Never lose your car again! Apple patents app to track your car - even when it’s parked underground with no phone signal
- California-based company is planning an app to locate parked cars
- It will track when a user exits a car and then direct them back later on
- The app will work without a network connection, instead using Bluetooth
- This means that even if a car is parked underground it could be found
- Google already has its own version of the service integrated in Google Now
Most people have, at some point in their life, experienced the panic induced when they forget where their car is parked.
But Apple have planned a solution in the form of an app that reveals where your car is hiding.
And what’s more, the app doesn’t need an internet connection - so you’ll be able to find your car even if it’s lost in an underground car park.
California-based Apple is planning an app for iOS devices to locate parked cars. It will track when a user exits a car and then direct them back later on. In this image from the patent application, it shows how it can track when a user has exited a car and save its location
The move was revealed in a series of patent applications from the Cupertino-based company by Apple Insider.
Published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, the filings show that the service - which would likely be integrated with Apple Maps - can accurately locate a car.
And using device to car connectivity, an internet connection would not be needed.
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It’s believed the service will not be too dissimilar to that offered by Google Now.
The app will be able to tell when the user is driving in a car, and can then work out when they have stopped and exited the vehicle.
This lets it know that the user has parked, and it provides a ‘pin’ on a map so the car can easily be located accurately.
The pin can also be manually removed or moved as needed.
When the user then needs to return to their car, they load up the app and directions are shown for them on their iOS device.
When the user is ready to return to the car the app will show the user which way to walk and give directions, as outlined in this image from the patent application
The app will also work without a network connection, instead using Bluetooth for car to device connectivity. This means that even if a car is parked underground (stock image shown) it could be found
However, where it differs from Google’s service is that Apple would enable such location services without the need for a network connection or GPS.
This could be done by connecting to the car via Bluetooth, allowing the app to direct the user towards it.
In the absence of internet, Apple Insider reports that the app will use a few tricks to locate the car.
For example, it can combine sporadic GPS data with information from an iPhone’s accelerometer to deduce how far the user is from the car.
There's no news yet on when the service will be rolled out, but it is just one of several innovations that Apple is planning as part of its 'Car Play' initiative.
It is planning to integrate other services like Siri into cars to make iOS and vehicles more connected than ever.
Google already has its own version of the service integrated in Google Now, but it's believed Apple is now planning to roll out its own service for iOS devices (stock image shown)
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