The next update to Apple’s iOS will include a handy little feature that is designed to show iPhone users what’s going on inside their car. By using Visual Look Up, vehicle occupants will now be able to figure out exactly what the little symbols inside their cars are trying to tell them.
While you, me, and most other enthusiasts are probably aware of what the majority of the little glyphs in our vehicles are saying, to a large portion of the population they may be just as inscrutable as the laundry instruction on clothes tags. Sure, the little engine light seems like it’s clear, but there’s nothing about signs like the bracketed exclamation mark circle that would make it clear to an alien that it’s referring to the parking brake.
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Apple first announced the marquee features of iOS 17 last month, but it took an eagle-eyed observer at Reddit to notice a feature called “Auto Symbol” was hidden away in the updates for the “Visual Look Up” tool. This allows users to find more information (like what flower is this?) about items in the pictures they take.
With the auto symbol feature, users can now quickly determine what a warning light means without having to crack the spine on their owner’s manual and search through the sections. It also provides a quick link to articles with more information in Safari, according to 9to5mac.
Moreover, it doesn’t stop with warning lights. Vehicle dashboards are covered in little images that might be unclear to new drivers (or to old drivers whose vehicles have new features). Per the original Reddit post by u/yahlover, Auto Symbol Look Up can tell iPhone users what the hazard light symbol means, what each of the ventilation options is trying to convey, and what the defrost button is.
While this is a handy little feature, it isn’t particularly unique. Android and iPhone users who have access to Google Lens are already able to look up what these functions mean in much the same way. However, iPhone users who don’t want to bother with that will be able to use Visual Look Up when iOS 17 becomes available in September.
[iOS 17 Dev Beta 1] Visual lookup for Auto Symbols
by u/yahlover in iOSBeta