CarPlay Widgets in iOS 26: How to Add Car Widgets

To add widgets to CarPlay, update your iPhone to iOS 26, then go to Settings > General > CarPlay, choose your car, open Widgets and tap Add Widget. In the car, swipe right on the CarPlay home screen to see them. You set everything up on the iPhone, not on the car screen.

CarPlay widgets (“car widgets” in a lot of searches) are one of the most useful CarPlay changes in years, but they are often confused with something they are not. Here is how to set them up and where their limits are.

The CarPlay widgets path in iOS 26. Menu names can differ slightly between iOS point releases.

Step by step

1. Update to iOS 26. Settings > General > Software Update. CarPlay widgets do not exist on earlier versions.
2. Open your car’s CarPlay settings. Settings > General > CarPlay, then tap your car in the list.
3. Turn on widgets. Under Customize, tap Widgets and make sure Show Widgets is on.
4. Add widgets. Tap Add Widget. The gallery shows every app on your iPhone that offers a widget.
5. Check them in the car. Connect to CarPlay and swipe right from the home screen. Widgets sit on their own page.

How many widgets fit depends on the size of your car’s screen. A wide display shows more side by side than a small one.

Smart Rotate and suggestions

iOS 26 can rotate widgets on its own and suggest new ones based on what you are doing. Some people like it; others prefer a fixed layout they can find without looking twice. If you are in the second group, turn off Smart Rotate and Widget Suggestions in the same Widgets menu.

Widgets worth adding

• Weather: the forecast at your destination at a glance.
• Calendar: the next appointment, handy when you are on your way to it.
• Home: open the garage or switch on lights as you arrive.
• Battery or EV charging: for electric cars, if your charging app offers a widget.

Third-party widgets vary. Many apps have not optimised their widgets for the car yet, so the gallery may show some that look cramped on a wide screen.

What widgets cannot do

Widgets show information; they do not run apps. You cannot watch a video, scroll a social feed or play a game in a widget, and Apple keeps it that way on purpose.

If you want to see a full app on the car screen while parked, that is a job for screen mirroring, not widgets. Carplay Pro mirrors the whole iPhone screen to the car display, so the apps that will never get a CarPlay version, YouTube, social media, games, still show up on the dashboard for passengers or during a break. The difference is explained in CarPlay screen mirroring explained.

Widgets do not show up?

• Check that the iPhone really runs iOS 26 and that Show Widgets is on for that specific car.
• Disconnect and reconnect CarPlay after changing settings.
• If CarPlay itself is unreliable, fix that first with our CarPlay troubleshooting checklist.