The ULTIMATE iOS 26 Apple CarPlay Guide: 30+ New Features Explained
Watch this video on YouTube. Key Design Updates: A Sleeker Interface
CarPlay's visual overhaul introduces a liquid glass redesign, offering a modern and polished aesthetic. The interface is now more streamlined and customizable, with several key updates: Rounded icons for a cleaner and more cohesive appearance.
Customizable themes, including light, dark, and auto modes, to suit varying lighting conditions.
New wallpapers with a simplified selection process, making personalization effortless.
These updates ensure that the interface is not only visually appealing but also tailored to individual preferences, enhancing the overall user experience. Widgets and Live Activities: Real-Time Information
Widgets take center stage in iOS 26, offering real-time updates and greater customization options. These features make accessing important information more convenient than ever: Support for third-party widgets, including Spotify, Instagram, and weather apps, expands functionality.
Smart rotate functionality and widget suggestions adapt to your time, location, and usage patterns.
Live activities provide real-time tracking for food deliveries, flight details, and sports scores, keeping you informed on the go.
By integrating these features, iOS 26 ensures that the information you need is always accessible and relevant, enhancing both convenience and practicality. Maps Enhancements: Smarter Navigation
Navigation in CarPlay becomes more intelligent and user-friendly with several significant enhancements. These updates aim to simplify complex routes and improve overall efficiency: On-device travel pattern recognition predicts frequently used routes and suggests alternatives based on real-time traffic conditions.
Pinch-to-zoom support for compatible head units allows for more precise map interaction and better route visualization.
Expanded incident reporting options, including road closures, hazards, and traffic delays, keep you informed of potential disruptions.
These improvements make navigating both familiar and unfamiliar routes easier, making sure a smoother driving experience. Accessibility Improvements: Inclusive Features
iOS 26 introduces a range of accessibility enhancements, making sure that CarPlay is usable for all drivers, regardless of their needs. Key updates include: Adjustable text size, allowing font enlargement up to 135% for improved readability.
Sound recognition alerts for critical sounds, such as car horns or emergency sirens, enhancing safety and awareness.
Smart display zoom, which optimizes screen scaling for easier interaction and better visibility.
These features prioritize inclusivity, making CarPlay a more accessible tool for a diverse range of users while maintaining a focus on safety and convenience. App-Specific Updates: Enhanced Usability
Several apps receive targeted updates in iOS 26, improving their functionality and usability within CarPlay. These updates ensure a more seamless and efficient experience: Messages: A redesigned interface introduces pinned conversations and quick 'tap back' reactions for faster communication.
A redesigned interface introduces pinned conversations and quick 'tap back' reactions for faster communication. Music: Pinned playlists and a layout similar to the iPhone version create a more intuitive music experience.
Pinned playlists and a layout similar to the iPhone version create a more intuitive music experience. Podcasts: Precise playback speed controls allow for better listening customization.
Precise playback speed controls allow for better listening customization. Calls: A compact call UI places incoming calls at the bottom of the screen, minimizing distractions while driving.
These updates enhance the usability of essential apps, making sure that interactions are both intuitive and efficient. Convenience Features: Streamlined Control
iOS 26 introduces several convenience-focused features designed to improve the overall driving experience. These additions make CarPlay more versatile and user-friendly: Integration of HomeKit widgets allows you to manage smart home devices directly from your dashboard, such as adjusting lights or controlling thermostats.
An option to disable CarPlay screenshots enhances privacy and security, making sure sensitive information remains protected.
Video playback support while the car is in park provides entertainment options for passengers, with availability depending on developer implementation.
These features streamline control and expand CarPlay's functionality, making it a more comprehensive tool for drivers. A Unified and Enhanced Experience
The iOS 26 update redefines CarPlay by focusing on design, real-time information, and accessibility. With smarter navigation, improved app functionality, and enhanced customization, CarPlay becomes an indispensable tool for drivers. Whether you're managing media, navigating complex routes, or controlling smart devices, iOS 26 ensures a seamless and intuitive experience tailored to your needs. This update solidifies CarPlay's role as a vital companion for modern driving, offering a unified and enhanced experience for all users.
Find more information on iOS 26 CarPlay Features by browsing our extensive range of articles, guides and tutorials.
Source & Image Credit: Brandon Butch Filed Under: Apple, Apple iPhone, Top News
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The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
If the US president threatens to take away freedoms, are we no longer free?
Threats of retribution from Donald Trump are hardly a novelty, but even by his standards, the US president's warnings of wrathful vengeance in recent days have represented a dramatic escalation. In the past week, Trump has threatened deportation, loss of US citizenship or arrest against, respectively, the world's richest person, the prospective future mayor of New York and Joe Biden's former homeland security secretary. The head-spinning catalogue of warnings may have been aimed at distracting from the increasing unpopularity, according to opinion surveys, of Trump's agenda, some analysts say. But they also served as further alarm bells for the state of US democracy five-and-a-half months into a presidency that has seen a relentless assault on constitutional norms, institutions and freedom of speech. On Tuesday, Trump turned his sights on none other than Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who, before a recent spectacular fallout, had been his closest ally in ramming through a radical agenda of upending and remaking the US government. But when the Tesla and SpaceX founder vowed to form a new party if Congress passed Trump's signature 'one big beautiful bill' into law, Trump swung into the retribution mode that is now familiar to his Democratic opponents. 'Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, menacing both the billions of dollars in federal subsidies received by Musk's companies, and – it seemed – his US citizenship, which the entrepreneur received in 2002 but which supporters like Steve Bannon have questioned. 'No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE.' Trump twisted the knife further the following morning talking to reporters before boarding a flight to Florida. 'We might have to put Doge on Elon,' he said, referring to the unofficial 'department of government efficiency' that has gutted several government agencies and which Musk spearheaded before stepping back from his ad hoc role in late May. 'Doge is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible.' Musk's many critics may have found sympathy hard to come by given his earlier job-slashing endeavors on Trump's behalf and the $275m he spent last year in helping to elect him. But the wider political implications are worrying, say US democracy campaigners. 'Trump is making clear that if he can do that to the world's richest man, he could certainly do it to you,' said Ian Bassin, co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy. 'It's important, if we believe in the rule of law, that we believe in it whether it is being weaponized against someone that we have sympathy for or someone that we have lost sympathy for.' Musk was not the only target of Trump's capricious vengeance. He also threatened to investigate the US citizenship of Zohran Mamdani, the Democrats' prospective candidate for mayor of New York who triumphed in a multicandidate primary election, and publicly called on officials to explore the possibility of arresting Alejandro Mayorkas, the former head of homeland security in the Biden administration. Both scenarios were raised during a highly stage-managed visit to 'Alligator Alcatraz', a forbidding new facility built to house undocumented people rounded up as part of Trump's flagship mass-deportation policy. After gleefully conjuring images of imprisoned immigrants being forced to flee from alligators and snakes presumed to reside in the neighbouring marshlands, Trump seized on obliging questions from friendly journalists working for rightwing fringe outlets that have been accredited by the administration for White House news events, often at the expense of established media. 'Why hasn't he been arrested yet?' asked Julio Rosas from Blaze Media, referring to Mayorkas, who was widely vilified – and subsequently impeached – by Republicans who blamed him for a record number of immigrant crossings at the southern US border. 'Was he given a pardon, Mayorkas?' Trump replied. On being told no, he continued: 'I'll take a look at that one because what he did is beyond incompetence … Somebody told Mayorkas to do that and he followed orders, but that doesn't necessarily hold him harmless.' Asked by Benny Johnson, a rightwing social media influencer, for his message to 'communist' Mamdani – a self-proclaimed democratic socialist – over his pledge not to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) roundups of undocumented people if he is elected mayor, Trump said: 'Then we will have to arrest him. We don't need a communist in this country. I'm going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation.' He also falsely suggested that Mamdani, 33 – who became a naturalized US citizen in 2018 after emigrating from Uganda with his ethnic Indian parents when he was a child – was in the country 'illegally', an assertion stemming from a demand by a Republican representative for a justice department investigation into his citizenship application. The representative, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, alleged that Mamdani, who has vocally campaigned for Palestinian rights, gained it through 'willful misrepresentation or concealment of material support for terrorism'. The threat to Mamdani echoed a threat Trump's border 'czar' Tom Homan made to arrest Gavin Newsom, the California governor, last month amid a row over Trump's deployment of national guard forces in Los Angeles to confront demonstrators protesting against Ice's arrests of immigrants. Omar Noureldin, senior vice-president with Common Cause, a pro-democracy watchdog, said the animus against Mamdani, who is Muslim, was partly fueled by Islamophobia and racism. 'Part of the rhetoric we've heard around Mamdani, whether from the president or other political leaders, goes toward his religion, his national origin, race, ethnicity,' he said. 'Mamdani has called himself a democratic socialist. There are others, including Bernie Sanders, who call themselves that, but folks aren't questioning whether or not Bernie Sanders should be a citizen.' Retribution promised to be a theme of Trump's second presidency even before he returned to the Oval Office in January. On the campaign trail last year, he branded some political opponents – including Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, and Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives – as 'the enemy within'. Since his inauguration in January, he has made petty acts of revenge against both Democrats and Republicans who have crossed him. Biden; Kamala Harris, the former vice-president and last year's defeated Democratic presidential nominee; and Hillary Clinton, Trump's 2016 opponent, have all had their security clearances revoked. Secret Service protection details have been removed from Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, who served in Trump's first administration, despite both being the subject of death threats from Iran because of the 2020 assassination of Qassem Suleimani, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander. Similar fates have befallen Anthony Fauci, the infectious diseases specialist who angered Trump over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as Biden's adult children, Hunter and Ashley. Trump has also targeted law firms whose lawyers previously acted against him, prompting some to strike deals that will see them perform pro bono services for the administration. For now, widely anticipated acts of retribution against figures like Gen Mark Milley, the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff of the armed forces – whom Trump previously suggested deserved to be executed for 'treason' and who expressed fears of being recalled to active duty and then court-martialed – have not materialised. 'I [and] people in my world expected that Trump would come up with investigations of any number of people, whether they were involved in the Russia investigation way back when, or the election investigation, or the January 6 insurrection, but by and large he hasn't done that,' said one veteran Washington insider, who requested anonymity, citing his proximity to people previously identified as potential Trump targets. 'There are all kinds of lists floating around … with names of people that might be under investigation, but you'll never know you're under investigation until police turn up on your doorstep – and these people are just getting on with their lives.' Yet pro-democracy campaigners say Trump's latest threats should be taken seriously – especially after several recent detentions of several elected Democratic officials at protests near immigration jails or courts. In the most notorious episode, Alex Padilla, a senator from California, was forced to the floor and handcuffed after trying to question Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, at a press conference. 'When the president of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, threatens to arrest you, that's as serious as it gets,' said Bassin, a former White House counsel in Barack Obama's administration. 'Whether the DoJ [Department of Justice] opens an investigation or seeks an indictment, either tomorrow, next year or never is beside the point. The threat itself is the attack on our freedoms, because it's designed to make us all fear that if any one of us opposes or even just criticises the president, we risk being prosecuted.' While some doubt the legal basis of Trump's threats to Musk, Mayorkas and Mamdani, Noureldin cautioned that they should be taken literally. 'Trump is verbose and grandiose, but I think he also backs up his promises with action,' he said. 'When the president of the United States says something, we have to take it as serious and literal. I wouldn't be surprised if at the justice department, there is a group of folks who are trying to figure out a way to [open prosecutions].' But the bigger danger was to the time-honored American notion of freedom, Bassin warned. 'One definition of freedom is that you are able to speak your mind, associate with who you want, lead the life that you choose to lead, and that so long as you conduct yourself in accordance with the law, the government will not retaliate against you or punish you for doing those things,' he said. 'When the president of the United States makes clear that actually that is not the case, that if you say things he doesn't like, you will be singled out, and the full force of the state could be brought down on your head, then you're no longer free. 'And if he's making clear that that's true for people who have the resources of Elon Musk or the political capital of a Mayorkas or a Mamdani, imagine what it means for people who lack those positions or resources.'
Scottish Sun
31 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
The five shockingly common objects in your home that are tanking your Wi-Fi – and you can fix it in seconds
There's a bonus problem to watch out for too INTER-NOT! The five shockingly common objects in your home that are tanking your Wi-Fi – and you can fix it in seconds Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) YOUR dodgy Wi-Fi might be your own fault – and not your internet provider's. It turns out that there are a few mistakes linked to common household objects that can cause Wi-Fi troubles at home. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Even if you're got a great router and a top package with rapid speeds, you won't necessarily get brilliant Wi-Fi Credit: Sky So much of what we do depends on having decent internet. That's why it's important to make sure you're not making simply errors that are silently killing your connection. SURPRISING WI-FI KILLERS Microwave ovens are great for fast cooking – but not fast Wi-Fi. For instance., Sky recommends keeping your router away from microwave ovens in an official Wi-Fi memo. Aside from being a large metal object, microwave ovens operate a similar frequency range to common 2.4GHz WiFi (but with much greater power). So you'll want to keep your router far away from the microwave if you've got it set up in the kitchen. On that note, that second thing to watch out for is metal of any kind. You'll definitely want to avoid having your router on or in a metal cabinet or shelving unit. And avoid having any large metal objects nearby, like a washing machine. Thirdly, watch out for mirrors, which can reflect and distort your Wi-Fi signal. Genius Apple trick lets you send iPhone texts with no signal or Wi-Fi It's fine to have mirrors in your home, but you might not want to have one sitting right behind your router. Fourth, be mindful of other devices that operate on the same 2.4GHz frequency as your Wi-Fi. Common offending gadgets include bluetooth speakers and cordless home phones. And fifth, beware water. Drink it, obviously – but don't put it near your router. 3 Having electronics right next to your router is a bad idea Credit: Sky Aside from the obvious risk of water damage, large amounts of water can affect signals. So don't put your router on top of – or next to – a fish tank, or right by a giant vase filled with water. As a bonus tip, keep your router off the floor too. It can be tempting to dump it down there to get it out of the way, but routers generally work better when raised up. YOUR DEVICES MIGHT BE SLOWING WI-FI TOO Here's the official advice from Sky... "Everything you connect to your hub uses bandwidth, and the more you connect the more it can slow you down," Sky explained. "Even when you aren't using them, app updates, device backups and your smart home devices can still be using your bandwidth in the background. "Try disconnecting anything that doesn't need to be connected so they're not hogging your bandwidth when you're trying to browse, work or play. "And try avoiding activities that need a lot of speed, like online gaming or streaming in HD." Picture Credit: Unsplash You'll want it about head height, so find a nice shelf (preferably not metal) to stick it on. WHY ELSE MIGHT YOUR SPEEDS BE SLOW? Of course, there are plenty of other reasons that your Wi-Fi might be struggling. Your first port of call should be the speed that you're paying for. If you've got a cheaper broadband package then your internet speeds simply might not be very good. 3 You can check your internet speeds easily in seconds – it doesn't cost a penny and will reveal if you're having a Wi-Fi nightmare Credit: FAST / The Sun It's easy enough to check your speeds: try or See if that matches up with the speeds on the package that you paid for. If it's miles off – like you're getting an eighth of the promised speed – then something is probably up. You'll experience worse speeds the further you are from the router, so consider connecting gadgets via an ethernet cable if they're very far away. If you've got a big home, you might need several connection points around the home to get the best speeds in the most distant parts of your house. And sometimes internet speeds can drop in an area temporarily due to a technical issue that has nothing to do with you – and is out of your control. Also, if your household is making heavy use of the internet – multiple devices uploading and downloading – then you may experience Wi-Fi trouble too.
The Sun
35 minutes ago
- The Sun
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