Reflecting a bit, I believe Apple downplays the significance of CarPlay approach an excessive amount of. The tech did get affordable consideration at WWDC 2025, together with the launch of CarPlay Extremely, however it performs an out-sized position within the lives of iPhone house owners. Many people depend on it not only for music and podcasts once we’re driving, however to get the place we have to safely and on-time. That may be true even once you’re aware of an space — not too long ago, development lowered a significant freeway to 1 lane in my metropolis at an hour when there was nonetheless loads of visitors. The primary time I bumped into this, a 20-minute journey instantly ballooned to about an hour. Popping open Apple Maps throughout a subsequent drive allowed me to take a posh detour and make it dwelling in affordable time.
If want be, CarPlay is usually high quality to make use of instantly after you set it up. However if you need the perfect expertise, there are a selection of settings it is best to change, each in your iPhone and your automobile’s dashboard. The tweaks beneath are those I take into account important as of iOS 26. Your individual preferences could fluctuate, though I encourage you to at the least take into account these concepts.
Deleting and rearranging dwelling display apps
Effectivity issues on the street
That is my most vital change. For simplicity’s sake, CarPlay defaults to loading each appropriate iPhone app once you set it up on your car. The issue with that is that almost all sprint shows cannot match greater than eight or 10 icons, and the whole lot else will get shoved into extra dwelling display pages.
There’s additionally no prioritization past pre-installed apps, so for those who use Google Maps or Waze as an alternative of Apple Maps, you may need to swipe to a second or third dwelling display each time you need to navigate someplace. That is annoying sufficient once you’re parked, and a dangerous distraction once you’re on the street.
Earlier than you get behind the wheel once more, clear up CarPlay by going to Settings > Normal > CarPlay > [your car] > Apps in your iPhone. Drag the triple-line icons on the correct to rearrange their precedence. As a rule, the apps you employ most frequently ought to occupy the highest eight spots. That approach, they’re going to all the time be on the primary dwelling display web page.
Use the purple icons to take away as many pointless apps as doable. Don’t be concerned — you are not uninstalling these out of your iPhone, simply CarPlay. You possibly can all the time add them again later by returning to the underside of the Apps web page and tapping on the suitable inexperienced icons. You may have to do that whereas your automobile is off too, however once you reconnect your iPhone, any adjustments will sync robotically.
Selecting Darkish and/or Clear look choices
Gentle could have its benefits, typically
For a lot of customers, the perfect look settings — present in CarPlay’s in-vehicle Settings > Customise Icons menu — would be the Default icon set, and Auto for switching between Gentle and Darkish themes. This could preserve the whole lot discernible in vivid daylight, however then flip the theme over to Darkish as soon as the solar goes down. That is much less straining on the eyes, particularly once you’re observing a navigation app.
Personally, although, I discover the Default icons boring to have a look at, and infrequently desire Darkish mode’s distinction at any time of day. If you wish to observe swimsuit, simply faucet each Darkish choices.
New to iOS 26 is the power to decide on Clear icons. These are visually slicker than the darkish ones, in my view, however they don’t seem to be for everybody — there’s even much less distinction than the default, so some drivers could discover themselves looking too lengthy for the correct icon. Your alternative of wallpaper could have an effect right here (see beneath). As I write this, I am experimenting with clear icons and the Auto theme mode to check if these is likely to be higher than all-dark, on a regular basis.
Selecting wallpaper
Full your customization
Wallpaper would possibly appear to be a trivial factor, however with iOS 26, it could possibly go a good distance in direction of making your automobile really feel like your individual. That is as a result of the replace’s Liquid Glass aesthetic turns a variety of the interface clear, bringing out the colour of your wallpaper, significantly for those who pair it with clear icons (see above).
In my case, I am utilizing a gold-tinged wallpaper that matches the “desert titanium” of my iPhone 16 Professional. You must also be capable to discover ones that match the colours of the iPhone 17 lineup, or for those who’re fortunate, the inside of your cabin. Go to Settings > Wallpaper once you’re within the driver’s seat.
Whereas I am right here, I ought to gripe that Apple nonetheless has but to permit customized wallpapers in CarPlay. That is in all probability as a result of the corporate is anxious about legibility, decision, and total visible attraction — that photograph of your companion or pet may appear good in your iPhone, however it may grow to be an outright mess on a 10-inch panorama show. If that is going to alter in iOS 27 (or another future launch), Apple will want a system to robotically crop and scale photographs added to CarPlay, at a minimal. Some type of monotone filter possibility would possibly assist with extra chaotic photographs.
The more cash you might have, the extra helpful it’s
One of many side-benefits of Apple’s work on CarPlay Extremely is that a few of its extra superior widgets have slid into the usual UI. These permit issues like checking the climate, viewing your upcoming calendar appointments, or accessing good dwelling controls with out having to cease first. I think about that for some individuals, the power to lock a door or flip off lights once they’re miles away from their storage will likely be an actual time saver. On most sprint shows, you may entry any widgets you might have configured by swiping to the left of your own home display.
To get began, you will should go to Settings > Normal > CarPlay > [your car] > Widgets in your iPhone. When you add a number of widgets, you may rearrange their order, and/or activate Good Rotate to let your iPhone select what to prioritize based mostly on the time of day. Regardless, you may swipe up or down in your in-car widget stack(s) to alter what you are .
On larger shows, you will see a number of widget stacks without delay. This makes the expertise inherently higher in costlier automobiles.
That leads me to an vital observe, which is that on larger shows, you will see a number of widget stacks without delay. This makes the expertise inherently higher in costlier automobiles. I am high quality with that in my very own automobile — the one widgets I’ve added are Climate, Batteries, and Calendar, and the one one I care about more often than not is the primary one. I must know if I will be coping with rain, snow, or freezing temperatures regularly, however checking my Apple Watch’s energy can in all probability wait till I’ve arrived at my vacation spot.
One other observe is that whereas a shocking variety of third-party widgets can be found, many of those are in all probability going to be ineffective once you’re driving. Nobody actually must know who’s reside on Twitch once they’re cruising down the freeway, for instance.
