Ford is updating its in-car Sync platform to potentially enable smartphone users to project the navigation app of their choice onto their vehicle’s touchscreen.
The infotainment platform, which allows users to pair their mobile and driving experience for hands free calls and easy access to music, currently only allows for the use of Ford’s own navigation platform.
That will all change thanks to an update to the Ford AppLink software (v3.0), which will enable the moving graphics that appear within apps like Google and Apple Maps to appear on the in-car screen.
The development suggests Ford will soon be offering support for Apple’s CarPlay platform and Google’s rival Android Auto solution.
However, the rollout isn’t imminent with Ford admitting AppLink 3.0 will not be made available until next year, while app makers will also have to make their apps compatible with the new standard.
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“With each new version of AppLink, we’re improving the in-car experience with better integration of smartphone apps and easier ways for customers to access and control the content they love,” Joe Beiser, Ford director, Connected Services for Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa said in a press release (via The Verge)
“The next version, AppLink 3.0, leverages open-source SmartDeviceLink functionality to give developers a method to project graphics – such as maps – onto our vehicle touch screens.”
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