v7.1.0 - Alert Manager, Keyboard Enhancements, Media Clock Improvements, and More

This release adds a screen manager API for Alerts, many keyboard improvements (when connected to supported modules), set variable media clock timer speed (for supported modules), set skip next / previous buttons with time skip UI (for supported modules), and more.

Remember that some features only work on head units that support that feature.

Supported Specs

• SDL RPC Spec 7.1.0
• SDL Protocol Spec 5.4.0

Change Highlights

Enhancements

• Added the ability to show menu cells and choice set cells with the same title (#1024)
• Added the ability to display media time skip buttons instead of the standard track skip buttons, e.g. for podcast apps (#1080)
• Added the ability to use a numeric keyboard layout, mask input characters, and provide custom keys on a keyboard (#1356)
• Added the ability to set a custom playback rate for the media clock timer (#1377)
• Main menu cells and subcells now have additional available text and image properties (#1510)
• Added the ability to present Alert RPCs through the screen manager (#1579)
• Added the ability for the module and app to declare multiple possible video streaming capabilities so that features like Picture-in-Picture and Split-Screen can be supported (#1730)
• Added the ability to disconnect based on received vehicle details, including before the app registers on 7.1+ modules (#1876)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed soft buttons being delayed on Ford Sync 3.0 and increased SDL CPU usage (#1778)
• Fixed button notifications not working properly the first button press on Ford Sync 3.0 (#1793)
• Fixed a number of potential issues around the iAP transport seen on iOS 14 devices (#1799, #1809, #1892, #1893)
• Fixed uploading the blank artwork every time instead of persisting it (#1864)
• Fixed uploaded files not being divided into multiple RPCs correctly (#1927)

Important Known Issues

• #1795, #1783, and #1847 - Potential bugs with connecting to legacy head units (may persist back to 6.7.0 as well).
• #1954, #1966, and #1969 - Issues with RPC encrypted connections causing crashes or apps that do not successfully connect.
• #1855, #1959, #1961, and #1964 - Potential edge case bugs with voice commands using the SDLScreenManager.
• #1941 - If a choice fails to preload, the manager may believe it was properly uploaded.

See all the commits and the changelog.

This release is made up of 799 commits. Thanks to contributors @joeljfischer, @NicoleYarroch, @FrankElias77, @shiniwat, @yLeonid, @vladmu, and @makinney.