CarPlay just arrived new features in iOS 26.4in addition to some exciting new applicationsBut one of my favorite recent features is a change to Apple Music in iOS 26 that’s perfect for the car. Here’s how to use it.
Pins on Apple Music are perfect for CarPlay, especially with the one-touch play setting
When iOS 26 was released last year, it fulfilled one of my long standing feature requests for Apple Music.
The update added the option to pin music to the top of your library. You can pin up to six artists, albums, playlists or songs for convenient access.
I’ve wanted to pin music for years and iOS 26 has totally given me that. My only complaint is that I wish you could have more pins; nine would be great, like in the Messages app.
But one thing I didn’t realize right away was how much I’d enjoy pinning in CarPlay, too.
Until recently I lived in Manhattan and didn’t have a car, but after moving to a suburban area, getting a vehicle was a day one necessity. For the past few months I’ve been enjoying CarPlay in my new vehicle and pinned music has been one of the biggest changes in iOS 26.
CarPlay automatically brings in all your pinned music from your iPhone and places it on top of the Music app.
Most of the time when I drive, I use Siri to request music. But fixed titles are another quick, convenient and, most importantly, secure option.
Tapping multiple Music screens to find the right album or playlist often takes too much time. But the pins are displayed prominently at the top of the Library screen. And if you set them up for one-touch playback On your iPhone, that same behavior also carries over to CarPlay.
To set up music pins, follow these steps:
- Open Music on your iPhone
- Press and hold any artist, album, playlist or song
- Tap the ‘Pin’ button in the pop-up menu.
- In the Library tab, find the new pin at the top of the screen and long press it
- Change ‘Touch Action’ to ‘Play’ for one-touch playback in car
After setting up your pins, you won’t have to rely on Siri as much to play music. Pins offer a great alternative to accessing the music you play most often, without the annoying errors that Siri can cause.
Have you been using pins in Apple Music in iOS 26? Let us know in the comments.
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