We already knew that the Vision Lookup feature, which allowed us to identify animals, plants, and landmarks with the iPhone, receives updates in iOS 17. During the keynote, Apple explained that it can now recognize food, allowing us to view the recipe of a photographed dish. What it didn’t mention is that with this new tool, you can find out what’s wrong with a car with just one photo.
When the iPhone becomes our personal mechanic
Speaking of warning or emergency lights on a vehicle’s dashboard, Visual Lookup will now be able to identify a wide variety of icons ranging from warning lights to those mysterious symbols indicating functions like ventilation, automatic wipers, and more. The confusion of seeing an unknown light is over, our iPhone will help us decipher it.
[iOS 17 Dev Beta 1] Visual lookup for Auto Symbols
by u/yahlover in iOSBeta
Just like the recognition of animals, plants, landmarks, books, dishes, and other capabilities, using Visual Lookup is incredibly simple. All we have to do is take a photo of the dashboard. If iOS 17 recognizes any icon, we will see a special steering wheel symbol in the bottom toolbar, where the “i” should be. Additionally, we can always tap the “i” icon if the steering wheel symbol doesn’t appear automatically.
From here, we will see the results. A representation of the specific icon, its name, a brief explanation of what it indicates, and also a link to find more information about the error message. Notice that the system is capable of recognizing multiple symbols at the same time, so there’s no need to aim at each one individually.
This change, which went unnoticed until it was discovered on Reddit, is truly useful. It’s quite common to spend more time deciphering what’s happening when faced with a sudden car warning than actually solving the issue. Now, with iOS 17, this —just like securely sharing passwords with family and friends— will be a piece of cake. Take a photo and you’re done.
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