5 Apple CarPlay Widgets You Should Install ASAP
The latest version of iOS has made the in-car experience smarter than ever. With iOS 26, Apple expanded support for widgets on CarPlay displays—meaning you can add quick-glance panels for things like your schedule, weather, smart-home devices and more.
Here’s a quick guide to five widgets worth installing right now, how they work, and why they’ll make your drive a bit smoother.
1. Calendar & Reminders
If you’re often hopping between meetings or errands, the combo of the built-in Calendar and Reminders widgets can help you plan your journey before you even pull out. These widgets show up side-by-side on larger CarPlay screens.
When you park and hop back into your car, you’ll immediately see what’s next—whether it’s a client meeting, grocery stop or reminder to pick up something. It keeps your day flowing without reaching for your phone repeatedly.
2. Weather Widget
Whether it’s rain, snow or sunshine, checking conditions ahead of time is especially handy for longer drives. CarPlay’s weather widget displays your local forecast right on the infotainment screen.
No need to pull out your phone to see if you should bring an umbrella—or whether road conditions might change mid-trip. It’s all right there on the dash.
3. Smart Home Control
If you’ve got a smart home system (via Apple Home, Google Home or similar), adding it as a CarPlay widget gives you quick access—like opening the garage door, adjusting the AC or turning on lights—before you even step into your house.
Imagine pulling into the driveway with the garage already opening and the living room cooled down. That kind of convenience is now just a tap away in your car.
4. World Clock
Frequent traveler? Remote worker? The world clock widget displays the time in multiple cities—handy if you’re coordinating across different time zones. Just add the Clock widget and swipe until you reach the world clocks view.
It might be a minor tweak, but for anyone working with teams overseas or keeping up with friends in other countries, this can be surprisingly useful.
5. Dynamic Lyrics
For music-loving passengers (or if you’re stopped and safely parked), the Dynamic Lyrics widget pulls up lyrics from songs playing via Apple Music or Spotify. It adds a fun sing-along element to longer drives.
Just remember: this is something for the passengers—not for use while driving.
Why these widgets matter
The reason these made the cut: they balance utility and convenience. The author of the article chose them because they’re already useful on their own phone apps—and bring direct benefit when on the road.
You don’t need special CarPlay-only apps—if an app already offers a widget or Live Activity, CarPlay can display it. That opens up a wide range of possibilities.
How to get started
- Make sure your iPhone is running iOS 26.
- Connect your iPhone to your car’s CarPlay system.
- On your iPhone, navigate to the widgets screen & add the widgets you want.
- On CarPlay, swipe to access the widgets view and select which ones to show.
- Adjust settings as needed—some car systems may limit the size or placement of widgets depending on screen size and layout.
