CarPlay Navigation Apps Get Fresh Look with iOS 27 Update
iOS 27 has rolled out to users, and while it may not bring significant changes to CarPlay, Apple did update the navigation app template. This means that apps like Google Maps and Waze will now display journey information in a new, redesigned panel.
The updated panel displays arrival time in a larger font within a box, with the time left until reaching the destination shown below. Google Maps still uses a color-coded approach to indicate traffic conditions, but the fonts look sharper overall.
This change is thanks to Apple's Liquid Glass interface, which was introduced in iOS 26 and aimed to make everything 'shine' on the screen using visual effects like transparency. However, this didn't quite translate well to CarPlay, where readability suffered. The release of iOS 27 has polished the approach but still leaves some room for improvement.
One area that could use refinement is the size of the journey details box. It's quite large and covers a significant portion of the map without adding much benefit. Apple also used transparency for this box, offering a see-through effect with a relatively high opacity level.