CarPlay has gotten a lot better with iOS 26 and later updates over the past year. Here are two new features I’m loving lately.
#1: AI Chatbot Apps
It’s not often that CarPlay gets a whole new category of apps, but that’s exactly what happened with iOS 26.4.
As of the latest iPhone update, CarPlay now allows you to use “voice-based conversational applications” (AI chatbots).
Until now ChatGPT, Perplexityand Grok They’ve all released versions of CarPlay and I hope Claude and Gemini follow suit soon.
I love using AI apps in the car because they allow me to perform searches and ask general questions while keeping my eyes and hands focused on driving.
These AI apps only support voice interactions, making them much safer than using your iPhone. And they offer an exciting insight into what iOS 27 should enable Siri.
Widgets are a new CarPlay feature which was released in iOS 26. But two more recent updates have improved the feature further.
In iOS 26.2, Apple expanded the number of widgets available on screen for select vehicles.
I was one of the lucky ones. My car went from offering two widgets at a time to now, after the update, showing three simultaneously.
And after the release of iOS 26.4, Apple Sports added its own CarPlay widget for sports monitoring. It was perfect timing for me with that newly added widget slot.
While I would love a dedicated CarPlay app for Apple Sports, having a widget is the best option. Whenever I want to keep track of a game or check my teams’ schedules, I can do so directly within CarPlay and leave my iPhone untouched.
What are some of your favorite recent CarPlay features? Let us know in the comments.
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