Apple's brilliance is creating interfaces between humans and machines that people like to use: first the Macintosh, then the iPod, then the iPhone and iPad. Now Apple seems intent on creating a friendly, useable interface for the display in your car. They announced this initiative, called "iOS in the Car," last year, and have information about it and screen shots on their website (see the bottom of the page). It's expected to debut later this year. If you're curious how it will work, a video has now been posted by a developer who has discovered iOS in a Car features buried in iOS 7. What you're seeing in the video is the iOS Simulator that developers use to create apps.
According to the YouTube description, features of iOS in the Car include:
- Supports Multiple Resolutions
- Supports touchscreens (presumably single-touch?), hardware buttons, wheels, and touch pads
- Does not support multitasking—car display will always show same current on-screen app as iPhone (which can be locked/asleep)
- White-listed 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
Obviously, much could change before iOS in the Car makes its appearance, likely to coincide with the arrival of iOS 7.1. But it's fun to see what Apple is doing and how the Maps feature on the in-car display will work in conjunction with the iPhone.
