Apple Was Quietly Hiding The Best CarPlay Feature In Plain Sight

Over the past few years, Apple has continued to improve its CarPlay platform. Even though it took the company a little longer than expected to make CarPlay Ultra available, it's undeniable that with every update, the platform makes it easier for drivers to go to places, enjoy their favorite content, and have an Apple-like experience while driving, as we won't see an Apple Car anymore.

With iOS 26 launching later this fall, CarPlay users have a lot to celebrate, as Apple is planning at least five major features for the platform, including the new Liquid Glass design language. This update comes alongside other tweaks, such as having a third row of apps available, an all-new Siri experience, the ability to reply to a message by using the Tapback feature, keeping track of key information with Live Activities, customizing the widget screen for HomeKit controls, calendar appointments, and so much more.

Still, even though Apple made a point of announcing these additions during the WWDC 2025 keynote, the company was hiding a small, yet very important CarPlay feature that we're just now learning about.

As spotted by MacRumors, the developer's page of CarPlay highlights several new features coming to the platform in iOS 26, including the ability to watch videos in the car. Here's how the company describes this new feature: "AirPlay video in the car enables people to watch their favorite videos from iPhone right on their CarPlay display when they aren't driving. Integrate support for CarPlay with AirPlay video to enable this feature in your car."

From now on, whenever you're not driving, you can watch your movies and TV shows, play videos you've recorded, or even scroll through YouTube and other platforms to find something to watch from your front seat. Apple's AirPlay experience is already integrated with so many devices that it's only natural for it to make its way to our vehicles as well.

Video in the car is coming for CarPlay users later this fall once iOS 26 is released. BGR will keep reporting on more CarPlay features as we learn more about them.