Ford Motor Company officially released its next-generation in-car entertainment system – Ford and Lincoln Digital Experience on January 22. Although Ford will continue to enhance its native experience, it will also expand support for CarPlay and Android Auto.
This system, developed by Ford, aims to provide a faster, more personalized, and seamless in-car experience, and to pave the way for upcoming electric and autonomous vehicles.
The new system’s standout feature is its outstanding speed and smoothness. Ford says the system’s graphic processing speed has increased 14 times compared to the previous SYNC system, and storage capacity has increased 8 times. In addition, the system also supports real-time traffic conditions through Google Maps. IT Home noticed another important feature of the new system is its customizability. Users can customize the display of key information, such as media, weather, and fuel consumption, on the large 48-inch panoramic screen. In addition, the system supports driver profiles, automatically loading each person’s personalized settings. Ford’s new in-car entertainment software is rich in features, including applications like Spotify, Prime Video, and integrated Google Maps. It can install apps through Google Play, has built-in Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and supports games like Asphalt Nitro 2, which can be controlled with a Bluetooth game controller.
Ford did not abandon CarPlay like General Motors did, instead bringing good news to CarPlay users. As part of the all-new Ford and Lincoln digital experience, Ford has added support for dual-screen Apple Maps for the first time. This means that when drivers start Apple Maps navigation on the central screen, the map interface will expand to the dashboard display screen.
Apple added dual-screen support to CarPlay back in 2019, allowing automakers to extend the CarPlay interface to the dashboard display. However, the adoption of this feature has been very slow. Apple Maps can also coexist with Ford’s native interface on the central control screen, appearing as a tile next to the Ford native application. Ford has repeatedly emphasized their strong partnership with Apple. The company stated that they are not only committed to retaining CarPlay, but also to making it even better. Ford announced that the all-new in-car entertainment system will first appear on the 2024 Lincoln Navigator SUV, and will be applied to more models in the future. Ford did not disclose a specific list of models, but stated that more details will be announced in the coming weeks.