CarPlay will soon let users hide more apps, but Apple’s stubbornness ruins the fun

Apple continues to refine the CarPlay experience, and even though the company hasn’t made any big announcements and is primarily focusing on the next-generation experience, it’s still showing some love for its existing version.

CarPlay is getting some subtle improvements in the next major iPhone update, and one of the most recently spotted is support for hiding more of your own apps.

Starting with iOS 18, users will be able to remove the Phone and Messages apps from CarPlay. You can find the options in Settings > General > CarPlay > Customize. You can click the delete icon next to the Phone and Messages apps to hide them from CarPlay.

One of the most common requests in the CarPlay world was support for blocking calls and messages when running the app in a car. This is because not everyone wants their calls and messages to be sent to the vehicle, so some users prefer to stick with apps like Google Maps and Waze on CarPlay and have messages and calls available on their phones.

This could also be a privacy issue, as not having everything on the vehicle’s screen prevents certain data, such as who is calling you, from being exposed.

This change coming in iOS 18 doesn’t completely solve the problem, though, and it’s living proof that Apple still likes to do things its own way. The company will let users hide apps from CarPlay, but calls and messages will still go through and appear in CarPlay. This means that when you’re using CarPlay, you won’t see the Phone and Messages app icons in the app drawer or dock, but if someone calls or texts you, you’ll see notifications on the screen. You’ll be able to answer calls and messages using Siri, which you can already do today.

However, hiding the two apps has a huge benefit. It will prevent users from revealing certain data to other passengers in the vehicle (imagine you’re driving an Uber and accidentally open the Phone app) – your contacts and phone numbers could be exposed to other people. Plus, if you’re riding with someone else in the front seat, they’ll always be able to tap the Phone app to access your contacts, so with this option, the two apps are hidden and no longer available in the CarPlay UI.

The change is already available in the latest iOS 18 beta versions and should reach everyone with the release of the production version of the operating system in the fall. If all goes according to plan, the rollout should begin in September, but we’ll hear more about it in the fall during Apple’s hardware event, when a next-generation iPhone with iOS 18 preloaded is also expected to be revealed.