iOS 26 Upgrades CarPlay in Five Ways

[alexandr]

OMG, finally an incoming call won't take over directions at the worst possible time! <3

 

[DribbleCastle]

But the ulimate question for anyone who has tried it. Do mapping apps still suck? for instance can you pinch to Zoom in Apple Maps now? I assume you can’t in Google Maps because they haven’t been able to look at new UI options. If no, looks like I’ll be using my Android Auto phone for the continued future.

 

[Che Castro]

I just want a big digital clock and a widget for the weather together on the home screen, is that possible with this update?

 

[Eorlas]

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.

this being a thing for as long as it has been convinced me that no one at apple uses carplay. phone calls interrupting maps even once when you really need it is more than enough reason to have this changed.

 

[DonutHands]

This liquid glass stuff looks exceptionally bad in CarPlay. The previous lack of design/generic look worked really well as a brand agnostic infotainment ux.

 

[OxOOCOFFEE]

Question: if a user upgrades now to developer beta released, does the car needs to be updated in any way? By dealer, or OTA?

EDIT: https://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/available-models/
My friend just asked me why Toyota Tundra which is what he just got is listem in the above links with supported 2020-2024. No 2025?

I would like to have a USB-C/thunderbolt so I could use my big car screen when parked to display as laptop or external video.

BTW, Anyone can “suggest” or “stay away” solutions to display external video? I know there are Planty on Amazon at various prices using AirPlay. Something boots very fast, and not laggy?

 

[svish]

Widgets are nice. Also good to have the similar new design for CarPlay.

 

[MacFarmer]

I don't care. This style does not fit my truck!

What I want is that waze app would close and shut down after I finish my car trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate to close it every time!

+ allow to freaking change songs or albums on the screen ffs! Every time it is blocking due to "Safety reasons" I just pick up my phone and change there. I don't think this is adding to the safety. Quite the contrary.

 

[Velli]

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

I feel the opposite. A dark base with shimmer can be overall darker than a flat design, with the same readability.

 

[Velli]

This liquid glass stuff looks exceptionally bad in CarPlay. The previous lack of design/generic look worked really well as a brand agnostic infotainment ux.

Hard disagree.

 

[Velli]

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.

I’m curious that maybe I’m not getting the most of my CarPlay - I’m just running default settings in both cars. Which preferences are you adjusting? Maybe I’m missing out 🙂

 

[davidh2k]

Looks like a solid update

You mean, liquid update?

 

[RockTheGlobe]

I just want a big digital clock and a widget for the weather together on the home screen, is that possible with this update?

Yes, it is. Widgets are customizable in “stacks” through Settings.

 

[Dble07]

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.

It’s not apple’s job to prevent the use of common sense. Personally, some of the extreme limitations of CarPlay is super annoying. Why can’t I “press one for English” while on a call driving down the road? Why can’t my passenger type a weird address that Siri doesn’t recognize verbally? I don’t need apple to parent me. I need apple to make things fast, efficient and easy.

 

[castellian]

I just want a big digital clock and a widget for the weather together on the home screen, is that possible with this update?

Not sure if you're joking or not because that was the default for me on the new widget page -- to the left of the old main CarPlay page.

 

[castellian]

Has anyone figured out how to do screenshots of CarPlay screens? With iOS 18.5 (and earlier), it always happened by accident when I was taking a phone screenshot in my car. Now, I'd like to share shots of the new screens and I can't.
Help!

 

[CoolBradG]

Is the actual number being displayed on the app notification bubbles new?

 

[JustARumor]

Also, Maps now supports typing in search, not just Siri! Overall a huge upgrade for CarPlay.

Personally, some of the extreme limitations of CarPlay is super annoying. Why can’t I “press one for English” while on a call driving down the road? Why can’t my passenger type a weird address that Siri doesn’t recognize verbally?

+ allow to freaking change songs or albums on the screen ffs! Every time it is blocking due to "Safety reasons" I just pick up my phone and change there. I don't think this is adding to the safety. Quite the contrary.

I know at least some of the safety-related interaction limitations are actually controlled by the car manufacturer, not Apple. I have no idea what the CarPlay APIs are like, but I suspect Apple provides hooks into various areas so the manufacturers can enforce limitations defining a liability envelope their lawyers are comfortable with — which is annoying to us users but a great accommodation by Apple to lure more manufacturers into supporting CarPlay.

As an example, I’ve noticed that in my Corvette, I can use the type-to-search feature in Maps (in the current version, so this is not new) as long as the car is moving no faster than a slow walking speed, whereas in my mother-in-law‘s Hyundai, the car must actually be in Park to use that feature. Thus, in my own car, entering an address by typing while stopped at a stoplight, or over the course of a couple of stoplights, is a lot less awkward than in my mother-in-law‘s car.

It would definitely be nice if a passenger could do things like type an address even when a driver otherwise couldn’t. If the car manufacturers have control over these limits, I don’t see why they couldn’t do it today. For example, most cars know if there is a passenger based on the airbag weight sensor, so if a passenger is detected, and there is an attempt to use one of the limited features, maybe it could pop up a message asking “are you a passenger” and if they say yes, then let them use those features for the rest of the trip. That said, I don’t know if the limitations are set by the manufacturers at runtime (meaning they can adapt them based on what’s happening), or if they simply give Apple a set of static parameters to enforce on their behalf. And, some manufacturers’ lawyers would not deem such restrictions strict enough regardless (hey, maybe the dummy the driver uses to illegally get HOA lane access is heavy enough to also let them cheat the CarPlay safety limits!).

Of course, feature limitations have been a point of contention between car manufacturers and users since they first started adding computerized functionality in the ‘80s, so we shouldn’t expect this to be resolved anytime soon. Though, to be fair, some manufacturers have at least played around with giving passengers more control.