iOS 26 Upgrades CarPlay in Five Ways

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced iOS 26, and the upcoming software update includes several new features and changes for CarPlay in vehicles.

The first iOS 26 developer beta is now available, and a public beta will follow next month. The update will be released later this year.

Liquid Glass Design

When you are using CarPlay with an iPhone running iOS 26, the new Liquid Glass design extends to the CarPlay interface. Like on the iPhone, the new look includes more shimmery app icons and translucent user interface elements.

New Messages App Features

Starting with iOS 26, you can respond to messages with standard Tapbacks like a heart, thumbs up, or exclamation marks directly through CarPlay.

Plus, you can now view your pinned conversations in the Messages app on CarPlay.

Compact View for Phone Calls

CarPlay has a new compact view for incoming phone calls, so that you can still see other information on the screen, such as turn-by-turn directions.

Live Activities

CarPlay's Dashboard screen can now show Live Activities, letting you keep track of things like a flight's arrival time at a glance.

Widgets

The regular version of CarPlay now has a customizable widgets screen, for things like calendar appointments and HomeKit accessory controls.

Widgets were previously limited to CarPlay Ultra.

All of the other new features and changes outlined above are also coming to CarPlay Ultra.

Article Link: iOS 26 Upgrades CarPlay in Five Ways

 

[@Brett]

Will test these out later on this morning. iOS 26 is a huge update. 15.96gb on 16 Pro Max.

 

[jz0309]

Looks like a solid update

 

[kurtfoster]

Looks interesting. CarPlay is one of the few things that Apple makes that I’ve had minimal trouble with over the years. Can’t wait.

 

[Johnny907]

Funny how the only one of the five that means anything to me is the minimalized incoming call notification. The rest? Who cares. Widgets? Live activities? No.
What WOULD have been awesome is parity across all vehicles. Taking 5-10 minutes every time I get into a new rental car to redo all the carplay settings is such an unnecessary chore. Why can't it just pull my preferences and load a familiar layout right from the start? It's my phone, which means it's still me, and I want my layout whether I'm driving my F-150 at home, a Honda Civic in LA or a CX-5 in Boise. At least give us a toggle for "keep personal preferences across all vehicles," Apple. It's not hard.

 

[McWetty]

Looks like a good incremental update. Hopefully some of the Now Playing bugs are addressed too.

 

[DavidLeblond]

Can we have it go straight to Now Playing again? Ticks me off that now it boots into the home screen.

Still, I like a refreshed CarPlay... makes that part of my car seem new every year.

 

[Kottu]

Finally Apple is doing something about CarPlay. New changes are welcome. Eager to check it tomorrow morning (it's 23.08 in Sweden now)

 

[rickey939]

So we can finally see the Weather through a "Widget" it sounds like?

 

[Le Big Mac]

I love all the new ways drivers can distract themselves from the important task at hand of keeping their car on the road and not hitting another car, person, bicyclist, etc.

Don't get me wrong - I love carplay and it offers a load of benefits. But the more opportunities for interaction the more it contributes to safety hazards.

 

[profwafflez]

Looks interesting. CarPlay is one of the few things that Apple makes that I’ve had minimal trouble with over the years. Can’t wait.

Lucky ducky. My wife's 2023 Toyota constantly has connection issues and just experienced my friend's Subaru also having similar issues.

 

[GlassFingers]

I’m thinking while driving a car it will be hard to appreciate this new glass shine on the edges of icons 🤔

 

[Ta_whirimatea]

if it still doesn’t show all my downloaded music on my iPhone on the CarPlay screen then it’s just a turd which apple polished up till it’s as shiny as glass!

 

[xxFoxtail]

I didn’t think to get a screenshot, but my car has 4 icons on the left dock bar thing. I also wasn’t expecting every widget to work with it, but kind of cool that they do!

You can also set light, dark and clear icons too.

 

[SigurTom]

Does "Liquid Glass" remind anybody else of Windows Vista Aero? Can't wait for iOS XP!

 

[markrath]

Distracted driving is dangerous, so we are going to add MORE features to distract you.

 

[markrath]

Does "Liquid Glass" remind anybody else of Windows Vista Aero? Can't wait for iOS XP!

Looks like an ascetic change just for the sake of an ascetic change

 

[swrobel]

Still no separate dock spots for music & podcast apps

 

[AppleTO]

I would just like the apps on the sidebar to stay put, like a dock.

 

[GioGiusi]

Widgets are huge here.

 

[Neepman]

Asinine. Not all of us drive rides with illegal blackout tints to take advantage of "shimmer" and translucence.

 

[Opes]

Phone app got a nice upgrade too. Also, Maps now supports typing in search, not just Siri! Overall a huge upgrade for CarPlay.

 

[FNH15]

Funny how the only one of the five that means anything to me is the minimalized incoming call notification. The rest? Who cares. Widgets? Live activities? No.
What WOULD have been awesome is parity across all vehicles. Taking 5-10 minutes every time I get into a new rental car to redo all the carplay settings is such an unnecessary chore. Why can't it just pull my preferences and load a familiar layout right from the start? It's my phone, which means it's still me, and I want my layout whether I'm driving my F-150 at home, a Honda Civic in LA or a CX-5 in Boise. At least give us a toggle for "keep personal preferences across all vehicles," Apple. It's not hard.

Interesting - I like the exact opposite. My BMW has a different aspect ratio than my dad's 911 (which I sometimes will drive). I have a different layout for each.
I guess the best way would be to have something like the Apple TV preference for a unified home screen.

 

[Itinj24]

So we can finally see the Weather through a "Widget" it sounds like?

They showed the weather widget in CarPlay during the KeyNote so looks like a yes. That immediately grabbed my attention. Bonkers that it took this long to add weather of any sort to CarPlay.

 

[Itinj24]

Distracted driving is dangerous, so we are going to add MORE features to distract you.

There was a study done on fighter pilots and the brain can process seven things at one time before it gets overwhelmed. My wife and I have been driving with CarPlay since it came out and not once have we been too distracted by it to deviate from safe driving.

It’s the ones that are obsessively too focused on the road that I question behind the wheel. If you require all you brain power to just not get into a collision…