“Where to find the time of day changes depending on what [driving] mode you’re in,” he said. “The buttons that go through your six favorite channels don’t work if it’s satellite radio channels. It takes so many tries to hit one button in your jiggly car, and it just doesn’t work.”

Well, Woz. You’re famous for doing a universal control panel for another prominent piece of consumer electronics and figuring out how to interface it to lots of different brands.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_remote

In 1987, the first programmable universal remote control was released. It was called the “CORE” and was created by CL 9, a startup founded by Steve Wozniak, the inventor of the Apple I and Apple II computers.[2]

All you had to do then was to reverse-engineer the infrared protocols used to communicate with the televisions.

I bet that it’s probably possible to figure out a way to have a third-party control panel interface with various auto UIs. Like, build a universal interface, and then just design mounting hardware on a per-car basis? Use Android Auto or CarPlay, OBD-II, and such?

Can Android Auto do climate control?

kagis

Sounds like it doesn’t, but may start being able to do so:

https://www.androidauthority.com/android-auto-climate-controls-3533161/

Android Auto could be about to turn up the heat (and AC) on car comfort

Climate control may finally be coming to Google’s in-car interface.

Android phones don’t have physical buttons for car features. But…that’s not a physical limitation. Just is a result of reusing a phone as a car panel.

So instead of having third-party car computers being the province of a few hobbyist hardware hackers, there’s an out-of-box solution for everyone? Make the “Wozpanel” or whatever that I just mount in my car? Stick physical buttons on it? Maybe have a case and faceplate that wraps it to match interiors?