Anyone who has ever had to sit in a car waiting for something or someone knows how quickly boredom sets in. Now, it seems that Apple intends to bring a solution to this problem.
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For those who have an iPhone and a multimedia system with CarPlay support in the car, it will soon be possible to enjoy video playback inside the vehicle — a feature that will likely arrive alongside the next minor version of iOS.
The arrival of this feature had already been mentioned before, when Apple announced iOS 26 in June 2025. At the time, the tech giant told developers that the new operating system for the iPhone would support video playback.
This feature was not included in the first version or in the ones that followed, but it is now available to developers in the iOS 26.4 beta. On his YouTube channel, developer Thomas Dye demonstrated how video playback works in a CarPlay simulator.
Dye showed that a version of the Apple TV app now appears on the CarPlay home screen and works very similarly to the versions on iPhones, iPads, and TVs. You can view your library, search for TV shows and movies, and watch your selections.
App developers will also be able to enable a form of AirPlay from the phone to the car that will support video sources for apps that do not have a CarPlay implementation. When Dye played a video from such an app, the interface displayed a prompt saying “Show Video on iPhone.”
Before this feature reaches CarPlay systems, a few things will need to happen. First, your car manufacturer will likely need to enable the feature by setting a key in its software that communicates with CarPlay, which would require an over-the-air update or something similar.
Second, CarPlay will need to implement a tool that blocks access to the feature unless the vehicle is parked — something that is absolutely essential to ensure road safety.
It’s worth noting that there is no guarantee that a feature present in an iOS beta will be included in the final version of the software. Sometimes they are shared with developers simply to allow more time for development and testing.
Still, Dye hinted that the feature does not seem particularly difficult to implement, so we may see this new addition when the next iOS update is released, which could still take a few weeks (or months).
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Photo and video: Apple / YouTube @Thomas_Dye. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
