Back in December, Honda announced new HondaLink apps and functionality to allow iOS devices to integrate with the new 2014 Civic and upcoming 2015 Fit, and MacRumors recently sat down with a Honda representative to walk through the system that offers solid integration for several features but unsurprisingly does not yet achieve the vision of iOS in the Car.
The HondaLink experience for iOS arrives in the form of four App Store apps: a Connect app that serves as the hub for passing information such as weather, location searches, and Honda service information from the iPhone to the car, an Aha app that offers an interface to the streaming music service, a Launcher app that will allow approved third-party apps to interface with HondaLink, and a $59.99 Navigation app that offers turn-by-turn GPS navigation powered by Nokia's HERE services.
Users connect their devices to the HondaLink system through a setup that requires Apple's Lightning Digital AV Adapter and then HDMI and Lightning-to-USB cables to connect to ports on the car's dash. An initial pairing process is required on first connection, but subsequent connections are simply plug and play unless authorization for a new app is required.
Running everything through the user's iPhone offers a number of benefits, most notably with the navigation services. While it does require an upfront $59.99 purchase for the app, Honda is able to remotely push map updates and deliver other updates to the service free of charge through the App Store. Many built-in navigation services require regular paid software upgrades to ensure up-to-date map coverage, with updates being offered relatively infrequently.
While the HondaLink platform currently supports traditional in-car functions like navigation, music, and phone calls, the Launcher app structure opens the door to other third-party apps. Honda has so far declined to announce any such apps, but noted to MacRumors that such apps will have to undergo an approval process in order to ensure adequate safeguards against driver distraction and that they meet other standards for integrating with HondaLink.
Clearly many Apple fans are holding out hope for a true iOS in the Car experience, where familiar user interface elements and functionality will find a home on car dashboards, but even if iOS support for the feature arrives soon it is likely to be some time before iOS in the Car becomes widely available. In the meantime, the new HondaLink offers some of those same conveniences as a welcome addition for iPhone owners.
Article Link: HondaLink Offers Partial Car-iPhone Integration Ahead of Apple's 'iOS in the Car' Initiative