What does the bell icon mean on your CarPlay screen?

Demystifying one of CarPlay's least-obvious icons.

By Roger Fingas Oct. 25, 2026 2:45 pm EST Andriy Baidak/Shutterstock Add Engadget on Google: Google Discover

While some elements used in software design are so common that nearly everyone knows what they do (like share and search), others are more obtuse. You might have noticed this in Apple's CarPlay, which is intentionally simplified for the sake of reducing distractions. Yet there's a lot that goes unsaid: with the lack of a tutorial, you aren't shown how its multitasking works, never mind troubleshooting CarPlay problems or understanding what's new in the latest version.