Greater Media station WMMR(FM) has launched a mobile app that is part of the Apple CarPlay ecosystem and offered in the iTunes Store. The app was developed in conjunction with Detroit-based mobile app developer jācapps and with collaboration from Apple.
“To the best of our knowledge, it’s the first for a broadcast radio station (and of course a first for jācapps),” Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs wrote in an email.
Apple CarPlay is currently available on more than 100 car models, mimicking the touchscreen experience of an iPad or iPhone in the car dashboard.
jācapps COO Bob Kernen characterized the development as putting radio “front and center on the Apple CarPlay screen” and “a giant step forward for the entire radio industry in its quest to remain dominant in today’s cars.”
“jācapps’ App Everywhere platform is giving us the flexibility of distribution that our audiences are demanding in a very efficient service,” Greater Media Director of Digital Operations Steve Meyers said in the announcement.
jācapps is also developing mobile apps for the Android Auto system, the first of which launched on that platform in 2015.