What's new in iOS 26

iOS 26 is Apple's big iPhone update of 2025, announced at WWDC and available to users from September 15. It largely focuses on a visual change, a new design, smart features (Apple Intelligence), better customization and protection, and improvements in performance and battery life. In this article, we'll take a look at the key innovations worth knowing about.

Liquid Glass — a new software design

• The main aesthetic change in iOS 26 is called Liquid Glass — a design style that introduces transparent, "glass-like" elements, gradients, soft transitions, rounded shapes and dynamic interaction behavior;

• Controls such as buttons, sliders, menus, and tab bars adapt visually — when you scroll, when you change views, and more;
• The Lock Screen also gets changes: the time (hour) is dynamically positioned according to the photo / wallpaper, there are 3D effects to make the wallpaper "come alive" when you move the device.

Personalization and Smart Features (Apple Intelligence)

• Live Translation — real-time translation for texts in Messages, captions in FaceTime, as well as spoken translation in phone calls;

• Genmoji and Image Playground — possibilities to create emojis by combinations or description, stylish effects for photos and wallpapers, customized backgrounds for conversations in Messages;
• Smart Actions in Shortcuts — new automations, better integration with AI/machine modeling, e.g., document summarization, screen analysis, visual content recognition.

New tools for communication and security

• Call Screening — the phone may ask the stranger to give a reason why he is calling before the call reaches you;
• Hold Assist — if you are in a queue during a phone call, you can "leave" the call and reserve a seat, and the device will signal you when it's time to be on the line again;
• Improvements to Messages — polls, custom backgrounds, smarter suggestions.

Improvements to the interface, home screen, and Camera app

• Home Screen icons and widgets can be colored, transparent or adapted to light/dark mode;
• The camera interface has been revised — cleaner design, options such as formats and aspect ratios more easily accessible, less visual "pollution" in the view.

Power, battery life and performance

• Adaptive Power — a mode that automatically makes optimizations (lowers brightness, adjusts some tasks) to save energy, especially when the battery is low or the use is intensive;

• General performance improvements, but also the ability for the user to reduce or increase the intensity of Liquid Glass effects if the visual style hinders readability or resource consumption.

Limitations and Compatibility

Not all devices support iOS 26 — a newer iPhone model is required (for example, iPhone 11 and later);
Some features may only be available in certain regions or languages, or may be available only through beta phases.