Carplay Redesign

AUTO OS RETHINK

Leveraging Apple Watch Complications in the Car, Reworking the App Picker Model

design problem. how can the current format of Apple's CarPlay be improved for more optimal driving conditions?

design solution. by allowing the three main use cases to always have real estate on screen, you eliminate unneeded interaction.

The key problem with how CarPlay works right now is it's reliance on the app picker model from iOS. The app picker on the phone assumes two things: (1) each app needs the whole screen (2) your attention is generally completely on the phone when using it to pick an app on your home screen. 

When using CarPlay, it can be frustrating to switch back and forth between apps to do small things. For example, a driver and a passenger are listening to a song while using the navigation. The song is playing in the background, and Maps is the selected app with interface o the screen. But I need to pause the music to discuss something with my passenger. As of iOS 10.3, I could select on the quick apps in the sidebar, which would quickly switch from navigation app to the music app, where I could select the pause button. Then, I would have to select the Maps app from the sidebar to get my navigation app to take up the screen again. And I would have to repeat this process again when I want to turn my music back on. 

That's a total of 8 touches to accomplish what I want: to pause the music while maintaining navigation.

The idea for my redesign is to eliminate some of that friction from use, which I think would help solve two problems with using CarPlay: (1) Less touches means less opportunity for the driver to become distracted or too involved in interacting with the touchscreen while driving. (2) Using CarPlay while driving less of a chore and more fluid, a better user experience.

Moving the quick app switcher to the right side, and expanding the sections to be able to display more information and even quick controls, allows CarPlay to eliminate the friction for the three main use cases of the in car system. The 8 touches needed in my example turn into 2: 1) press pause in the media widget 2) press play in the media widget. Fast app switch is still possible by selection the app icon in the widget.

Since moving the quick apps leaves an empty space on the left side, this is where Apple Watch complications could go. Apple Watch complications have become one of the most useful aspects of the watch, and I believe that by adding them to Carplay, Apple could leverage them to help it’s Carplay product. It would be Apple bringing Apple Watch features ‘Back to the Car’.

Lastly, move the clock to the top of the screen. I first heard this idea from Casey Feldman, who pointed out: "CarPlay currently has no way of getting to the top of a list (or tableview/collection view), but by keeping the status bar at the top and making it recognize touches you have a familiar phone behavior now available in the car! Typically the clock sits at top, and this just makes the whole experience feel more robust and efficient."

Tools Used

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