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Apple will soon let drivers converse with AI chatbots while on the road.
The company’s CarPlay Developer Guide (via MacRumors) now includes voice-based chat apps supported by CarPlay. Or, at least, they will be supported when iOS 26.4 launches this spring. This presumably will include third-party AI apps like ChatGPT and Gemini, giving users the ability to verbally ask the AI bots questions while they drive. Previously, CarPlay users could only give voice commands to Siri while driving.
There are, of course, a few caveats to this.
The first is that the companies behind apps like ChatGPT and Gemini will specifically need to update their apps so they work with CarPlay. The second is that wake-up words will not work here; you’ll have to manually open the app in question to start talking to it. Finally, you won’t be able to issue car or iPhone commands using these apps. You can still ask questions, but you can’t ask ChatGPT to do anything to your car or phone.
Other upcoming iOS 26.4 features include AI-generated Apple Music playlists, increased video playback options for Podcasts, and end-to-end encryption for RCS messages. There’s a beta available now, with the full update coming in the spring.
Now, we just need to wait and see if Apple includes the AI-powered Siri we’ve all been waiting for in iOS 26.4, though it looks unlikely.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
Topics Apple iOS ChatGPT
Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.
