Earlier this week saw Apple release iOS 18.4, complete with a bunch of cool new features and upgrades for you to try. What Apple didn’t tell you was that the update also made some changes to CarPlay, and it could improve your overall driving experience — provided you have the right car.
As spotted by MacRumors, iOS 18.4 now offers an extra row of icons for certain types of car. That way you get three rows instead of the usual two, and means you have access to even more of your apps on a single screen.
Driving and screens are not a good mix, especially if you have to navigate through different screens and menus. So the fact that this lets you access more at a glance, there’s less chance that you’ll be distracted from the road ahead.
The downside here is that this change is not universal. In fact it only seems to have affected cars with larger infotainment screens. One MacRumors forum member got it working on a Toyota Tundra, which has a 14-inch display, but the site itself didn’t see the same change on a Honda Civic’s 9-inch display.
Similarly, my car’s 8-inch infotainment display had the same two rows of CarPlay icons as always.
Still, you could argue that larger screens needed that extra icon row the most. The last thing you want is for CarPlay to not make the most of a larger screen, or worse blow up the app icons to absurd sizes.
An important upgrade for (some) EVs
The other change to come with iOS 18.4 is the fact Apple Maps electric vehicle routing now supports the North American Charging System (NACS) — aka the Tesla charger.
Electric Vehicle Routing is a system that links Apple Maps navigation to an electric car’s battery level. Based on the route you’re taking, Apple Maps can then figure out when you’ll need to recharge and add pit-stops to EV chargers at the most appropriate time. This change means that Apple can now send you to Tesla Superchargers as well.
Electric Vehicle Routing is currently limited in scope. Apple points out that features vary by country, and as best I can tell the only compatible cars on sale are Ford’s F150 Lighting and Mustang Mach-E. So its usefulness is going to be limited.
Neither of these features are the long-awaited CarPlay upgrade, which would see Apple’s in-car software take over your car. That’s still missing in action, and we have no idea when it might actually arrive.
These are much smaller upgrades in comparison — but potentially still incredibly useful. Just as long as you have the right kind of car.
More from Tom's Guide
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
