Early this month, bloomberg Apple reported that it is preparing to update CarPlay to support voice-based interactions with AI apps such as 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 who aren’t familiar, Apple limits the types of apps allowed in CarPlay. This is done for safety reasons and due to design limitations of Apple’s CarPlay framework. Unlike iPhone apps, CarPlay apps must be built around templates provided by Apple within the CarPlay framework.
Apple says in the February 2026 edition of its CarPlay Developer Guide that “voice-based conversation apps” are now allowed in CarPlay (via mcroomers). Here is the complete list of supported app categories:
- audio app
- Communication apps (SiriKit messaging or VoIP calling)
- driving task app
- EV charging app
- refueling app
- Navigation app (turn-by-turn directions)
- parking app
- public safety app
- quick food ordering app
- Voice-based conversation app
“Voice-based conversation apps must have a primary voice modality upon startup, and once launched, must appropriately respond to questions and requests and perform actions,” Apple explains. Apple says these apps should be “optimized for voice interaction in a driving environment” and should not display text, images, etc. in query responses.
However, the important thing here is that this will help you gain adoption from app developers. Apple added basic support for these types of apps to CarPlay in iOS 26.4, but it’s up to companies like OpenAI and Google to actually update their apps to take advantage of CarPlay.
Additionally, these apps are not a replacement for Siri in CarPlay. To access things like ChatGPT in CarPlay, you need to open the dedicated ChatGPT app on your car’s infotainment screen.
It remains to be seen whether Google and OpenAI will take advantage of this opportunity. OpenAI currently offers a native ChatGPT app for Mac and iPhone, and Google offers a native Gemini app for iPhone.
In addition to support for voice-based conversation apps, iOS 26.4 also continues to build on the foundation for watching videos via CarPlay.
My Favorite CarPlay Accessories
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