With the introduction of Carplay Ultra, Apple announced a new upgrade to Standard Carplay at the 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference last week. Updates via iOS 26 will help you to keep features like widgets and live action out of the way to older standbys like calls and messaging, in addition to a fresh look.
New features in Apple Carplay
The biggest functional change is the introduction of widgets and live action in CarPlay. The widget has already been introduced in Carplay Ultra and is now available in Standard Carplay. You can access it by swiping directly from the Carplay home screen. So far, it includes weather, calendars, clocks, smart home devices and reminders, but more will be added in the future. They are organized into two columns, allowing you to view two widgets at once.
Live Action now allows you to view live sports scores, food delivery progress, flight progress and more on your phone on your lock screen. In this way, you don’t need to open your phone to get updates, and you can also pin them to the CarPlay home screen, so you don’t even need to see it.
Unlike the Carplay Ultra, Standard Carplay does not take over other screens of the vehicle and does not gain the ability to change vehicle functions such as radio or climate control.
Calls and messages that don’t get in the way
Getting a call or text message while CarPlay is running can be a bit frustrating. Incoming calls take over the entire screen, but messages are verbally answered and cannot be responded. iOS 26 fixes both issues. The call appears as a small pop-up, using the caller’s ID and the option to block the screen as little as possible.
Message pop-ups may also display default reaction emojis rather than directing a response. It’s also easy to find on CarPlay so that you can pin messages and group chats to the top.
New look
Both Carplay and Carplay get a new look as part of the larger iOS 26 update. Apple calls the new design language “Liquid Glass” and features new colors for both apps and wallpapers, more dramatically rounded edges for app icons, and slightly updated icons. It also appears to have a new dark mode.
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