Much has been debated about Apple’s latest iOS 26 software update, which brings with it the ‘Liquid Glass’ interface and arguably essentially the most sweeping adjustments to the methods customers work together with Apple merchandise lately.
Another side it has affected is the extraordinarily standard Apple CarPlay consumer interface, which permits drivers (and passengers) to reflect their smartphones on a car’s infotainment show.
Most modern manufacturers now offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility as standard but, if like me, you drive an older vehicle, you can also take advantage of the functionality when behind the wheel with a dedicated aftermarket head unit.
It was on one of these, admittedly rather small and a little clunky, aftermarket head units that I took the latest iteration of Apple CarPlay for a spin. Here are my top five new features.
1. The interface just looks better
While the new ‘Liquid Glass’ interface, with its almost opaque app icons, don’t really suit Apple CarPlay (it makes them difficult to see), the Default and Dark Mode settings look fantastic and really pop.
The app icons now have rounded edges and they contrast nicely against a choice of sleek-looking backgrounds, even on an average screen like mine.
When compared side-by-side with previous generations of CarPlay, it’s difficult to argue that it doesn’t look more modern. App icons swoop in with a neat animation, rather than remaining static, too.
Above all else, there’s an impressive amount of consistency throughout the interface, with all app icons receiving the same rounded refresh. There’s also an app dock that’s pinned to the side of the screen.
In my right-hand drive vehicle, this was handily pinned to the right, allowing quick and easy-to-reach access to the most recently used apps.
Apple introduces its popular iPhone widgets feature to CarPlay with the iOS 26 update, allowing for a dedicated screen to display compact, ‘quick-look’ versions of favorite apps.
However, on smaller infotainment screens (mine is only around 7-inches), it’s only possible to display one widget at a time, which sort of defeats the object of stacking them for quick glances.
In the settings on my Apple iPhone 15, I could choose from five favorite widgets, all taken from the apps that already have installed. These can then be shuffled around in order of importance.
There are things like a digital clock, news headline summaries, recent WhatsApp conversations and day by day calendar entries, all of that are pinned to the primary web page in Apple CarPlay.
As beforehand talked about, I may solely see one after the other on my small display screen, having to scroll up and down between them, but it surely’s nonetheless a really useful solution to get fast entry to breaking information, view a climate replace or shortcut to a WhatsApp dialog.
3. Notifications are less intrusive
Most folks plug their phone into a vehicle, boot up Apple CarPlay and then navigate via Google Maps, Waze or Apple Maps. Having notifications pop up on high of those apps will be complicated and irritating when driving.
Apple has aimed to counter this with a brand new ‘tapback’ operate on incoming iMessages. Now, it’s attainable to rapidly reply with an emoji, or silence future notifications in a small panel that pops up.
The variety of responses are restricted and if you might want to clarify something past a love coronary heart emoji or a query mark, you’ll need to resort to Siri.
Similarly, incoming cellphone calls now not take over your complete display screen, destroying any probability of viewing the subsequent navigational instruction. Instead, they slide up neatly from the underside of an app display screen. Yay.
4. You can customize things (a bit)
Alongside the ability to select between a handful of sleek wallpapers (no access to Photos just yet for custom backgrounds), there’s a fair amount of customization within CarPlay settings.
You can change the text size, which is handy for smaller infotainment displays or those with poor eyesight, select between the Default or Dark screens, as well as opt for the full ‘Liquid Glass’ treatment if you dig that look.
The latter is supposed to be less distracting, as it ‘ghosts out’ the app icons. But on my screen, it made everything almost impossible to see in broad daylight, sending distraction levels through the roof.
5. Live activities are genuinely useful
Should you have a larger infotainment display, the stackable widgets page can also include Live Activities, which are very handy if you want to track something.
The most obvious example is live flight information from your favorite CarPlay-compatible app, as it allows you to chart progress on your way to the airport.
Similarly, there’s the option to have live sports scores displayed in a widget, so long as you follow teams or games within the Apple Sports application first.
Other apps that have been optimized for this functionality include things like RingGo parking, which can display remaining parking time on-screen, should you be sat in your car waiting to pick someone up.
But AirPlay only works with audio
There have been reports that Apple is looking to support AirPlay video inside the CarPlay surroundings, so customers can get pleasure from leisure when parked.
I attempted this utilizing my system however may solely handle to have the audio from a YouTube video forged to my CarPlay-enabled head unit. That’s not the top of the world, as you can nonetheless get pleasure from a DJ combine or a documentary that does not require the visuals, but it surely’s not excellent.
Apple says that it’s going to “integrate support for CarPlay with AirPlay video to enable this feature in your car,” however it is going to be all the way down to the producer to decide on how and once they activate it.
Similarly, the brand new pinch-to-zoom operate solely works on choose autos that permit for multi-gesture management, which once more must be determined by the automaker.