Apple recently released iOS 26.4, and while your iPhone received several upgrades, CarPlay was quietly having one of its best days in years. The latest iPhone updates bring two useful features that can change the way you use CarPlay on your car’s infotainment screen.
Would you use ChatGPT while driving?
Apple’s iOS 26.4 unlocks support for a brand new category of apps in CarPlay: voice-based conversation apps. AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Claude can now extend their iPhone apps to CarPlay for hands-free voice conversations as developers update their apps to support it.
The company has taken safety precautions: AI apps must be launched directly in voice mode (which is safer than opening the entire app while driving). In addition, they cannot display text or images and keep their eyes on the road where they belong.
And no, you can’t replace Siri as your default assistant yet, but having a real AI conversation while navigating rush hour traffic is possible. However, I don’t see many drivers using this feature because of the tasks they may need to perform while driving, such as: B. playing a certain song or calling someone can already be done by Siri.
What else is new in CarPlay with iOS 26.4?
The second addition to CarPlay is the Ambient Music widget. For those keeping up to date, Apple has released the Ambient Music widget for iPhones running iOS 26.4, and it’s coming to your car’s dashboard too. The widget offers curated playlists on topics such as sleep, relaxation, productivity and well-being.
To set up the widget, go to Settings > General > CarPlay > Widgets on your iPhone and add the Ambient Music option. I agree that a sleep playlist on a CarPlay screen might raise some eyebrows, but I trust drivers to use good judgment.
Another feature that isn’t available yet but will be soon – video in CarPlay – appears to be almost ready. References to the feature were found in the code of the iOS 26.4 beta, but Apple has not yet confirmed the feature.
