Since iOS 26, Apple has improved CarPlay with support for iPhone widgets. This upgrade fits well with the ‘Liquid Glass’ interface and makes your dashboard more personal and informative, without having to open apps.
Thanks to the widgets, you can quickly view weather reports, calendar appointments, music status or third-party widgets on a special widget screen in CarPlay. This increases safety by reducing the need to look away from the road, and it works well with Live Activities for real-time updates.
iPhone Widgets on CarPlay
Widgets appear in CarPlay on a separate screen on the far left. Swipe right twice from the app overview to find them, or once from the Dashboard. The widget screen has multiple stacks, each with up to five widgets. Depending on the size of your car screen, there can be up to three stacks.
Default widgets are Calendar, Weather, Music, Clock, Photos and Home. You can also view widgets from other apps in the widget overview. This way you can easily operate your garage door, open the front door with Nuki or consult other shortcuts, directly from your car’s entertainment screen.
Benefits of widgets
Widgets provide information at a glance, perfect for on the go: see your next appointment, the current weather forecast or other data without distraction. Smart pivots and widget suggestions automatically adapt to your routine, while Live Activities add dynamics, such as flight statuses or sports scores. Third-party support extends this functionality, although not all apps are optimized for CarPlay safety.
Set up widgets for CarPlay
- Open Institutions on your iPhone
- Go to ‘General‘
- Tap ‘CarPlay‘
- Select your car
- Open ‘Widgets‘
- Enable the option ‘Show widgets‘ in
You can then customize and manage the available stacks. This way you can easily add widgets with the plus button. Adjust the position with the three horizontal stripes or remove the widget with the red button. In addition, you canTurn smart‘ and ‘Widget suggestions‘ enable. Finally, you can hide the background when using widgets.
Turn smart
Smart Rotation for Widgets in CarPlay automatically rotates a stack of widgets based on time, location and your usage patterns, so you always see the most relevant info, like Weather in the morning or Calendar during rush hour.
Widget suggestions
Widget Suggestions in CarPlay recommends widgets based on your usage, location and time, so stacks automatically fill with relevant info like traffic updates during your commute or sports scores in the evening. CarPlay may then show widgets that are not in your stack.
Consult widgets in CarPlay
The addition of widgets moves the standard app view to the third CarPlay screen. The widgets appear on the first home screen, the dashboard on the second followed by the app view. Swipe right twice from the app overview to find them, or once from the Dashboard.