Apple CarPlay iOS 26 Update Brings New Looks, New Features, More Utility
Welcome Widgets and less intrusive calls and messaging features to your dashboard.
Hot on the heels of its introduction of CarPlay Ultra, Apple announced new upgrades to standard CarPlay today at its 2025 World Wide Developers Conference. In addition to a fresh look, the update via iOS 26 brings features like Widgets and Live Actions to CarPlay while making old standbys like calls and messaging less intrusive.
Apple CarPlay's New Features
The biggest functional changes are the introduction of Widgets and Live Actions in CarPlay. Widgets were already introduced in CarPlay Ultra and are now available in standard CarPlay. They can be accessed by swiping right from the CarPlay home screen. So far, they include weather, calendars, clocks, smart home devices, and reminders, though more will be added in the future. They’re organized into two columns so you can have two Widgets showing at once.
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Live Actions, which on your phone allow you to see things like live sports scores, food delivery progress, flight progress, and more on the lock screen, have now been added to CarPlay as well. This way, you not only won’t have to open your phone to get updates, you won’t even have to look at it as you can pin them on your CarPlay home screen and they’ll continue to be updated in real time so you don’t miss any changes.
Unlike CarPlay Ultra, standard CarPlay doesn’t take over any other screens in the vehicle and doesn’t gain the ability to change vehicle functions like the radio or climate control.
Less Intrusive Calls and Messages
Getting a call or text message while running CarPlay can be a bit frustrating. Incoming calls takeover almost the entire screen, while messages can only be verbally responded to, not reacted to. iOS 26 fixes both issues. Calls now appear as a small pop-up with the caller’s ID and the options to answer or hang-up and block as little of the screen as possible so you don’t miss a turn.
Messages pop-ups now also display default reaction emojis you can tap rather than dictating a response. You also now have the ability to pin messages or group chats to the top so they’re easy to find in CarPlay.
New Look
Both CarPlay and CarPlay Ultra get a new look as part of the larger iOS 26 update. Apple is calling the new design language “Liquid Glass” and it features new colors for both apps and wallpapers, more dramatically rounded edges on app icons, and slightly updated icons. There also appears to be a new dark mode, as well.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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