside the touch of CarPlay. From the above article it seems like Apple is trying to fill some of those gaps. At the very least Apple would put everything in one UI space rather than splitting the automobile's functions and controls across hardware buttons, in-dash displays, any number of steering wheel buttons whose location and function varies between car models, even those from a single manufacturer, and then the automaker's own infotainment system. It's a mess that CarPlay current cannot cover up completely. 

I'm sure there are exceptions, perhaps Tesla and the more expensive luxury brands have more cohesiveness and coherent infotainment systems and controls with much better user experiences. Until there is some common model for what information should be provided and how that information should be presented and acted upon it's going to remain a mess as long as the automakers are free to express themselves in so many terrible ways. I'd be happy if they all agreed on the location of the steering wheel, gear shifter, foot pedals, mirrors, starter actuator, gauges, etc. Nope. They couldn't even agree on those simple and fundamental things. Left to their own devices it's hard to imagine that anything will improve. They need Apple to save them us.

iqatedo

dewme said:

I truly appreciate all the effort Apple is putting into CarPlay. Now if Apple could only convince automakers to use CarPlay as their native infotainment system we'd all be much better off. Until Apple makes its own car, if they ever do, we will always be at the twisted mercy of the automakers and their own highly convoluted homegrown infotainment systems. Not only are the ones I've used all horrible when it comes to user experience (UX), they distribute the horror far and wide by slicing up functionality across trim lines, option packages, and car models.

Adding Apple CarPlay as an option on certain manufacturer's automobiles provides a little island of semi-sanity in middle of the automakers garbage dump of infotainment confusion. However, in some cases the CarPlay functionality is fully redundant with native functionality and confusion can arise. Also, there are many aspects of the automobile's infotainment system, e.g., maintenance information and system settings, that are outside the touch of CarPlay. From the above article it seems like Apple is trying to fill some of those gaps. At the very least Apple would put everything in one UI space rather than splitting the automobile's functions and controls across hardware buttons, in-dash displays, any number of steering wheel buttons whose location and function varies between car models, even those from a single manufacturer, and then the automaker's own infotainment system. It's a mess that CarPlay current cannot cover up completely. 

I'm sure there are exceptions, perhaps Tesla and the more expensive luxury brands have more cohesiveness and coherent infotainment systems and controls with much better user experiences. Until there is some common model for what information should be provided and how that information should be presented and acted upon it's going to remain a mess as long as the automakers are free to express themselves in so many terrible ways. I'd be happy if they all agreed on the location of the steering wheel, gear shifter, foot pedals, mirrors, starter actuator, gauges, etc. Nope. They couldn't even agree on those simple and fundamental things. Left to their own devices it's hard to imagine that anything will improve. They need Apple to save them us.

Porsche have now released the electric Macan which features essentially three means of interacting with the vehicle. The underlying driver-side connection is through android auto. However, CarPlay is quite visible and will likely become more so. In fact, added features are available when CarPlay is used over the lesser interface. The third is Porsche's own software. Again, this could well be subsumed by Apple's system, which looks very nice in a Porsche dashboard.

Interesting that performance oriented Porsche now build cars that exhibit slower acceleration than some, much cheaper, cars. Perhaps styling and overall quality will help to differentiate the brand. Apple can help with that. (Disclaimer - I'd buy the Macan in a heartbeat were I in the market.)

iqatedo

Oh - and the fully adaptive air-suspension, standard apparently on US models, must surely make a big difference in any heavy bev.

DreddMidas

I would like to see Apple actually add the track slider functionality to existing Carplay. 

You know, you're listing to a mix or an audiobook, and it's 3 hours long and there's no way to slide the track position to the 2 hour mark. It's absence is utterly baffling and annoying.

avon b7

dewme said:

I truly appreciate all the effort Apple is putting into CarPlay. Now if Apple could only convince automakers to use CarPlay as their native infotainment system we'd all be much better off. Until Apple makes its own car, if they ever do, we will always be at the twisted mercy of the automakers and their own highly convoluted homegrown infotainment systems. Not only are the ones I've used all horrible when it comes to user experience (UX), they distribute the horror far and wide by slicing up functionality across trim lines, option packages, and car models.

Adding Apple CarPlay as an option on certain manufacturer's automobiles provides a little island of semi-sanity in middle of the automakers garbage dump of infotainment confusion. However, in some cases the CarPlay functionality is fully redundant with native functionality and confusion can arise. Also, there are many aspects of the automobile's infotainment system, e.g., maintenance information and system settings, that are outside the touch of CarPlay. From the above article it seems like Apple is trying to fill some of those gaps. At the very least Apple would put everything in one UI space rather than splitting the automobile's functions and controls across hardware buttons, in-dash displays, any number of steering wheel buttons whose location and function varies between car models, even those from a single manufacturer, and then the automaker's own infotainment system. It's a mess that CarPlay current cannot cover up completely. 

I'm sure there are exceptions, perhaps Tesla and the more expensive luxury brands have more cohesiveness and coherent infotainment systems and controls with much better user experiences. Until there is some common model for what information should be provided and how that information should be presented and acted upon it's going to remain a mess as long as the automakers are free to express themselves in so many terrible ways. I'd be happy if they all agreed on the location of the steering wheel, gear shifter, foot pedals, mirrors, starter actuator, gauges, etc. Nope. They couldn't even agree on those simple and fundamental things. Left to their own devices it's hard to imagine that anything will improve. They need Apple to save them us.

It's all going to be relative to the market you are in. 

Apple not having a car business of any kind apart from CarPlay means it has no chance of matching some competitors. 

It's not producing any smart car sensing technologies. It's not producing any smart car silicon and it's ecosystem pales when compared to others.

I've posted this a few times before and it's now outdated (in technology terms) but it is still ahead of what Apple has yet to release. 

https://m.gsmarena.com/aito_m5_harmonyos_system_quick_review-news-54285.php

That was running HarmonyOS 2. Cars like the AITO M9 are running HarmonyOS 4 and ADS 2. 0 with all the latest innovations in sensing and onboard silicon (mini data center, AR-HUD, LiDAR, cameras and projectors, LLM AI...) and all tied into the Huawei cockpit solution. 

Perhaps Tesla has a similarly integrated solution but I haven't read about that.