At WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled iOS 26, marking the biggest visual and functional overhaul since iOS 7. Breaking from its traditional numbering, the company now aligns OS versions with the release year—so we get iOS 26 (and its siblings, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26) throughout the 2025–2026 cycle
Liquid Glass: A Visual Renaissance
Dubbed “Liquid Glass”, the new design is an elegant departure, blending translucency and depth across platforms. Transparent menus, floating icons, and dynamic wallpapers create a three-dimensional, fluid interface experience. Apple’s design lead, Craig Federighi, pointed to visionOS as inspiration, with real-world glass properties—reflection, refraction, opacity—meticulously simulated.
This translucent material reflects and refracts its surroundings, while dynamically transforming to help bring greater focus to content, delivering a new level of vitality across controls, navigation, app icons, widgets, and more.
This gorgeous new material extends from the smallest elements users interact with every day — like buttons, switches, sliders, text, and media controls — to larger elements, including tab bars and sidebars for navigating apps. It also shines in system experiences, such as the Lock Screen, Home Screen, notifications, Control Center, and more. Controls, toolbars, and navigation within apps have been redesigned. Previously configured for rectangular displays, they now fit perfectly concentric with the rounded corners of modern hardware and app windows.
Key Highlights:
App icons and widgets gain clarity modes—Clear, Light, Dark—against adaptable wallpapers
Lock Screen gains flexible clock layout and spatial 3D scrolling effects
Core apps like Safari, Camera, and Music feature edge‑to‑edge content with less clutter
The developer Beta is out and some users are already providing their feedback. The light bright aesthetic may have issues when used outdoors.
“Legibility: indoors it’s fine, but in sunlight the contrast fails. Thankfully, the accessibility settings (“Reduce Transparency” and “Increase Contrast”) almost bring back the iOS 18 look — meaning it adapts to the brightness of your wallpaper, unless you use a fully white one.”
(via Reddit)
Apple Intelligence & Smarter Communication
Underpinning this redesign is an upgrade to the suite of on‑device AI tools, branded Apple Intelligence, which enhances user interactions without sacrificing privacy. iOS26 unlocks Apple Intelligence to be even more powerful.
Apple Intelligence in iOS26 unlocks new ways for users to communicate with features like Live Translation; do more with what’s on their screen with updates to visual intelligence; and express themselves with enhancements to Image Playground and Genmoji
Last year, we took the first steps on a journey to bring users intelligence that’s helpful, relevant, easy to use, and right where users need it, all while protecting their privacy. Now, the models that power Apple Intelligence are becoming more capable and efficient, and we’re integrating features in even more places across each of our operating systems.
said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.
Live Translation: Real-time transcription across Phone, FaceTime, and Messages
Call Screening + Hold Assist: Auto-screens unknown callers and places you on hold—alerting you only when an agent comes on the line
Visual Intelligence: Tap any item on screen to search for similar items or ask ChatGPT for context—right from your phone
Genmoji & Image Playground Enhancements: Emoji mash-ups and richer image manipulation tools
Building on Apple Intelligence, visual intelligence extends to a user’s iPhone screen so they can search and take action on anything they’re viewing across their apps.
Redesigned Apps & Fresh Features
iOS 26 also brings meaningful productivity and entertainment updates:
Phone & Messages: Unified interface consolidates Favourites, Recents, Voicemail. Messages adds background customization, group polls, typing indicators, Apple Cash in chats, and dedicated folders for unknown senders
Apple Games: A new hub centralizes Apple Arcade and App Store games with recommendations and social features
Music: AutoMix transitions like a DJ, lyrics translation and pronunciation guides
Maps & Wallet: End‑to‑end encrypted travel history, instalment payments via Wallet, and a rewards tab
Battery & Power: Smarter insights into app usage with an Adaptive Power mode for efficiency
iPhones Losing Support with iOS 26
According to reliable sources, iOS 26 will not support the following iPhone models: iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR
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What’s Next & User Reaction
Developer Beta Out Now: iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 developer betas are live; public betas expected next month; full release slated for fall 2025
Mixed Reviews: While many applaud the design transformation, critics note readability concerns and claim it favours aesthetics over usability
Analyst Response: Wall Street saw the release as incremental—mentioning stylish visuals but lacking AI breakthroughs, with Apple’s stock dipping post-keynote
“Performance and battery Real-time rendering of Liquid Glass seems to put a lot of stress on the GPU 🔥. At first, it felt like the phone was running at 20fps. Even so, the battery held up better than I expected.”
via Reddit
Verdict: iOS 26 Strikes a Delicate Balance
Apple’s Liquid Glass refresh is undeniably bold—bringing translucency, depth, and elegance across its ecosystem. By integrating on‑device AI features like Live Translation, Hold Assist, and visual recognition, Apple continues its privacy-first narrative. Core communications and apps get meaningful upgrades, and the system achieves greater coherence.
However, this blend of artistry and intelligence carries risk: the interface may be a touch too ethereal for reliable readability, and some see the AI offerings as conservative, not groundbreaking. Still, for users craving a modern, cohesive, and subtly intelligent experience, iOS 26 delivers a promising step forward—with more polish expected before autumn’s wide release.
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