After a brief beta period, WhatsApp has pushed its revamped in-car interface to everyone — bringing contact profiles, call history and favorites to your dashboard for the first time.

From basic voice commands to a proper native experience

For years, WhatsApp’s CarPlay integration was minimal at best — a stripped-back voice interface that let you dictate a message or dial a contact, and not much else. It worked, but it never really felt like a first-class citizen on Apple’s in-car platform.

That changes with today’s update. WhatsApp has officially rolled out an improved CarPlay experience to all iPhone users, following just a few days of beta testing first spotted by WABetaInfo. The update was promoted as an App Store event, and the changes are substantial.

What’s new in WhatsApp for CarPlay

The update introduces three notable additions. A new contact info interface lets users view profile details for each contact directly from the car display. A dedicated call history screen shows recent calls — incoming, outgoing or missed — at a glance. And a new favorites tab makes it easy to reach the people you contact most without having to search.

Together, these features bring WhatsApp’s CarPlay experience much closer to what users get in the main iPhone app — without requiring you to pick up your phone while driving.

Part of a bigger wave of CarPlay improvements

WhatsApp isn’t alone in upgrading its in-car experience. The update arrives alongside meaningful CarPlay improvements from other major apps. ChatGPT recently updated to take advantage of Apple’s new support for conversational voice apps, introduced with CarPlay in iOS 26.4 — making it possible to have a proper back-and-forth conversation while keeping your eyes on the road. Google Meet has also expanded its CarPlay feature set, adding the ability to join meetings and view upcoming calendar events directly from the dashboard.

The trend points toward CarPlay becoming a genuinely capable platform rather than just a mirroring tool — and for frequent drivers, that’s a meaningful shift in how these apps fit into daily life.