New CarPlay Apps Are Coming
Another cool thing coming to your iPhone is a new and improved experience with CarPlay. Instead of just a couple of features, iOS 17.4’s beta version shows that there are eight new apps in the works.
While it may be a while before you get a car that supports Apple’s new CarPlay 2.0, Apple is already making some improvements in iOS 17.4 with several new apps for integrating with your car’s systems:
- Charge: This is a new app that will show you your electric car’s battery level, as well as charging times and other features.
- Auto Settings: This is a new app that will help you adjust your vehicle settings from your iPhone and manage all the iPhones that are paired to it.
- Climate: This car will be in charge of your vehicle’s climate. That is, you’ll be able to control the temperature of your car, check its current temperature, and even change the fan speeds and heat in your seats or steering wheel.
- Car Camera: As you can guess by its name, this app will let you access your car’s camera.
- Trips: No, this app won’t help you make trips on the go. Instead, it’ll help you check and manage data related to your driving. You’ll be able to check your average speed, fuel or energy efficiency, the distance traveled, and so much more.
- Closures: This is a pretty straightforward app that will notify you if any of your doors are open.
- Media: This app will let you control FM and AM radio stations—like in the good ol’ days—as well as give you access to SiriusXM and other options.
- Tire Pressure: As you can probably guess, this app will show you the current air pressure of your tires and notify you if there is low pressure or if you have a flat tire.
Again, you’ll need a new CarPlay 2.0 vehicle to take advantage of these features, as they require much tighter integration from automakers than Apple’s standard CarPlay. However, iOS 17.4 also adds one nice bonus for folks who have a dual-display system that supports CarPlay, letting you move your Apple Maps turn-by-turn directions to the instrument cluster behind your steering wheel, where they’ll be easier to follow, rather than just seeing the birds-eye route overview there.