In the upgrade of OTA 2.2, an application center has been added to the infotainment system of the Ideal ONE, which is an important step for the ecosystem of Ideal’s applications. This means that car owners can operate in-car applications like operating mobile phone applications.
However, since the in-car infotainment system and mobile phones belong to two different user scenarios, there may be some differences in actual use. Based on my recent usage, I have summarized some Q&A about the application center function for everyone.
How do I download an app?
The entrance to the Ideal application center is located in the desktop card of the central console screen, swipe left to see the application center icon. After entering, there are 9 apps that have been verified and adapted to provide download services. Click the “Install” button to download. The download speed is determined by the current network. Generally, it takes about 30 seconds to complete the download and installation.
Applications installed in the application center will belong to either the central console or the co-pilot function area. You can view their ownership in the “My” section of the application center.
How do I delete an app?
After downloading, some car owners thought that the app cannot be deleted because they did not find the delete button. On the details page of each app in the application center, scroll down to find the word “Uninstall”.
Why do I need to re-download apps after updating to OTA 2.2?
Before this OTA version, the installation programs of apps that came with the infotainment system such as iQiyi and Ximalaya were put together with the system installation package. With more apps coming online in the future, continuing to put them together with the system installation package would result in a larger package. The larger the package, the more challenging the decompression time and difficulty. Therefore, beginning with OTA 2.2, the application package and the system installation package were separated. Re-downloading of apps will not be required for future OTA updates. This separation allows both the application and the system installation packages to load more efficiently.
What is the purpose of automatic updates in the application center?There is an auto-update switch in the Settings of the App Center. After turning on this feature, the installed apps will be updated automatically when the vehicle is idle. It is recommended that users enable this feature because each app’s optimization and updates can be independently completed through the App Center, without relying on OTA releases, ensuring everyone experiences the latest versions of the apps in real-time.
Is it possible to freely adjust the size and position of desktop app cards?
The size of the central control screen app cards is fixed and cannot be adjusted. However, their position can be easily dragged around by long-pressing them. Users can group different app cards together based on their usage habits for added convenience. Users have suggested a preference for the square card design of QQ Music, which has already been considered and planned for in the future.
Can QQ Music, Gaode Map, and Tencent Map be deleted?
QQ Music, Gaode Navigation, and Tencent Navigation are “old-school” apps that come bundled with the ideal vehicle system as standard. These apps are programmed to be interdependent with the vehicle system’s various features, especially mapping applications. Therefore, they cannot be separately downloaded or deleted. The upcoming Baidu Map will also adhere to this principle.
Will having all apps downloaded slow down the vehicle system?
Downloading all apps onto the vehicle system will not affect its running speed because the apps are not running simultaneously. The system’s working speed may only be impacted during scenarios where multiple apps are running simultaneously. The system can accommodate several applications to run concurrently without slowing down, as seen in situations where music is playing, navigation is in progress, the passenger is using Bluetooth audio, and a movie is playing after activating Ideal Student.
How much space is available for downloading apps on vehicle systems?
The vehicle system’s download space is up to 64GB. An average car app size is around 20MB, but the system caches enough space for each app, so there is relatively sufficient download space for everyone, and users need not worry.
What is the most hardware-intensive feature across various types of apps?
It might surprise you that the danmaku animation feature when playing videos on Bilibili is the most hardware-intensive across different types of apps. Users can choose to turn off danmaku if they prefer.
Which apps will be released in the future? Do they need to be updated with OTA?
In the future, the Ideal ONE will introduce applications such as Baidu Maps, Tencent Video, Mango TV, Uncle Kai Storytelling, Fan Deng Reading Club, Aha Road Book, Lazy Man Music, and Beva Kids. Except for Baidu Maps, other applications can be updated independently and do not require OTA updates.
Usually, it takes about 6 months from the approval of a new app to its launch, including confirming cooperation intentions, exchanging specification and design documents, development, application release, beta testing, and formal launch. We hope that you can give us more time. The stability and security requirements of each in-car application are higher than those of mobile applications. The application ecology team will ensure the safety and stability of each app.
The above is a summary of the Ideal Application Center Q&A. If you have any further questions or concerns about the Application Center, please leave a message. Our product managers have been paying attention to your needs.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.