Carplay becomes unrecognizable with iOS 26… and Apple does not intend to stop there

Apple had warned: iOS 26 was going to mark an aesthetic break on iPhone. But it is by car, via Carplay, that the change is the most sensitive. Not spectacular – Apple never does in exuberance – but deep. An almost silent moult, which affects both the interface, everyday gestures and this strange moment that is the wait in a stop car.

The interface is adorned with a new visual style, The controversial “Liquid Glass” : brighter icons, blurred funds, a transparency that almost gives the impression that the screen floats in the passenger compartment. We are far from the rigid and utilitarian square offered by the first version of Carplay. This design, already applied to the iPhone, is now invited behind the steering wheel, to offer visual continuity to those who live in the Apple ecosystem.

But it’s not just a brushstroke. The functions also evolve, often in a subtle but useful way. Calls, for example, no longer occupy the whole screen. When a number is displayed, a small discreet insert appears at the bottom, leaving the card or the music visible. The messages read by Siri now make it possible to respond with rapid reactions, the famous tapbacks: heart, thumbs up, questioning, and other express punctuations. The pinned conversations go up at the top of the list, as on the iPhone.

There is also this surprise, little highlighted by Apple. When the car is stopped, Carplay now authorizes video broadcasting via Airplay. The screen then becomes a small improvised projection room. YouTube, Netflix, Apple TV+, everything goes, as long as it is launched from the iPhone. This detail, anecdotal for some, changes a lot for those who spend time by car without riding: waiting in a parking lot, recharging on a slow terminal, break between two appointments.

Added to this is the arrival of customizable widgets, displaying calendar, weather or home automation accessories, and the care of live activities, this real -time info following a flight, delivery or a journey. For those who struggle to read the small icons, an option also makes it possible to enlarge the display. Nothing spectacular, but concrete attention to use.

In the background, it is a showdown that is played out. Apple slowly but surely pushes its pawns into vehicles, while some manufacturers try to resist the idea of ​​a Carplay ultra, even more integrated, than we tested. It remains to be seen if this new version will find its place.

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