Apple’s Corporate Culture Delaying ‘iOS in the Car’ Program [Report]

According to The Information’s Jessica E. Lessin, Apple’s organizational issues are believed to be causing delay in the public rollout of ‘iOS in the Car’ feature, AppleInsider is reporting. The source claims that Apple executives “didn’t quite know what to do” with the iOS in the Car program, which is said to add “pressure on non-hardware products that do not fit within existing teams”.

“Even in the lead-up to iOS in the Car’s high-profile unveiling at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference last June, executives were reportedly still unsure about the product’s future. The iOS in the Car group was forced to “lobby hard” for stage time, sources told the publication. 

Following that announcement, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the initiative “very, very important” and a “key focus” for the company heading into 2014. Despite those assurances, however, development appears to have remained slow”.

The report also points out that Apple’s alliances with major manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari have failed to show any progress so far, and announcements from other automakers have been few and far between. As of now, only Siri Eyes Free functionality has made it into production vehicles.

Just yesterday, iOS developer Steve Throughton-Smith uploaded a video showing the much anticipated iOS in the Car feature in action. The video showed the feature being run in the iOS Simulator software for developers, with the in-dash display represented by a separate window.