Australian police are relying on CarPlay to keep people safe

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Australian Motorola Carplay Lifestyle
Australian Motorola Carplay Lifestyle (Image credit: Motorola)

What you need to know

  • Western Australian police cars are now making use of CarPlay to give officers access to information.
  • Motorola Solutions has integrated CarPlay support into the existing OnceForce Core application.
  • The CarPlay support includes voice input for hands-free use.

Police in Western Australia are now using Apple CarPlay as they work to keep members of the public safe. The move is part of a wider technology integration provided by Motorola Solutions.

Announced via a press release, Motorola Solutions says the new CarPlay integration is the "world's first public safety mobile application to operate within" the iPhone-based entertainment system.

The new integration with the existing OneForce Core application means that police officers can "manage key operational workflows from within their police vehicles through CarPlay," the statement notes. Drivers can also make use of hands-free control using nothing more than their voice.

"When public safety professionals require access to vital, life-saving information, it must be as intuitive and frictionless as possible," [Motorola Solutiuons' Mahesh Saptharishi] said. By leveraging new interactions with familiar technology interfaces such as CarPlay, we remove complexity from the high-stress situations responders face and help them maintain focus on their mission. We are proud to introduce this new capability which forms an important part of WA Police's digital policing strategy," he said.

Apple CarPlay takes an iPhone and projects a customized version of its interface onto a car's screen, whether that's via a cable or a wireless connection. Apps need to be built specifically for CarPlay, with mapping apps and music streaming services normally the most popular. However, the technology does also allow for more creative solutions — like the one Motorola Solutions has come up with.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.