- The beta iOS 18.4 update adds a third row of applications in Apple Carplay
- Not all infotainment systems are compatible
- The update is welcome, but we are still waiting for news on Carplay 2.0
Some Apple iPhone users already know some of the updates that are certainly minor that the last beta iOS 18.4 update brings with it, including more intelligent priority notifications using Apple Intelligence.
However, there has been a more subtle change in the Apple Carplay experience, which has already been announced and has only been discovered by chance by certain users.
By connecting to the infotainment system of a vehicle, either wireless or via a cable, a thread user (below) found that the display of the Apple Carplay application now displays a third line of Applications on the main screen, with three lines of four increasing the number of applications this can be displayed without having to slip to reveal more.
Post by @jacecraftmiller
Display on the wires
Although Apple Carplay was introduced in March 2014, he really appreciated only many minor updates of his appearance, their sensation and performance, apparently ignoring the fact that many modern vehicles are now delivered with huge infodimentation displays.
The most recent update seems to solve this problem, scaling in proportion to the size of the screen on which it is displayed.
That said, there is currently no news on the parameters necessary to take advantage of the additional row of applications, only that it seems to work on these larger infotainment displays, in particular those who have a portrait orientation.
Carplay 2 cannot come early enough
Apple initially declared that we would see a whole new version of its Carplay system in 2024, but this suggested timeline has already passed and we are still waiting to see what comes next.
Far from being simply a way to reflect a handful of applications of your iPhone, Apple Carplay 2 promises greater integration with all the screens found in a modern vehicle, effectively taking everything, from the group of digital instruments to the system of infotainment.
Apple revealed that he was working with Porsche and Aston Martin on a system specific to the brand which would remain faithful to the inheritance of brands and to the distinct design, but which would effectively form the operating system on which everything works.
This would mean that Apple’s applications and user interface would be available from all digital contact points, including digital instrument binnacles and passenger -oriented touch screens in the front and rear seats.
Porsche is undoubtedly the only car manufacturer to use the power of the Apple automaker toolbox and to extend the Apple Carplay offer in its vehicles so far.
The introduction of more Apple features in its My Porsche application cancels the need to leave Apple Carplay to do things like changing the radio station, heat to cool the cabin and check the vehicle load and other settings .
But this is still a little out of the integration levels that Apple Carplay 2 previously promised, and this could be part of the problem.
In order to take control of an entire dashboard, Apple had to work with notoriously slow automobile manufacturing giants, effectively requesting permission to access both vehicle and users, which is probably some Something that the inherited car manufacturers were not particularly comfortable.
