iOS 7.1 HFP Prompts Feature Plays Navigation Prompts Over Your Car’s Speakers

Apple released iOS 7.1 from a few days, and it brought along several enhancements including CarPlay, Siri, Touch ID reliability improvements and several other bug fixes. Mike Piontek, a developer, now says the new firmware has Maps that include a feature called ‘HFP Prompts’, which allow users to play navigation prompts over the speakers of their cars through Bluetooth, when if the phone is not used as an audio source. This means the user doesn’t have to configure HFP Prompts and similar audio settings.

The switch can turn on HFP Prompts in Apple Maps, only when the phone is connected through Bluetooth to the car’s stereo. It can be activated by launching maps, starting a route and tapping the audio button at the bottom right. A panel will then launch, where you will see volume settings for voice navigation and just below it, HFP Prompts with the Output section.

The feature also depends on the model of the car and the software it supports:

“When supported by your car, HFP allows navigation prompts to play over you car speakers even when iPhone is not selected as the audio source,” explains Apple.

It’s just as receiving a phone call from the Bluetooth system of your car – the feature instructs your car to connect to your device whenever the voice direction is required to be played. The user can then listen to radio stations or to music through the built in car audio system and also hear spoken directions.

A poster on MacRumors forums confirmed that these prompts work on the Honda Accord Bluetooth system, after the update of Siri Eyes Free.

9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple Maps in iOS 8 also feature augmented-reality capability for finding interest points, public transit etc in addition to reliable data.

What is your perception of iOS 7.1? What do you think of HFP Prompts?