iOS 26 CarPlay Widgets Not Working
Widgets in iOS 26 CarPlay, honestly, were hyped as the thing that would finally make every dashboard feel a little more magical and at first, it’s true, they look sharp, and you can drag them around in Settings. But, let’s get real: half the time, they just aren’t there. You swipe left hoping for weather, tunes, maybe a shortcut to your next coffee stop…and nada. My first drive with iOS 26, I spent more time poking the screen than actually paying attention to traffic.
I even did the classic troubleshooting ritual turning the car’s ignition off and on, rebooting my iPhone while it sat in its cupholder like it was having an existential crisis. Still, the widgets stayed stubbornly invisible. I mean, if the future is widgets, shouldn’t they show up before my third restart?
Widget Hope: What Actually Works
Here’s the straight-up story: some basic Apple widgets do work. Weather, calendar, and clock are usually there, reliable and honest, more dependable than my gym attendance. But for anything else third-party apps or more advanced info the dream is mostly still a dream.
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Apple Music, Podcasts, Messages: Yes, they show up.
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Instagram, YouTube, Maps shortcuts: Sometimes appear, but try tapping them and you might end up in a widget limbo.
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Custom widgets for curated info: Not happening (yet).
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Live Activities like sports scores or deliveries? Mixed results sometimes the dashboard has four panes, sometimes it just shrugs and shows turn-by-turn.
I read one user who drove an 8-inch-screen Ford and found he had only a single widget stack, when back in the beta he could do two. He was not amused. “I sent feedback to Apple,” he wrote, “but it’s like shouting into a black hole.” Been there, buddy.
Troubleshooting: The Rituals We All Try
Yes, you can fix some widget woes or at least keep hope alive with these steps. None are guaranteed, but hope springs eternal, right?
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Restart your iPhone. Seriously, this fixes more stuff than you’d expect.
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Forget your car in CarPlay settings, then add it back like it’s a new friend who needs convincing. This sounds silly, but magical thinking and iOS sometimes go hand in hand.
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Update to the latest version of iOS 26, because Apple loves dropping bug fixes in random “point” releases.
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Go to Settings → General → CarPlay → Select Your Car → Widgets, and try to customize and rearrange what you see. Sometimes the “smart rotate” feature gets you something new; other times it’s just decorative.
Let’s be honest though if you’re in a car with a smaller display, you might have just one widget stack to scroll through, while people with big Teslas get more. Life isn’t fair, and neither apparently is CarPlay.
Real User Frustration: And Some Comic Relief
Last weekend, my neighbor installed iOS 26 in his Civic, genuinely excited (“look, weather right there on my dash!”). Ten minutes later, he’s holding his phone up like a tiny billboard, muttering, “Still no Instagram widget.” For the next hour, the car dashboard looked exactly the same as before unless you really squinted, then the clock was maybe a bit shinier.
There are discussion threads full of folks swapping widget war stories: “Mine vanished after the last update,” “Could only add one stack after having two,” or “How many times do I have to swipe left am I in the wrong timeline?” If Apple ever builds a widget for venting, it’ll be the most used.
What’s Really Going On?
Honestly, the reason most widgets won’t load is because big app developers haven't updated for CarPlay or Apple’s new widget protocols yet. Apple’s official docs quietly admit that some widgets just “aren’t available” and others “depend on settings and screen size”. In short: if your favorite app isn’t widgeting, blame developers, car-makers, and, occasionally, the mysterious ghost in your dashboard. And apparently, iOS 26 limits widget updates heavily to protect battery life so no real-time news ticker for now.
Everyone’s Waiting for Updates
Most of us are probably stuck waiting for app devs and Apple to yank widgets out of limbo. If you’re tired of poking at Settings, all I can say isyou aren’t alone. Maybe widgets will be the killer feature of iOS 27, but for now, the future is half-baked, served fresh every morning in my car’s dashboard.
And if you figure out how to make YouTube work as a CarPlay widget, let me know. There’s a coffee waiting for you.
