Good news if you regularly use CarPlay, because the operating system will become much better in 2026. Apple will implement this change soon!
CarPlay in 2026
A big change is coming to CarPlay! According to the generally reliable Apple expert Mark Gurman, CarPlay will gain an important function in 2026. CarPlay will support applications that work with artificial intelligence and are operated via voice commands. You can already operate CarPlay with Siri, but many more options will reportedly be added later this year.
You are dependent on Apple for the applications that you can use in CarPlay. The company selects which apps are available in the car, so you cannot use all applications from your iPhone in CarPlay. Categories such as navigation, entertainment and communication are already available in CarPlay. In 2026, AI apps with voice control will be added, expanding CarPlay with many more functions.
Voice control for CarPlay
CarPlay already works with certain third-party applications, but popular programs such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini do not yet have support for the operating system. This will reportedly change in 2026, when CarPlay will be opened to chatbots from third parties. Users are then no longer dependent on Siri, because they can also enter voice commands with Google Gemini and Claude, among others.
According to Gurman, it is not possible to replace Siri with another voice assistant. Instead, the voice-activated AI apps complement Siri and CarPlay. While you can now only ask Siri about the traffic situation or weather forecasts, you can soon also ask Google Gemini or Claude, for example. This is done in a safe way, because these applications in CarPlay will probably only have support for voice control.
More about CarPlay
Applications that work with artificial intelligence do not have access to functions of the car or your iPhone. So you won’t be able to ask Google Gemini or Claude to start Apple Maps, but you can ask for the current traffic information of the route to your destination. To operate functions of your iPhone, you remain dependent on Siri, as is now the case in CarPlay.
Good news if you use voice commands in CarPlay, because the operating system can answer many more questions later in 2026. It would mean a big change for Apple, so far third-party chatbots are not allowed in CarPlay. Siri already works with ChatGPT, but you can soon also install a separate ChatGPT application. The same goes for popular apps like Google Gemini, Claude and other chatbots. Don’t want to miss any of CarPlay’s new features? Then sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter so you always stay informed!
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