GM's new truck software runs CarPlay and Android Auto in picture-in-picture cards

GM redesigns truck infotainment to make room for CarPlay and Android Auto

General Motors is overhauling the software in its bestselling pickups, and the most notable change is philosophical: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will no longer commandeer the entire screen. According to The Verge, the next-generation interface arriving on the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2027 GMC Sierra 1500 later this year runs phone projection inside a large card that shares space with GM's native system.

The redesign covers more than 60 inches of combined display area in some trucks, counting the instrument cluster, central touchscreen and passenger display. Colin McCormick, GM's group product manager for Google built-in, projection and profiles, told The Verge the extra room is meant to make touch targets bigger and easier to hit — he cited Michigan's rough roads as a situation where small tap zones fail — rather than to pack more information into the cabin.

Projection as a card, not a takeover

When a phone is connected, the vehicle's phone icon changes into a CarPlay icon, and selecting it opens CarPlay inside a contextual card. A native home button returns the driver to a split-screen home view. The goal, McCormick said, is that customers should never have to choose between mirroring their phone and using GM's own features, so a driver can run Apple's apps while trailering or off-road information stays visible.

The Verge notes this is a striking shift in posture. In 2023 GM removed CarPlay and Android Auto from its electric vehicles and has defended the move since, arguing its own software serves customers better without mirroring. CEO Mary Barra even suggested on the Decoder podcast that the restriction could extend to combustion trucks and SUVs, then walked that back within days. The new layout is effectively the compromise: projection survives, but the GM-branded experience keeps a presence on screen, and full-screen takeovers — which McCormick said pushed drivers into risky back-and-forth switching — are gone.

A smartphone-style interface with truck priorities

The redesign borrows conventions from phones. A swipe-down notification shade offers quick access to device switching, settings and privacy controls, including a toggle to disable the vehicle's microphone. GM separates one-time settings from frequently adjusted controls, and the interface avoids abruptly replacing the whole display: the media player stays in place while a queue panel slides in from the side. Driver-assist graphics get a refresh, and transitions between displays are animated.

Physical controls largely remain, including HVAC buttons, with airflow direction moved to a flyout menu. One notable exception is the oil dipstick, which becomes a virtual reading on the truck's status screen.

Trailering receives particular attention. Trailer information appears in both the driver information display and a homescreen card, and once a trailer is connected the truck recognizes it, letting Google Maps plan a route that accounts for it. Drivers enter trailer dimensions once, and those measurements follow the customer's GM account across vehicles.

Rollout is limited to new trucks

The Verge reports the interface reaches new Silverado and Sierra trucks later this year only; current owners keep the previous-generation system. GM deliberately put the software on its highest-volume models rather than a low-volume test bed, and with annual sales of these trucks close to 900,000 units, the company expects substantial feedback that over-the-air updates can then address, with some elements likely to change.

Why it matters

GM was the loudest holdout against phone mirroring in its EVs, and its trucks are now a test of whether automaker software and CarPlay can coexist rather than compete. If the card-based approach works, it offers a template for other manufacturers balancing their own infotainment investments against customer demand for Apple's and Google's ecosystems — and it suggests GM's earlier all-or-nothing position was a dead end. The design choices also feed into safety debates around oversized screens: bigger displays with larger touch targets and persistent native information could reduce the mid-drive tapping that distracted-driving critics warn about.