Technologies

iOS 26 Will Radically Reshape the Look and Feel of Apple CarPlay. Learn All the New Free Features Coming Soon

Apple’s imminent free CarPlay upgrade will finally stop calls from interrupting your navigation.

Originally called «iOS in the Car,» Apple’s CarPlay has come a long way in the last decade. It now supports iPhone connections for more than 800 different models of cars and motorcycles. It’s also about to go through a massive redesign with a bevy of new features.

Apple is updating the CarPlay experience with the newly revealed iOS 26. Apple announced the changes during its annual WWDC event in Cupertino, California, on June 9.

Apple’s iPhone-compatible automobile operating system is used more than 600 million times per day, according to the tech giant. The entire CarPlay system is getting a refresh, including icons in light and dark modes, widgets to give you «quick and glanceable ways to get information» while you’re on the move and live activities like flight statuses.

«We’ve also added new features to help keep you connected while driving, like a compact design when you get a call, so you can still see what’s on the screen, like your upcoming directions, along with tap backs and pinned conversations in messages,» Apple’s Emily Schubert said during the WWDC keynote.

There are also now vehicle controls in Apple CarPlay, including radio and climate controls.

Footage from Apple during the keynote also showed you can send emoji reactions to messages while on the go, without navigating away from your driving directions. You can also see things like calendar reminders and smart home controls in widgets on the side of the display.

Apple launched CarPlay Ultra last month, bringing more customized features for automakers to include.

«It provides information for all of the driver’s screens, including real-time content and gauges in the instrument cluster, while reflecting the automaker’s look and feel and offering drivers a customizable experience,» Apple said in a blog post in May.

All the new CarPlay features coming in iOS 26

Here’s a roundup of the major new features that will be added to CarPlay with the launch of iOS 26.

Liquid Glass design

Just like an iPhone with iOS 26, CarPlay will get the same translucent design overhaul Apple is calling Liquid Glass, with buttons that add a feel of depth. CarPlay icons may not have the same moving effect as on your iPhone, but they’ll have the same shiny, glass-like appearance.

Compact view

One of the most welcome new features of CarPlay with iOS 26 is a new view that doesn’t interrupt your navigation when phone calls arrive. Instead of taking over the whole screen, incoming calls will now appear in a smaller windows at the bottom, so you’ll be able to see turn-by-turn directions.

New features in Messages

Messages on CarPlay with iOS 26 will add the ability to respond with tapbacks like thumbs up, thumbs down, a heart or exclamation marks. It will also let you pin messages to the top of the interface.

New incidents to report in Maps

Maps will soon add three new incident types to report in CarPlay. Along with the existing accidents, speed checks and hazards, the iOS 26 update will also include roadwork, road closures and traffic.

Video streaming while parked

The new CarPlay with iOS 26 will let your stream videos to your car’s screen from your iPhone using AirPlay. As soon as your car starts moving, the feature should be disabled. Whether or not you’ll be able to stream video may depend on your car model.

Live Activities and widgets

Using CarPlay with iOS 26, the same widgets you have on your iPhone should work in your car. Widgets are currently only availble via Apple’s premium version of the service, CarPlay Ultra. You’ll also soon be able to see real-time updates and info from Live Activities like flight trackers.

Smart Display Zoom

When this new feature is enabled in CarPlay with iOS 26, the CarPlay interface will be automatically resized to best use the available screen space, no matter its size. For example a smaller screen will reduce the size of the icons so that two rows of app icons can fit properly.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, June 28

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for June 28.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s Saturday, so it’s extra-long, and might take you a while. Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Detachable parts of a dress form
Answer: ARMS

5A clue: Catering container containing caffeine
Answer: TEARUN

8A clue: Climbing structure offered in pet stores
Answer: CATTREE

9A clue: Gets into town
Answer: ARRIVES

10A clue: Frédéric Chopin or Ray Charles, notably
Answer: PIANIST

11A clue: They don’t hold water
Answer: SIEVES

12A clue: ___-jerk reaction
Answer: KNEE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: With some chance of failure
Answer: ATARISK

2D clue: Prepare for a new job, maybe
Answer: RETRAIN

3D clue: Midday Broadway showing
Answer: MATINEE

4D clue: Goal of a noted reality show set on an island
Answer: SURVIVE

6D clue: Witherspoon who portrayed June Carter in «Walk the Line»
Answer: REESE

7D clue: Lodgings for larks
Answer: NESTS

8D clue: Souvenir from a baseball game
Answer: CAP

Technologies

Facing Billions in DMA Fines, Apple Lets EU iPhone Users Install Apps Outside the App Store

A last-minute rule change lets European iPhone owners download apps from rival stores and developer websites, while introducing new fees that Apple hopes will satisfy regulators in Brussels.

In a scramble to sidestep penalties that could soar into the billions, and with Brussels regulators watching closely, Apple has agreed to let Europeans download iPhone apps from outside its own App Store.

With just hours left before an EU compliance deadline, the company said residents of the 27-nation bloc will soon be able to grab apps from rival marketplaces or straight off a developer’s website. The change rolls out later this year with iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6, and also lets users set a different browser engine and choose a third-party wallet at checkout.

For everyday EU iPhone owners, that means the download button could pop up in more places than just Apple’s storefront. After you select the new setting, iOS shows a one-time permission sheet confirming you’re leaving Apple’s marketplace. The app then passes a quick notarization scan meant to weed out malware. Apple notes that off-store downloads work only inside the EU, and disappear if you stay outside the bloc for more than 30 days.

Cost to developers

Developers do gain fresh distribution freedom, but there’s a price tag. A new two-tier Store Services fee asks for 5% of outside sales in exchange for basic services like app reviews and support in what’s called Tier 1, or 13% for the full bundle of perks, including automatic updates and App Store promotions in Tier 2.

Apple will take a 5% «Core Technology Commission» on any purchase made outside its own payment system. That new cut will phase out the current €0.50-per-download fee and become the sole charge across the EU when a unified pricing model arrives on Jan. 1, 2026.

Apple insists «more than 99%» of devs will pay the same or less under the revamped math.

Why now?

In April, the European Commission fined Apple €500 million ($585 million) for blocking developers from steering users to cheaper payment options, and warned that daily penalties of up to 5% of global revenue could follow if it failed to comply.

Throughout the back-and-forth, Apple has accused the commission of «moving the goalposts» on what counts as compliance, with a spokesperson saying the company has invested «hundreds of thousands of hours» to meet the EU’s evolving demands.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney blasted the 5% tier as a «malicious compliance scheme» that «makes a mockery of fair competition.»

If regulators decide Apple still hasn’t gone far enough, the iPhone maker could face steeper sanctions, or even be forced to separate its App Store business.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for June 27, #1469

Here are hints — and the answer — for today’s Wordle No. 1,469 for June 27. Some players need a new starter word now.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle isn’t too tough, but somehow, it has a starting letter I never seem to guess. Some posters on Reddit say it was one of their starter words, so now they’re in the market for a new way to begin the game. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with P.

Wordle hint No. 4: Placement

The two vowels are next to each other.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to something that is not decorated and is simple.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is PLAIN.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, June 26, No. 1468 was OFFER.

Recent Wordle answers

June 22, No. 1464: THRUM

June 23, No. 1465: ODDLY

June 24, No. 1466: ELITE

June 25, No. 1467: COMFY

Will Wordle run out of words?

When Wordle began, creator Josh Wardle used a list of five-letter words he’d shared with his partner, picking only the words they recognized. While that’s more than 2,000 words, more than half of them have already been used.

Wordle editor Tracy Bennett admitted that the game will eventually have to come to grips with the fact that the word list is not eternal.

«One possibility is that we could recycle old words at some point, like when we get close to the end,» Bennett told a Wordle player on TikTok.

She also said the editors might throw all the words back in and reuse them, or allow plurals, or past tense, something that’s not done now.