Apple wants to expand CarPlay to control more features of your car
Apple wants to gain control over more of the features of your car, and is looking at ways to use the CarPlay system to control seating, environmental systems, and the radio itself.
CarPlay in iOS 15
The initiative, reportedly called "IronHeart," appears to be an attempt to unify remote control of car features into CarPlay. It's not clear how far along the effort is, nor if it will ever see the light of day.
The report, published by Bloomberg on Thursday, says that the initiative could be used for seat positioning, surround sound system adjustment, fans, defrosters, and inside temperature display and control. Reportedly, Apple wants access to the speedometer, fuel levels, and the tachometer as well.
Third-party applications exist now for many of the features, but where they exist, they are developed by the car manufacturer itself.
The report cautions that the effort is only in its early stages. There is at present no unified standard for remote control of environmental systems or seat controls. The effort will require the carmakers to work with Apple, and they have historically been reticent to do so.
CarPlay itself is still typically limited to the higher-end of any given manufacturer's car line. It's also not clear how much inroads third-party infotainment system replacements with CarPlay have made, or how much the features are being used.
In iOS 15, Apple expanded CarKey to utilize Apple's ultra-wideband U1 chip found on recent devices. Coming soon to iOS 15 is Siri announcing messages as they arrive, a revamped Maps experience, and more.
Read on AppleInsider
CarPlay in iOS 15
The initiative, reportedly called "IronHeart," appears to be an attempt to unify remote control of car features into CarPlay. It's not clear how far along the effort is, nor if it will ever see the light of day.
The report, published by Bloomberg on Thursday, says that the initiative could be used for seat positioning, surround sound system adjustment, fans, defrosters, and inside temperature display and control. Reportedly, Apple wants access to the speedometer, fuel levels, and the tachometer as well.
Third-party applications exist now for many of the features, but where they exist, they are developed by the car manufacturer itself.
The report cautions that the effort is only in its early stages. There is at present no unified standard for remote control of environmental systems or seat controls. The effort will require the carmakers to work with Apple, and they have historically been reticent to do so.
CarPlay itself is still typically limited to the higher-end of any given manufacturer's car line. It's also not clear how much inroads third-party infotainment system replacements with CarPlay have made, or how much the features are being used.
In iOS 15, Apple expanded CarKey to utilize Apple's ultra-wideband U1 chip found on recent devices. Coming soon to iOS 15 is Siri announcing messages as they arrive, a revamped Maps experience, and more.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
It is hardly a “premium” feature unless you are getting ripped off by GM, Toyota or BMW. GM charges for CarPlay on Crapillacs, but when you are selling Chevy Trucks as a luxury vehicle you are not dealing with the brightest of customers.
If the car you are buying charges for CarPlay you are dealing with the wrong car company.
Some companies charge for it because the sheeple tolerate it.
BMW charges you after a couple of years for it, many Government Motors models sell it as part of a package. Toyota/Lexus also charge or have in the past.
Car manufacturerers are doing their utmost to keep them out of the driving seat and offer their own, more sophisticted and integrated solutions
The ODBII interface allows Apple or anyone to read car parameters, speed, etc. but I don't believe and the article mentions there is not a standard across vendors, e.g. getCurrentSpeed(). Additionally, some features are secured and will require the manufacture to provide open access.
I actually had a check engine light yesterday. It gave me the code, I was able to lookup the code to find out what it was, and then Reset it to clear the code. Depending on what features the car has, it can also retain stuff like door chimes and Onstar for GMs, SiriusXM, the factory USB, and even the sync system in Fords.
I think building these features or atleast allowing CarPlay to access these features would actually benefit both the Manufacturer and the Consumer in that, it gives a much more seemless expierence, but would also promote safety by allowing Siri to control those features of the car.