Apple CarPlay to gain video playback support soon

Apple iPhone users may be able to watch videos on their car infotainment screens via CarPlay when the next update to iOS becomes available.

The official Apple CarPlay developer page now lists “AirPlay video in the car” as a feature programmers can add to their apps, which would allow users to cast videos from an iPhone app onto their car’s infotainment display.

Naturally, due to safety concerns, users will need to be parked in order to watch videos on their car’s infotainment system via CarPlay.

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In addition to this, the video playback feature needs to be enabled on the head unit by the automaker. At the time of writing no automakers have committed to allowing video playback via CarPlay on their vehicles.

It’s also not clear if automakers will allow the feature on existing vehicles, or only on new cars or new models.

According to MacRumors, the latest iOS 26.4 beta that was released to developers last week includes new references to in-car video playback, as well as related notifications, on-boarding flows, and a notification message informing the user to subscribe to the Apple TV service (formerly Apple TV+) on their phone when not driving in order to view subscription content.

There are also indications the Apple TV app will be available on CarPlay, with One Jailbreak publishing a screenshot showing the app on a CarPlay screen with thumbnails for available shows.

Although it looks as though video playback support could come as soon as iOS 26.4, Apple has in the past included features in a beta, only to take it out when the final version goes public, usually because the item needs more work.

The rumour mill says iOS 26.4 will likely go live either at the end of March or the beginning of April.

Video playback was announced for Android Auto back in May 2025, but the feature has yet to be released and there’s no timeframe for its availability.

Some cars which have infotainment systems running on the Android Automotive operating system, such as Polestar, already support video playback, with users able to download apps, such as YouTube and Prime Video, via the Play Store.