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Apple iOS 7 beta update hints at upcoming 'car display' feature

A new setting in one of the operating system's menus suggests a car integration feature will be released sooner rather than later.

Richard Nieva Former senior reporter
Richard Nieva was a senior reporter for CNET News, focusing on Google and Yahoo. He previously worked for PandoDaily and Fortune Magazine, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, on CNNMoney.com and on CJR.org.
Richard Nieva
Apple

Apple on Friday released a second version of its iOS 7.1 beta to registered developers. It's an incremental update that fixes some bugs and moves some things around. For example, TouchID and passcode settings are displayed more prominently.

But one nugget worth noting is a setting in the "restrictions" menu that lets a user turn the "Car Display" on and off. The addition of the toggle setting suggests that Apple may release its "iOS in the Car" feature sooner rather than later. The car integration feature, according to 9to5Mac, will let users attach an iOS device to a car's console and provide an interface that lets them control things like music, messages, and maps right through the vehicle.

Sources also told 9to5Mac that there were other references to "iOS in the Car" elsewhere in the new beta update, and in the first iOS 7.1 beta update, released to developers last month. Apple's car integration launch could of course be pushed back, but it looks like the goal is to take the wraps off alongside the wide rollout of iOS 7.1.

(Via 9to5Mac)