4 CarPlay settings I modify to right away make it higher

Reflecting a bit, I feel Apple downplays the significance of CarPlay approach an excessive amount of. The tech did get cheap consideration at WWDC 2025, together with the launch of CarPlay Ultra, nevertheless it performs an out-sized position within the lives of iPhone homeowners. Many people depend on it not only for music and podcasts once we’re driving, however to get the place we have to safely and on-time. That may be true even whenever you’re accustomed to an space — lately, building lowered a significant freeway to at least one lane in my metropolis at an hour when there was nonetheless loads of site visitors. The primary time I bumped into this, a 20-minute journey all of a sudden ballooned to about an hour. Popping open Apple Maps throughout a subsequent drive allowed me to take a posh detour and make it dwelling in cheap time.

If want be, CarPlay is often fantastic to make use of instantly after you set it up. However in order for you the very best expertise, there are a selection of settings you must change, each in your iPhone and your automotive’s dashboard. The tweaks under are those I take into account important as of iOS 26. Your individual preferences might differ, though I encourage you to at the very least take into account these concepts.

Deleting and rearranging dwelling display apps

Effectivity issues on the highway

That is my most essential change. For simplicity’s sake, CarPlay defaults to loading each appropriate iPhone app whenever you set it up to your automobile. The issue with that is that the majority sprint shows cannot match greater than eight or 10 icons, and every thing else will get shoved into further dwelling display pages.

There’s additionally no prioritization past pre-installed apps, so in the event you use Google Maps or Waze as a substitute of Apple Maps, you may need to swipe to a second or third dwelling display each time you need to navigate someplace. That is annoying sufficient whenever you’re parked, and a dangerous distraction whenever you’re on the highway.

Earlier than you get behind the wheel once more, clear up CarPlay by going to Settings > Basic > CarPlay > [your car] > Apps in your iPhone. Drag the triple-line icons on the proper to rearrange their precedence. As a rule, the apps you utilize most frequently ought to occupy the highest eight spots. That approach, they’re going to at all times be on the primary dwelling display web page.

Use the purple icons to take away as many pointless apps as potential. Don’t fret — you are not uninstalling these out of your iPhone, simply CarPlay. You possibly can at all times add them again later by returning to the underside of the Apps web page and tapping on the suitable inexperienced icons. You may have to do that whereas your automotive is off too, however whenever you reconnect your iPhone, any adjustments will sync routinely.

Selecting Darkish and/or Clear look choices

Gentle might have its benefits, typically

For a lot of customers, the very best look settings — present in CarPlay’s in-vehicle Settings > Customise Icons menu — would be the Default icon set, and Auto for switching between Gentle and Darkish themes. This could hold every thing discernible in vivid daylight, however then flip the theme over to Darkish as soon as the solar goes down. That is much less straining on the eyes, particularly whenever you’re observing a navigation app.

Personally, although, I discover the Default icons boring to take a look at, and sometimes favor Darkish mode’s distinction at any time of day. If you wish to comply with go well with, simply faucet each Darkish choices.

New to iOS 26 is the flexibility to decide on Clear icons. These are visually slicker than the darkish ones, for my part, however they don’t seem to be for everybody — there’s even much less distinction than the default, so some drivers might discover themselves looking too lengthy for the proper icon. Your selection of wallpaper might have an effect right here (see under). As I write this, I am experimenting with clear icons and the Auto theme mode to check if these is likely to be higher than all-dark, on a regular basis.

Selecting wallpaper

Full your customization

Wallpaper would possibly look like a trivial factor, however with iOS 26, it may well go a great distance in direction of making your automotive really feel like your individual. That is as a result of the replace’s Liquid Glass aesthetic turns quite a lot of the interface clear, bringing out the colour of your wallpaper, notably in the event you pair it with clear icons (see above).

In my case, I am utilizing a gold-tinged wallpaper that matches the “desert titanium” of my iPhone 16 Pro. You also needs to be capable of discover ones that match the colours of the iPhone 17 lineup, or in the event you’re fortunate, the inside of your cabin. Go to Settings > Wallpaper whenever you’re within the driver’s seat.

Whereas I am right here, I ought to gripe that Apple nonetheless has but to permit customized wallpapers in CarPlay. That is most likely as a result of the corporate is apprehensive about legibility, decision, and general visible attraction — that picture of your associate or pet may appear good in your iPhone, nevertheless it may grow to be an outright mess on a 10-inch panorama show. If that is going to alter in iOS 27 (or another future launch), Apple will want a system to routinely crop and scale photos added to CarPlay, at a minimal. Some kind of monotone filter choice would possibly assist with extra chaotic photos.

The more cash you might have, the extra helpful it’s

One of many side-benefits of Apple’s work on CarPlay Extremely is that a few of its extra superior widgets have slid into the usual UI. These permit issues like checking the climate, viewing your upcoming calendar appointments, or accessing smart home controls with out having to cease first. I think about that for some individuals, the flexibility to lock a door or flip off lights after they’re miles away from their storage will likely be an actual time saver. On most sprint shows, you may entry any widgets you might have configured by swiping to the left of your property display.

To get began, you may need to go to Settings > Basic > CarPlay > [your car] > Widgets in your iPhone. Should you add a number of widgets, you may rearrange their order, and/or activate Good Rotate to let your iPhone select what to prioritize based mostly on the time of day. Regardless, you may swipe up or down in your in-car widget stack(s) to alter what you are .

That leads me to an essential observe, which is that on greater shows, you may see a number of widget stacks directly. This makes the expertise inherently higher in costlier autos. I am fantastic with that in my very own automotive — the one widgets I’ve added are Climate, Batteries, and Calendar, and the one one I care about more often than not is the primary one. I have to know if I will be coping with rain, snow, or freezing temperatures frequently, however checking my Apple Watch’s energy can most likely wait till I’ve arrived at my vacation spot.

One other observe is that whereas a stunning variety of third-party widgets can be found, many of those are most likely going to be ineffective whenever you’re driving. Nobody actually must know who’s reside on Twitch after they’re cruising down the freeway, for instance.