Apple CarPlay to make it easier to buy fuel with iOS 16

Newest operating system will support categories for 'fuel and driving' tasks

Apple CarPlay users will be to simply tap on an app to purchase fuel straight from their car, skipping the usual credit card process at the pump. Photo: Apple

Apple is developing a new CarPlay feature that will allow drivers to pay for petrol from their vehicle's dashboard.

Beginning this autumn, Apple CarPlay users will be to simply tap on an app to purchase fuel straight from their car, skipping the usual credit card process at the pump.

“Fuel and driving” tasks will be available to CarPlay users with the coming iOS 16 update, Apple's developer guide shows.

The feature was quietly unveiled at an Apple news conference last month, Reuters reported.

HF Sinclair, which markets its petrol at 1,600 stations in the US, told Reuters it plans to use the CarPlay feature and that it will announce more details in the coming months.

To use the feature, iPhone users will have to download a petrol company's app to their handset and enter their payment details. Once that is done, they will be able to use their navigation screen to activate a fuel pump and pay.

Petrol company app developers can only display fuelling stations on maps when submitting a task app for approval, the developer's guide said. The app must also provide “meaningful functionality relevant to driving”.

The feature adds to a growing list of apps the technology company is making available for users, including those that can be used for parking, ordering food and charging electric vehicles.

Apple is also adding driving task features to its CarPlay system that will allow users to log distances travelled during business trips.

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