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Apple just fixed one of CarPlay’s biggest usability issues

Avatar for Michael Burkhardt  | Feb 23 2025 - 4:42 pm PT
27 Comments

Apple released iOS 18.4 beta on Friday, with a number of unique new features. Some of the new features include Priority Notifications with Apple Intelligence, a new Food section in the Apple News app, and more. However, there was another smaller change that went under the radar, one that has to do with CarPlay – particularly on larger displays.

Spotted by Jace on Threads, CarPlay in iOS 18.4 can now include a third row of app icons – up from two. This means that CarPlay will now better take advantage of larger built-in car displays.

However, it isn’t available on every vehicle. The third row of icons only appears on larger car displays, and it isn’t quite clear what the threshold is. Just know that it isn’t there for everyone. MacRumors notes that it’s present on the Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped with an up-to 14-inch display.

Top comment by GreatWizard

Liked by 1 people

CarPlay allows for multiple rows. It depends on screen size. I have an aftermarket ekiy Tesla like display, and it shows wireless CarPlay with four rows of apps, and a vertical dashboard view, so I'm not sure what is the new feature, but a 3rd row isn't it. maybe it changes its row height calculation somehow.

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This is a very welcome change. Cars have been including larger and larger displays over time, and CarPlay hasn’t necessarily scaled quite well to that change, and CarPlay 2 is still nowhere in sight.

This offers a happy middle ground for those with larger displays, and makes the experience a lot more usable. Now there’ll be less of a need to fiddle with multiple home screen pages.

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Avatar for Michael Burkhardt Michael Burkhardt

Michael is a 9to5Mac Reporter, leading all of our Apple news coverage on weekends and reviewing the newest Apple products and accessories. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer, and started the weekly Indie App Spotlight series, which has covered hundreds of blooming new apps since it launched. In his free time, he enjoys shooting street photography around New York City on his Sony A7RV.

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