A clock on the CarPlay dashboard

Updated 18 September 2026 · iOS 26 and 27

The clock CarPlay gives you is a few points tall in the status bar. A clock widget takes the full dashboard slot, in a face you choose, readable at arm's length while driving.

Why a clock widget

CarPlay's own time sits in the status bar next to the signal icons. Most drivers end up looking at the car's cluster clock instead, which is often the one thing on the dash that is wrong after a time change. A dashboard widget shows the phone's time, always correct, in large type.

Faces

Otto ships five: digital, analog, a retro LCD, and two more. Each widget instance is configured separately, so a Home Screen clock and the CarPlay clock can be different faces. Long-press the widget on the Home Screen to change the face; the dashboard follows.

Readable at noon and at midnight

The dashboard shows widgets without a container background, so the clock's own surface is the only thing behind the digits. Otto's surface shifts with the time of day, which means the accent colour lands on a different background every hour. We measured every combination and adjusted until each one clears 5:1 contrast (the WCAG AA line for text). If you find a face hard to read in bright sun, switch to a higher-contrast theme; the neon and classic themes are the strongest.

Otto, the other clock

There is also a small car with a face that reads the clock: sleepy at midnight, bright at noon, headlights on after dark. It is decorative, and it is still allowed on the dashboard, because Apple's test is whether a widget needs interaction while driving, not whether it is useful. Glanceable is the rule; a character that changes with the hour passes it.

Setting it up

Add the clock from Settings → General → CarPlay → your car → Dashboard, as in the setup guide. Put it first so it is on the page you see without swiping.

Otto is a free app that puts a clock, your license plate, inspection and insurance countdowns, parking and the Drive Card on the CarPlay dashboard, Home Screen and Lock Screen. Everything in this guide is how Otto itself works on a real car screen. Get Otto on the App Store.