Coding For Cars: The Next Generation of Mobile Apps

snydeq writes Developers will need to rethink UIs, connection strategies, and how to capitalize on new data streams — especially as autonomous cars start rolling off the lots, writes InfoWorld's Peter Wayner, in a forward-thinking article on developing apps for cars, including autonomous cars to come. "Delivering data to cars, autonomous or not, will take a whole new way of thinking. Rectangles will always be rectangles, but automobile network connections are spotty and the user interface needs to compete — if that's the right word — with the objects on the road for the right amount of attention from the driver. Here are eight ways developers will need to rethink their app strategies when it comes to delivering apps for cars."

Comments

UI Needs to compete?

[GrahamCox]

the user interface needs to compete

No. A thousand times no. The UI of in-car equipment must not compete in any way for the driver's attention. A good UI would require no sight at all, but would provide a consistent placement, easy to find without taking your eyes off the key task you have as a driver - driving, provide consistent and non-visual feedback, and work 100% reliably every time. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you... the "switch".

Re:UI Needs to compete?

[AuMatar]

I wish I had some modpointa today. Competing for driver attention=causingcrashes=people die. Unless your app is for passengers only, it shouldn't fucking exist.

Re:UI Needs to compete?

[grimmjeeper]

I think they're talking about how to target advertisements at people once they are letting their autonomous car drive and they don't need to focus attention on the road.

I'm pretty sure they don't need to rebuild the existing mobile infrastructure to stream data to people in their cars. Passengers seem to be doing just fine with the apps on their mobile devices while the driver is worrying about the car.

Besides, autonomous cars are a very long ways off. Sure, we'll be getting more and more safety features as they work towards autonomy. And we'll get closer to autonomy over the years. But the last thing we want to do is to throw in a bunch of distracting crap while the driver still needs to stay focused on the road. For the passengers? Sure. Adding features for people who have no responsibility for controlling the vehicle is something that someone would buy. But until we have truly autonomous cars and the driver is 100% taken out of the loop, the last thing we need is a computer bombarding the driver with distractions.

Why will a car have much UI at all

[SuperKendall]

If you think about a real driverless car, why would it have much UI at all?

I would think, a screen that would tell you where it was going, an estimated time, and some way to select music.

Mostly it would be told where to go through voice and verify by showing you a map.

More complex things could be done with a tablet or phone app. The UI of the car doesn't need to compete with anything, because it's just a transport you are traveling in.