CarPlay Developer Guide - October 2026

Nov 2, 2026

CarPlay Developer Guide (October 2026) provides practical development documentation for building, testing, and publishing CarPlay apps and navigation experiences. It covers app categories and developer guidelines, CarPlay Simulator and widgets, Live Activities, entitlements, templates, notifications, and assets. The guide also addresses audio handling, data access when the iPhone is locked, launching other apps, list and now playing templates, navigation-specific templates, panels, route guidance, touch gestures, keyboard and list restrictions, voice prompts, and integration with vehicle sharing scenarios.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryTechnology

FormatPDF

Pages70

Reading Time2 h 56 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

CarPlay app categories

Guidelines

CarPlay Simulator

Widgets in CarPlay

Live Activities in CarPlay

CarPlay apps

Entitlements

Templates

Notifications

Assets

Audio handling

Accessing data while iPhone is locked

Launching other apps in CarPlay

Build a CarPlay app

Build a CarPlay navigation app

Supported displays and features

Additional templates for navigation apps

Panels

Route guidance

Touch gestures

Keyboard and list restrictions

Voice prompts

Share and test features

CarPlay Developer Guide October 2026 􀀡 Developer Table of Contents Introduction......................................................................................................................................................3 CarPlay app categories....................................................................................................................................4 Guidelines ........................................................................................................................................................5 CarPlay Simulator ............................................................................................................................................9 Widgets in CarPlay .........................................................................................................................................10 Live Activities in CarPlay ................................................................................................................................11 CarPlay apps ..................................................................................................................................................12 Entitlements ...............................................................................................................................................................13 Templates...................................................................................................................................................................15 Notifications ..............................................................................................................................................................28 Assets ........................................................................................................................................................................29 Audio handling ..........................................................................................................................................................30 Accessing data while iPhone is locked ..................................................................................................................30 Launching other apps in CarPlay ............................................................................................................................30 Build a CarPlay app ........................................................................................................................................31 Startup .......................................................................................................................................................................31 Create a list template ...............................................................................................................................................33 Create a now playing template ...............................................................................................................................34 Build a CarPlay navigation app ......................................................................................................................35 Supported displays and features ............................................................................................................................35 Additional templates for navigation apps ..............................................................................................................36 Panels ........................................................................................................................................................................38 Startup .......................................................................................................................................................................43 Route guidance.................................................................

FAQs

What topics are covered for building a CarPlay app?

The guide covers setup and startup, entitlements, templates (including list and now playing), assets, notifications, audio handling, and how to publish a CarPlay app.

How does the guide support development and testing?

It includes guidance for using the CarPlay Simulator and provides steps to test navigation apps, along with sample code references.

What navigation-specific capabilities are described?

The guide explains building a CarPlay navigation app, supported displays and features, additional navigation templates, panels, route guidance, touch gestures, keyboard and list restrictions, and voice prompts.

Nov 2, 2026

Uploaded by Danger Angel