Apple CarPlay just got an upgrade with iOS 18.4 beta — but there's a catch

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Last week saw Apple release the iOS 18.4 beta to developers, giving us a taste of what’s coming once the update actually arrives later this year.

We’ve already seen a bunch of new features like new languages for Siri and an Ambient Music option. But it turns out the beta also offers a useful update to Apple CarPlay.

If you have the right car or truck.

Which cars get it?

Toyota Tundra interior display — (Image credit: Toyota)

As spotted by MacRumors, iOS 18.4 lets CarPlay show a third row of icons — up from the two that we’ve seen so far.

The only caveat to this is that this upgrade only seems to be available on cars with larger infotainment screens. Those of you with a pretty average-sized screen probably won’t be noticing any changes with the update.

One MacRumors forum member spotted the new CarPlay upgrade on a Toyota Tundra, which is available with a screen up to 14-inches in size. So there's plenty of room for an extra row of icons to live comfortably.

MacRumors found that they could only see two rows of icons in a Honda Civic with a 9-inch screen. That gives us some idea of what sort of screen size you might need.

More icons, less scrolling

CarPlay in iOS 18.4 — (Image credit: MacRumors)

Overall it’s a pretty small change to come to CarPlay, but it’s one that should prove incredibly useful to drivers. After all, what good is having a larger screen if you can’t take advantage of the extra space?

Plus, not only do you get to make better use of your car screen, it means you don’t have to scroll through as many windows to get what you want — which means less chance of being distracted.

But considering the long-awaited CarPlay overhaul is officially overdue, and there’s no official word on when it will actually arrive, any improvement to the existing CarPlay software is a good thing.

iOS 18.4 public beta should be arriving fairly soon, and rumor has it that the final version of the software will be rolled out to everyone at some point in early April.

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Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.