Apple just announced iOS 26 at WWDC 2025, and along with a new “Liquid Glass” design language, the company revealed some new features coming to CarPlay.
Three of the biggest additions: widgets and live activities are coming to CarPlay, and so is the ability to choose a “tapback” response to incoming messages. Users will now also be able to pin their favorite conversations, just like in iMessage.
One other change Apple highlighted during Monday’s event is that the incoming call UI will no longer take over the entire CarPlay screen. The UI instead will stay small and at the bottom of the screen, meaning a phone call won’t hide things like in-progress navigation.
CarPlay will get an overall design refresh that features the more-transparent stylings of Liquid Glass, and all of these changes will come to the new CarPlay Ultra launched in May. As is always the case with WWDC, expect more details on changes to CarPlay to trickle out over the next few days as Apple meets with developers.
Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.