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

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,847



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
Click to expand...
ios_car_7_1.jpg
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.

Article Link: New Video Shows 'iOS in the Car' Functionality from iOS 7.0.3 in Action
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/28/ios-in-the-car-video/
OldSchoolMacGuy

OldSchoolMacGuy

Suspended
Jul 10, 2008
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Looking forward to using this with my AppRadio 3. Already do stuff along these lines with it but an integrated implementation will be nice too.
 
aforty

aforty

macrumors 65816
Nov 27, 2007
1,481
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Brooklyn, NY
As someone who takes mass transit and doesn't even own a car: this (and Apple Maps in general) is completely useless to me.
 
Lapidus

Lapidus

macrumors regular
May 14, 2012
202
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Wish we could integrate this in cars that will not support iOS in the car.
 
B

blackcrayon

macrumors 68020
Mar 10, 2003
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Main question I have is how this can be retrofit to those ancient, rusty, 2013 and 2014 vehicles out there that have in dash screens but no iOS goodness :) Wondering if I'll have to add an aftermarket video input and an Apple TV otherwise.
 
Z

zedsdead

macrumors 68040
Jun 20, 2007
3,403
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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.
 
Menel

Menel

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Aug 4, 2011
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Derekeys said:
Time to go buy a new car... :eek:
Click to expand...

Show me a new car with this feature?

----------
zedsdead said:
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.
Click to expand...
Apple will not. But others will. Pioneer (and I think Kenwood) have noted they are working on it.
 
Z

zedsdead

macrumors 68040
Jun 20, 2007
3,403
1,147
Menel said:
Show me a new car with this feature?

----------


Apple will not. But others will. Pioneer (and I think Kenwood) have noted they are working on it.
Click to expand...

I hope so, but Apple has been so mum on this feature it is getting annoying. They announced it, and it would have been nice to have some info. Maybe at WWDC.
 
anthonymoody

anthonymoody

macrumors 68040
Aug 8, 2002
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Derekeys said:
Time to go buy a new car... :eek:
Click to expand...

It's funny. Of all the reasons to get a new car, a new in-dash experience wasn't something I contemplated until this. I figure I have 3 more years in my current ride so by then the in-car interface for this should be more or less ubiquitous.

It never made sense to bake so much tech directly into cars as it was outmoded almost instantly and next to impossible to update (best case: a costly new maps dvd), so transferring the brains to an iOS device with the car serving as a dumb terminal makes a ton of sense.

That said, they'll still have to put some tech in the car for those times you forget your iPhone, or *gasp* if you don't own one.
 
SmileyBlast!

SmileyBlast!

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2011
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blackcrayon said:
Main question I have is how this can be retrofit to those ancient, rusty, 2013 and 2014 vehicles out there that have in dash screens but no iOS goodness :) Wondering if I'll have to add an aftermarket video input and an Apple TV otherwise.
Click to expand...

Maybe some of those aftermarket in dash DVD player with the flip out/up screens would make this. It could replace your stereo and stock GPS with a touch screen that is in concert with your iPhone.

Look up an address on the phone. Get in the car and it is ready to navigate to your last found destination. I was hoping something like that could have worked with existing Garmin GPS'.
 
Sky Blue

Sky Blue

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Jan 8, 2005
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I wonder of there will be in event in March to demo this and announce the new Apple TV?
 
6

639051

Cancelled
Nov 8, 2011
967
1,267
Have they actually improved maps well enough to make someone want to use it to navigate?

The last time I used it (just a couple months ago) it took me several miles away from the location I intended to arrive at. A GPS isn't worth a penny if it doesn't actually give proper directions.
 
I

iamtrip

macrumors newbie
Apr 8, 2010
16
0
I wonder why they chose "Kiev" as the city in the screenshots. And why pick that particular route. It seems needlessly political....
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
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BklynKid said:
As someone who takes mass transit and doesn't even own a car: this (and Apple Maps in general) is completely useless to me.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you have to be in NYC, because I can't think of any other city on earth where you'd really think you can live your entire life in the single city. I do 95+% of my traveling by public transit, but I still own a car for when I want to go someplace that the transit system doesn't go, or I want to go there at a time when it doesn't.

My car obviously doesn't support iOS in the car, but maybe I'll spring for it in my next car (probably at least 3 years away... My current car is still running quite well.)
 
M

MikhailT

macrumors 601
Nov 12, 2007
4,582
1,325
Is it me or does the iOS in the Car actually looks better than the iOS 7's design? I prefer the dark transparent bar with the white/blue-ish textual buttons there than the current ugly blue on white.
 
brand

brand

macrumors 601
Oct 3, 2006
4,390
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127.0.0.1
BklynKid said:
As someone who takes mass transit and doesn't even own a car: this (and Apple Maps in general) is completely useless to me.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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