Apple iOS 26: Seven key features you need to know about iPhone's new OS

Apple’s new software comes with big upgrades not just in terms of unifying numerical suffix but also with massive visual user interface overhaul called Liquid Glass UI.

Apple on Monday (June 9) showcased the new software for its products-- iPhone, iPad, Mac computers and Watches at Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) 2025 event in Cupertino, California.

Apple’s new software comes with big upgrades not just in terms of unifying numerical suffixes but also with a massive visual user interface overhaul.

All the new software for its Apple products— iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS and others— will come with 26 suffixes. With this, Apple wants to align the software versions with the year.

Though the year is 2025, the software name will have 26 as a suffix, as the software usually gets officially released late in the year around September and gets upgraded next year. In the intervening months, Apple rolls out multiple updates.

In this segment, we will be highlighting new features coming to iPhones later this year in September.

iOS 26: Key new feature coming with the latest software for iPhone

All-new Liquid Glass UI: Taking inspiration from visionOS, Apple is calling it Liquid Glass UI. As the name suggests, it has a glass-like translucent UI, which promises to create a lively experience and make iPhone usage more enjoyable.

The new UI design extends to all aspects of software from the smallest elements users interact with every day — such as buttons, switches, sliders, text, and media controls — to larger elements, including tab bars and sidebars for moving through apps. It also extends to the Lock Screen, Home Screen, notifications, Control Center, and more.

Liquid Glass UI on iPhone.

Apple Intelligence-powered Live translation comes to Messages, FaceTime and Phone apps: It will work on-device and doesn’t need a connection to the cloud server to process the live translation. Initially, it will support up to nine languages including English (US & UK), Spanish, German, Chinese, French, Italian, Korean and more.

Improvements to Visual Intelligence: iOS 26 brings a new Visual Intelligence feature 'highlight to search', which allows users to scan the website on the phone’s screen and get summaries, or add an event to the calendar. It will be similar to the Google Gemini AI-powered Circle to Search feature we see on Android phones.

Improvements Apple Intelligence features.

Improvements to Genmoji and Image Playground: Both the apps, which churn out custom emojis and photos with text descriptions, will soon allow users to mix two emojis to create new genmojis. It same with Image Playground too, users will be able to create more personalised images in several styles including painting, cartoon and real-life images with rich colours.

Big privacy update coming to Phone app: With the new iOS 26, Apple is bringing the much-awaited call screening option. This feature allows the iPhone to answer calls and ask the caller’s name and this screening feature can help users decide to either answer or reject calls. This same feature will also be available on the Messages app as well.

Update to Apple Music app: The iOS 26 brings lyrics translation and lyrics pronunciation features to the Music app, which can assist users while playing karaoke.

Improvements to the Messages app: Besides the live language translation feature, the Messages app also gets a chat background wallpaper and Polls option.

Apple Games: The new application will be the one-stop destination for users to find all the new games and also be able to resume the gameplay right where they stopped the previous time.

Another small but notable new feature coming with iOS 26 is that the iPhone will finally be able to estimate the time required to complete a full charge.

Also, iOS 26 brings a studio-quality audio recording feature to AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Pro 2. It allows iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to record their content with great sound quality and enjoy even clearer calls. Also, they will be able to remove any ambient noise while editing the video.

List of iPhones eligible for iOS 26:

iPhone 16e, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and iPhone SE (2nd gen).

The new iOS 26 beta is available for testing exclusive to registered developers.

Next month, Apple will be rolling out iOS 26 beta for public testers.

Later in the year around September, Apple will release the final iOS 26 version as free update to all eligible iPhones.

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