This wasn’t an issue at Apple’s keynote on Monday, but there are also some changes for the CarPlay car interface in iOS 18. The iPhone maker also revealed more details about the next-generation CarPlay during the WWDC developer conference. Which will be used in the first vehicles of this year. In the future, the holistic approach to CarPlay will include not only entertainment system screens but also on-board devices.
Changes to previous CarPlay mainly affect small details. In the future, contact photos of senders will be displayed in the Messages app and in displayed push messages – previously there was only the name. Also new is that in the future the iPhone can be automatically muted or unmuted via CarPlay settings.
Apple is integrating colour filters into CarPlay as a new operating aid. These are intended to help compensate for visual impairments such as red/green blindness. Since iOS 18, CarPlay can be fully controlled via voice control through Siri voice commands. New noise detection was already announced, which can, for example, indicate a siren via a notification.
New details about the next generation CarPlay
Apple also revealed some more details about the next generation of CarPlay. Major expansion of CarPlay announced for 2022 It should be used in the first cars this year. Apple now provided the information at WWDC in one session That’s about how extensively car manufacturers can customize the appearance of virtual devices. However, it should be kept in mind that users have the choice between the classic CarPlay display and the next-generation CarPlay. As a result, the user interface must be rendered twice – once for the car and once for CarPlay.
Regarding the next-generation CarPlay system architecture, Apple showed In WWDC session How the interface is fed from different sources is a challenge for developers. While classic widgets are provided by the iPhone as a remote UI, real-time instruments such as the speedometer are rendered by an OpenGL-based renderer in the vehicle itself. This is to ensure that all critical equipment does not fail as a result of losing connection to the iPhone while driving. Apple speaks of a “local UI” here.
