Apple has revealed more about its updated CarPlay offering, which will arrive later this year and offer car brands the opportunity to further integrate vehicle functionality into their software.
During several coding sessions at the recent WWDC 2024, Apple went into detail about what the next generation of CarPlay will look and feel like, including confirming the fact that the overall design will be easily adapted to match the manufacturers' branding. of current automobiles.
This will be done by allowing vehicle interior designers to create custom graphics, logos and instrument cluster designs that fit the overall feel and vibe of a brand. You can see a gallery of visualizations of what CarPlay will look like below.
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What's more, there will be a host of new apps that will help deliver on Apple's promise of greater vehicle control from its CarPlay environment.
A video that delves into the architecture of the next-generation CarPlay software revealed that vehicle settings will be available from within the ecosystem, and drivers will be able to change things, such as driving mode or assistance functions, from an app easily accessible that is active. within the ecosystem.
The recognizable home screen, which currently only displays a handful of vehicle-friendly apps, will be expanded to include home buttons for climate control, as well as shortcuts for controlling the temperature from the home screen.
In addition to this, there will be pop-up notifications for EV drivers, indicating charging status and remaining charging times, as well as integration with rear-facing cameras and other parking assist features.
The best of both worlds?
Although Apple has not yet set an exact date for the launch of its next-generation CarPlay, it is keen to point out that the new system will be able to play content from both the iPhone and anything delivered by the vehicle itself.
The result is a complex layout of information that appears seamlessly on the numerous driver displays that now adorn the interiors of modern vehicles.
However, Apple stated in one of its WWDC24 videos that the amount of vehicle data that can be projected within the CarPlay environment will depend on the amount of vehicle information that said automaker is willing to provide.
So while it looks like we're finally getting the in-car Apple ecosystem that many drivers have been asking for for years, the experience will still be different depending on which car you drive.
That said, both Aston Martin and Porsche have previously teased what future Apple CarPlay will look like in their respective upcoming vehicles, indicating that those models could be the first to offer a glimpse of what more iOS functionality will look like.
