Your Phone Will Still Work in GM's New Gas Trucks
General Motors has announced new software for its upcoming Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra that changes how Apple CarPlay and Android Auto look on the truck screen. The Verge
The system was introduced on September 15, 2026. It will debut on the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado and 2027 GMC Sierra light-duty pickups. GM
GM says CarPlay and Android Auto will work together with its own truck software, not as a separate screen. Both systems get picture-in-picture, like a small TV window, so the phone display can stay open in a corner while truck controls stay visible.
That change is only for gas-powered models. GM never removed phone connection from its gas trucks, SUVs and other fuel-powered models. The 2026 Chevrolet Silverado HD, for example, offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Chevrolet says Android Auto can be used with the touch screen or voice, and models with Google built-in can run apps directly on the center screen.
GM removed CarPlay and Android Auto from its electric vehicles in 2023 and has not offered them in EVs for three years. That includes the Chevrolet Equinox, Blazer, Bolt and Silverado EVs, the Cadillac Lyriq, Optiq, Vistiq and Escalade IQ, and the GMC Sierra EV and Hummer SUV and Truck EVs.
GM builds its EV software on Android Automotive with Google Maps and Gemini built in. That software runs on the car itself. CarPlay and Android Auto are different. They run on the phone and only borrow the car screen.
In an October 2025 appearance on Decoder, CEO Mary Barra defended leaving CarPlay out of EVs and said the rule could later apply to gas vehicles. GM later clarified that CarPlay and Android Auto will stay in gas vehicles for the foreseeable future.
GMC says updates sent over the air can bring free improvements, paid upgrades and software fixes.
The broader context here is fitting the phone in without losing truck controls. Drivers have often lost climate, camera views or tow information when the phone took over the whole screen. Keeping the phone in a smaller window leaves those truck screens in reach.
In my view, GM is testing two paths at once. My kids never learned a car radio, they learned how to pair a phone, and many truck owners think the same way and keep trucks a long time. Truck buyers keep phone connection. EV buyers use only GM's built-in system.
Looking at what this means for builders, the open questions are which voice helper answers, which map plans routes with battery charge in mind, and which part gets fixed by update and when. If GM balances that well, the phone becomes one small window instead of taking over. That is more helpful than a full ban or a full mirror.
