What's new with widgets on iphone, macbook, watches and carplay?

Asked on 06/11/2025

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At WWDC 2025, Apple introduced several updates to widgets across various platforms, including iPhone, MacBook, Apple Watch, and CarPlay. Here's a summary of what's new:

iPhone and MacBook

  • Live Activities: Widgets now support live activities on macOS, similar to the Dynamic Island on iPhone. This allows for interactive and glanceable information directly on the Mac's menu bar, with no code changes required for iPhones running iOS 18 and later.
  • New Presentations: Widgets on iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe can be customized with a clear glass presentation or a specific tint color, enhancing their visual appeal.

Apple Watch

  • Interactive Widgets: WatchOS 11 and 26 bring interactive widgets that allow multiple interactive areas, enabling actions and state updates directly within the widget. This includes support for deep linking and button/toggle initializers.
  • Push Updates: Starting with WatchOS 26, widgets can receive push updates using APNs, ensuring that widget data remains current across all Apple platforms.

CarPlay

  • Widgets in CarPlay: With iOS 26, widgets are now available in CarPlay, providing glanceable information that is crucial while driving. Widgets can be customized in the CarPlay settings on iPhone, and they support interaction on touch screens.
  • CarPlay Ultra: This feature offers a unified and consistent experience across all driver screens, allowing for a personalized layout and design of important information.

For more detailed information, you can check out the session What’s new in widgets (00:01:03) for widgets in new places, and Turbocharge your app for CarPlay (00:02:14) for CarPlay-specific updates.

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