Apple CarPlay users will soon receive an alert when a siren or horn has been heard

Apple CarPlay is a great way to enjoy some of your favorite iPhone apps and features while driving without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road. It's an infinitely better approach than trying to use your phone in your hands or via something like an in-car phone holder because the car's entertainment system screen is always bigger and within reach. Now, Apple has previewed some new accessibility features that are going to make CarPlay even better and easier to use for everyone.

Apple has previewed a number of new accessibility features that are set to ship later this year, like as part of iOS 18 and other software updates that are expected to be announced next month. In the case of CarPlay, there are multiple new additions to look forward to including Voice Control, Color Filters, and Sound Recognition.

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Sound Recognition will allow drivers or passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing to enable alerts and then be notified if car horns and sirens are heard by the iPhone. That could be a huge feature for people who worry that they will be in front of an ambulance without hearing its sirens, for example.

Another new feature, Color Filters, will help colorblind users by making the CarPlay interface visually easier to use alongside additional accessibility features including Bold Text and Large Text.

The Voice Control feature is exactly what it sounds like, the ability for people to control CarPlay using nothing more than their voice.

Apple didn't specifically say that these new features are coming as part of iOS 18 but it did confirm that they will ship later this year. Given the fact that Apple is expected to announce iOS 18 at WWDC on June 10 and then make it available for download this September, it seems likely that this preview is of features that will ship as part of that software update.

The iOS 18 update, alongside iPadOS 18, macOS 15, and others, is expected to be a big upgrade in terms of AI capabilities. Apple is thought to be working hard on bringing new AI-powered features and capabilities to the iPhone and other platforms in an attempt to better keep up with the competition. To that end, Apple is thought to be close to finalizing a deal with OpenAI that will see ChatGPT form the basis for at least some of the iPhone's future features. With Siri in such dire need of an upgrade things could be about to get very interesting for iPhone owners everywhere.