3 CarPlay gifts I’d appreciate from Apple for the holidays

• Custom backgrounds are not rocket science
• Screen adaptations need real attention
• Connectivity issues are more rampant than ever

Each holiday season, thousands upon thousands of motorists take to the open road to drive to and from family meals, breakfasts, dinners, and the occasional sleepover. I know this because I am one of said motorists. I’ll spend over a full day on the road before this holiday season is through, which gives me plenty of time to think about my biggest gripes with infotainment systems like Apple CarPlay. What, you don’t do that on road trips?

That said, iOS 26 came along and elevated CarPlay beyond its original red-headed stepchild status in Apple’s product lineup. The platform has admittedly improved by leaps and bounds this year, but there are still some presents Apple could fork over if it really wanted to. Customization has always been a central sticking point with the platform, but there are a few other minor details that can become grating over time.

Custom backgrounds are not rocket science

Apple is handing Android Auto a leg up in the competition with this feature

Do you see that black sand background? That’s not a preset. That’s the background of my Android phone displaying on the Android Auto interface. It’s a simple data transaction that occurs every time I plug my Android-powered workphone into any car I rent or own or connect wirelessly, and it lets me set a custom background for my infotainment display — what a novel concept.

Instead, when I use CarPlay, I get a few gradient backgrounds with funky shapes and shadows. I’m all about Apple’s design language. Heck, I live in an Apple ecosystem from my home office down to my headphones. Still, the fact that such a simple, easy-to-implement feature has been left out of the infotainment platform that Apple hopes to have in every car it can is bewildering to me. This feature has been at the top of my Apple wishlist and will remain there until circumstances change.

Screen adaptations need real attention

Some brands have embarrassingly poor display dimensions

From brand to brand, the way CarPlay actually displays on-screen differs. For instance, one of the biggest complaints of Nissan Armada owners is that the CarPlay display only takes up around 2/3 of the screen. Even on my 2025 VW Atlas, pictured above, CarPlay doesn’t take up the entirety of the screen.

Some of this is because drivers still need to retain access to certain features like climate control, and manufacturers only want those controls to be one button away. That’s understandable in itself, but the execution is often lacking. Several users of different vehicle models report wonky dimensions of actual CarPlay displays, with some even turning drivers away from the CarPlay experience entirely. One would think the design language between models would be a point of communication or quality control, but with each strange rendition of CarPlay’s implementation, that reality seems further and further away.

Connectivity issues are more rampant than ever

The latest update didn’t fix the issue, either

Each time I write any story on CarPlay, it seems the comments section floods with users who deal with random disconnections each day. The kicker, though, is that with each update, this issue actually seems to be worsening as days go by. I experienced this myself on a recent 10-hour road trip, with connectivity drifting in and out more frequently than on previous trips of similar distances.

Most of these issues seem to arise with wireless users. However, there have been reports that even wired connections no longer work with iOS 26.2, despite the update bringing a pair of useful features to the platform. At least two of these requests are entirely cosmetic, with the last being an issue that might require some more TLC. However, if it’s an easy fix, why not give CarPlay users the holiday gifts they’ve waited for all along?