Apple Sports’ new iOS widget sadly doesn’t work in CarPlay

Now that iOS 26 is out I’ve been eagerly waiting to see if Apple would update its Sports app with a widget I could use in my car. The good news is that Apple Sports now has an iOS widget that can be used on your homescreen. The bad news is that you can’t use it in iOS 26’s new CarPlay widgets feature.

The Apple Sports widget shows upcoming fixtures for your favorite teams, or live scores if your team is currently playing a game. It’s now one of the only free sports apps on iOS that incorporates all of Apple’s latest features, including Live Activities support for seeing scores on your lockscreen or in CarPlay, without ads getting in the way.

I was really hoping Apple would make its widget work on the new iOS 26 CarPlay widgets panel, particularly because Apple Sports supports a wide variety of sports and not just soccer. While I could use iOS 26’s new Live Activities feature in CarPlay, it’s only available in the CarPlay Dashboard, and not inside the new widgets panel.

The new widgets panel is great homescreen-like interface for CarPlay, and it’s far less cluttered than the typical dashboard UI. I could also use third-party apps like FotMob, but that’s limited to just soccer when I want to see tennis, Formula 1, and other sports as well as the NFL and soccer.

Alongside the new widget, Apple Sports is also getting more soccer with the addition of leagues including the Bundesliga 2, Ligue 2, Primeira Liga, Segunda División, and Serie B; other teams and leagues have also been added from Austria, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

If you have any good recommendations for sports apps on iOS that support Live Activities and CarPlay widgets, please respond in the comments section. I’m also looking out for any other interesting CarPlay widgets that are available thanks to iOS 26.

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