iOS 26.2 is coming soon, with excellent new features for Reminders, Podcasts, and Apple Music. There are also a couple key CarPlay changes in iOS 26.2, here’s what’s new.
Widgets are brand new in CarPlay as of iOS 26, and in iOS 26.2 some users will find them even more useful.
That’s because Apple is expanding the number of widget stacks visible on-screen for certain vehicles.
Tom Warren at The Verge posted on X that his vehicle now shows three widget stacks in iOS 26.2, up from only two in iOS 26.1.
a pleasant little surprise in iOS 26.2 beta is triple widgets in CarPlay. My car only supported two widgets side-by-side in iOS 26 and iOS 26.1 pic.twitter.com/nkIt0YzDWB
I’ve heard from other readers who have similarly seen their widget stacks increase in iOS 26.2. But other users have found the number of visible widgets unchanged.
Apple hasn’t yet documented specific requirements for gaining more widgets, but hopefully we’ll learn more when iOS 26.2 ships. However widespread the change ends up being, getting more widgets on-screen will be a great upgrade for some CarPlay users at least.
When iOS 26 launched, it brought two main changes to CarPlay’s Messages app.
Messages finally now supports tapbacks in the car, and also pinned conversations.
But it seems Apple has learned that the latter change isn’t always the best option for users, especially those with small in-car screens.
In iOS 26.2, Apple has added a new CarPlay setting that lets you disable pinned threads in Messages.
Open the Settings app in CarPlay and scroll down until you find ‘Pinned Conversations.’ Toggle the switch off, and your Messages app will revert to the old design that shows the most recent conversations first.
It’s a small change, but a welcome one for users who have smaller in-car screens and don’t need all their pinned conversations available.
If you’re running iOS 26.2, have you gotten more widget stacks in CarPlay? Let us know in the comments.
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Ryan got his start in journalism as an Editor at MacStories, where he worked for four years covering Apple news, writing app reviews, and more. For two years he co-hosted the Adapt podcast on Relay FM, which focused entirely on the iPad. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his favorite Apple device is the iPad Pro.

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