Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Apple was preparing to update CarPlay with support for voice-based interactions in AI apps like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. As of this week’s release of iOS 26.4 beta 1, that support has officially arrived.
Here’s how it works.
iOS 26.4 adds support for voice-based AI apps to CarPlay
For those unfamiliar, Apple limits the types of apps that are allowed in CarPlay. This is done for safety reasons, as well as design limitations of Apple’s CarPlay framework. Unlike iPhone apps, CarPlay apps must be built around Apple-provided templates within the CarPlay framework.
In the February 2026 edition of its CarPlay Developer Guide, Apple says that “voice-based conversational apps” are now permitted in CarPlay (via MacRumors). Here’s the full list of supported app categories:
Audio apps
Communication apps (SiriKit Messaging or VoIP Calling)
Driving task apps
EV charging apps
Fueling apps
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