7 Smart Ways to Use Siri in Apple CarPlay

Siri is a fundamental part of the Apple CarPlay experience. Even though a revamped Siri with Google Gemini is expected to arrive later this year with iOS 27, the personal assistant is already useful to CarPlay users for controlling the infotainment experience, calling someone, controlling music, and more. Although Apple didn’t really improve Siri with iOS 26, it recently made AI chatbots available via voice command.

With this, users can communicate with ChatGPT through voice, which is useful for completing tasks and asking questions. Notably, Apple also added new features to CarPlay in April 2026, such as Apple Sports and ambient music widgets. So, if you drive a CarPlay-supported vehicle, here’s how to use Siri to control your car’s features while avoiding distractions on the road. Here are some nifty ways to use Siri and get the most out of it in Apple CarPlay just by using your voice.

The various apps and functions of Apple CarPlay can be controlled using the infotainment system’s touchscreen or by voice. While many people focus primarily on the touch experience, you can simply ask Siri to open apps and navigate the platform. Users can enjoy commands like “Open (app)”, “Go Home”, “Flip”, “Tap (item)” and much more. Some of these experiences, like asking Siri to tap an item, can be done as “Tap first” or “Tap next,” meaning the assistant will tap the first or second icon in the row.

Gestures such as “Swipe left” and “Swipe up” can be used between CarPlay Home or CarPlay Dashboard pages, as well as when navigating up or down in a list. Additionally, if you’re in an app like Apple Maps, you can ask Siri to “double tap” or “pan left/right/up/down” to zoom or pan around the map, making the entire CarPlay experience hands-free.

The second smart way to use Siri on CarPlay is to call someone. While the Phone app is available on screen and we typically scroll through our contacts to call a friend, family member, or even business, Siri can eliminate manual input completely. Not only can you call people from your contacts, but you can also ask Siri to call a business, and Siri will look up the number online for you. You can even set up and use personalized information such as “Call my mother” or “Call my girlfriend” if you have added this information to your contact card.

If you have saved multiple contacts with the same or similar names, Siri will also confirm the number you plan to call before completing the task. Likewise, you can use Siri to write a message to a contact. Although iOS 26 recently allowed users to react to messages via CarPlay, among Live Activities and other CarPlay features, you can either delegate this task to Siri or simply ask the personal assistant to write you a message. This way you can dictate what you want to send without getting distracted.

If you’re driving to a vacation destination, commuting, or taking a deep breath after a long day, your main companion while you’re in the car is probably your music playlist. If you use Apple Music or other music streaming services, a nifty way to take advantage of Siri is to use the personal assistant to control your music.

Most vehicles already have some sort of physical controls for music on the steering wheel, such as Play/Pause, Skip/Forward, or volume up/down. However, if you don’t feel like it, you can just ask Siri. Additionally, the personal assistant can be very specific, such as “Increase the volume to 63%.”

Siri can also play your favorite playlists, songs, artists, and albums, and as long as you don’t listen to an artist, song, or album with a name that’s very difficult to pronounce, it’s very likely that the personal assistant will deliver exactly what you’re aiming for.

The fifth tip is ideal if you are taking a long trip and are unsure of the weather at your destination. Although there are several cool weather services among the essential Apple CarPlay apps, you can always ask Siri to check weather data for you, like rain duration, what the weather will be like at the time of arrival, etc. The advantage of this command, like many others, is that you don’t need to take your eyes off the road. Even if you do it for a fraction of a second, iOS 26’s new CarPlay widgets will allow you to see all the required data in a jiffy.

Additionally, you can receive reminder alerts based on your location. For example, if you have a task to complete once you arrive at your destination or need to remember to buy specific groceries once you arrive at a supermarket, Siri can be extremely reliable with this. You can simply say, “Remind me to pick up X when I get to my destination” and the personal assistant will call you right after you arrive.

Finally, you can add a stop to your current route using Siri. Imagine you’re out of gas, you forgot to buy flowers for your grandparents, or your kids just remind you that you need to stop at one of their friends’ houses to pick up an important book for an upcoming project. You can simply ask Siri to add a stop to your route, and the personal assistant will recalculate the route so you can continue your original trip later.

What makes this feature even better is that with iOS 26.5, Apple added a new Suggested Places feature in Apple Maps, which recommends places based on what you’ve recently searched for and also trends around you. With this, if you are traveling and need to grab a coffee to recharge, Siri will leverage this feature to find a nearby coffee shop. That said, while we’re expecting a better Siri with iOS 27, the current personal assistant is already reliable for everyday tasks and can be a good co-pilot any time you’re behind the wheel.