I cannot tell you how useful it is every time I test a new EV and find that it comes with Carplay. With Android Auto, Apple’s automotive infotainment interface should not be overlooked because it gives you better access to some of the most used features of your mobile device.
During the WWDC 2025, Apple announced new carplay features that came with iOS 26 – including a major youthful cure with its new design of liquid glass materials. I had to try several of these new features with the beta version of the iOS 26 developer operating on my iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Of all the new features, there is one in particular that solves my biggest problem in the interfaces in the best electric cars of today. It is a simple which is often overlooked, but I am happy that Apple takes care of it importantly with iOS 26.
Widgets facilitate the time
I do not remember having tested a car where it was easy to say the time – and it is a great discomfort that I have. Nowadays, the clock is buried out of screen and when I end up seeing it, the size is often tiny and difficult to see. With the iOS 26 BETA, however, Apple finally allows you to add widgets to the Carplay interface.
There is a dedicated panel for these widgets in the most left home screen, but it allows me to select a centered clock style and much easier to see at a glance. It’s perfect while I drive because it is so present now, rather than being buried on the side and small.
Carplay d’Ios 26 presents widgets for almost everything, including the commands of my homekit compatible with my smart lights and my camera, a calendar with a list of my upcoming events, battery status indicators for my iPhone and Apple Watch, and much more.
Liquid glass gives notifications a layer aspect
Now that Apple unifies the feeling and appearance of its interfaces on all platforms and devices, Liquid Glass gives Carplay a makeover that makes it more superimposed. Unlike my problem with the iOS 26 beta on my iPhone, the transparency of the interface has a more opaque look – like how notifications appear in Carplay.
I prefer by far the way in which the new interface gives background elements – like the bubble that surrounds the three menu icons in the photo above – a better separation between the two layers.
Although Liquid Glass is not a huge change compared to the previous iteration of Carplay, at least it does not seem so distracting. There are also options to select clear or dark modes, including an automatic modes, so that the interface contrast facilitates the eyes.
Messages to messages
When an incoming text message entered while I was driving, I was surprised to see an option to make a tapback – a bit like on my iPhone. This is a new option in iOS 26 Carplay which allows you to select a quick response, rather than talking about a response to Siri to send.
It is useful, for sure, because it is fast and precise, mainly because of how liquid glass superimposes options for me in the interface. Now, I don’t have to think about a real answer so that I can stay focused on the road.
Live activities
In the Carplay settings menu with the beta version of iOS 26 developers, I found an option to allow live activities. Even if I had no applications that displayed real -time status, it is an addition that I am impatient to see more in action for various alerts in real time.
According to its appearance, live activities are integrated into the main main screen, which can be cut into four different windows when live activities are engaged with a particular application. Just like before, the main carplay window is reserved for your MAPS application, while the other two I have seen are reserved for fireplace navigation and your multimedia player. A fourth window seems to appear when active live activity is running.
More wallpapers
There are more than one handful of new wallpapers to choose from, all with the IOS 26 signature flavors which complete the liquid glass. Although it is great, I always want to see an option to select my own photos to use as a backdrop.
Streaming video
While Apple has announced that Carplay gets a video reading upgrade in iOS 26, the developer’s beta version that I test does not seem to have the option available. Even when I placed the vehicle in the park, I could not find the possibility of broadcasting a YouTube video that I played on my phone.
Hopefully this will become available with future updates to the beta version. And this feature could be even more useful if it could diffuse to other screens in the vehicle – such as the way some mini vans have screens on the rear seats.
What I would like to see
Even if Carplay has integrated Apple Intelligence since the release of iOS 18.1, I think it would be more useful if it could be responsible for performing simple car functions. At home, I can ask Siri to light the lights in my living room – so why can’t I ask Siri to go up the air conditioning in a faster setting? This would force car manufacturers to give Apple more access, which could be a road dam in itself.
I previously mentioned how I stopped using Apple cards entirely in my car after a recent update on Google Maps, and it is unlikely that I come back because of the way Google Maps informs me of speed traps and other road dangers. The drawback of using Google Maps in this new version of Carplay is that it is still not supported on the second screens of a vehicle-such as a dial display or the lateral display of the driver. Only the instructions on Apple cards are supported by these secondary screens.
All the things I would like to see seem to be treated by Carplay Ultra, which offers deeper integration than what is currently available. It is first offered to the main model of Aston Martin, but other car manufacturers should also obtain it in the next 12 months. What is really impressive in this new interface is how it encompasses more vehicle functions – such as being able to control radio, interior lights and climatic controls – all in Carplay so that you don’t have to get it out.
