
CarPlay is used and beloved by hundreds of thousands of iPhone house owners. And whereas the await CarPlay 2 retains getting longer, iOS 18.4 and different current updates trace at a promising CarPlay development.
CarPlay 1.0 is slowly getting higher, with iOS 18.4 bringing the most recent upgrades
For an iOS characteristic that’s utilized by so many iPhone house owners, CarPlay’s replace cadence in the previous couple of years has been missing.
After Apple introduced its “subsequent technology of CarPlay” again in 2022 alongside iOS 16, the corporate appeared to speculate little or no into enhancing the present CarPlay system.
We’ve gotten app updates and wallpapers coordinated with new iOS variations, however not a lot else.
Lately although, albeit slowly, that’s began to vary.
iOS 18.4, for instance, provides a few good CarPlay upgrades:
- Autos with massive screens now assist three rows of app icons, up from two
- Sports activities apps can provide CarPlay variations
- and within the EU, Google Maps may be set because the default navigation app
These upgrades, alongside CarPlay’s iOS 18.1 AI-related options and NACS change, sign a doable new development.
Apple appears prepared to speculate a bit of extra within the present CarPlay 1.0 system.
Is Apple planning a brand new path for CarPlay’s future?

After CarPlay 2 didn’t hit its 2024 transport deadline, I wrote that Apple ought to reboot CarPlay’s “subsequent technology” as an upgraded model of the present system.
CarPlay 2, as Apple envisioned it, entails deep buy-in from auto producers. Basically, Apple desires management of extra car parts than simply the infotainment display.
However even after years of ready, when CarPlay 2 does arrive it is going to solely be out there to a fraction of present CarPlay customers—those that purchase a elaborate new automobile that helps it.
Leaks of varied CarPlay 2 parts have proven that Apple might make optimistic upgrades to the present CarPlay system now.
For instance, photos revealed a number of the customizable widgets CarPlay 2 will carry to the car.

Is there a motive widgets need to be unique to dear new automobiles as a part of CarPlay 2? Couldn’t Apple provide them as half of the present CarPlay expertise?
I could also be overly optimistic, however Apple’s current updates to CarPlay as a part of iOS 18 have me questioning if that’s now change into the plan.
Whilst work continues on the complete CarPlay 2 imaginative and prescient, possibly Apple’s determined to begin bringing related options to the present CarPlay expertise too.
We’re simply two months from iOS 19’s unveiling. May the massive new design prolong to CarPlay? Possibly with widgets as part of it?
That could be asking so much. However with the primary CarPlay 2 automobiles MIA, it might be nice information if Apple is planning a long-overdue pivot.
Do you suppose Apple’s plans for CarPlay have modified, and we’d get extra new options transferring ahead? Tell us within the feedback.
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