Image: Apple
Apple is planning to make its CarPlay App capable to pay for gas.
THe company has unveiled a significant update for CarPlay due later in the year, In the meantime the tech giant has started working with partners to implement an innovative feature that allows users to pay for gas right inside the company’s infotainment system.
While the possibility of purchasing fuel with CarPlay was announced at sessions for developers at WWDC earlier in the month but it didn’t receive the attention it deserved until recently when the energy giant HF Sinclair announced plans to use the feature at its gas stations across the U.S.
HF Sinclair disclosed to Reuters they will reveal more details on the project will be made public in the next few weeks, however the main concept is that instead having pay with your credit card in the stationery store, consumers can purchase gas using an app called CarPlay. There will be an initial setup process, in which you’ll have to install the app and input the details for your payment first. Once you’ve set everything up and you’re able choose a specific pump on your screen and refill without having to take out your wallet.
In the midst of a major upgrade to CarPlay Apple’s move to let you purchase gas online is part of larger efforts to incorporate additional third-party services as it seeks to broaden the scope of its auto platform. In a press release by Reuters, Asymco analyst Horace Dedie stated that, given the popularity of CarPlay the strategy may make a bigger impact than Apple’s long-rumored plans to develop an own EV.
“Forget about Apple Car – Apple CarPlay is a bigger deal,” Dediu stated. “It’s very likely to scale to millions and millions of cars, if not hundreds of millions.” But it’s not all that easy, as Google considering a variety of improvements for Android Auto and Android Auto, it seems that the battle between in-car infotainment systems is only beginning to get heated.