Apple’s annual WWDC keynote has just wrapped, and this year’s announcements bring the biggest design update we’ve seen for over a decade. While Apple Intelligence continues to slowly evolve, the most striking change is a shiny visual overhaul that stretches across every Apple platform, including the newly-numbered iOS 26 and iPadOS 26.
As always, there’s plenty to unpack – so here’s everything worth knowing, in a nutshell.
Hang on – why iOS 26?
If you’re wondering what happened to iOS 19 through 25, you’re not alone. In a move to unify version numbers across all its platforms, Apple has jumped straight from iOS 18 to iOS 26. Same goes for all other Apple platforms: iPadOS 26, macOS 26 (dubbed Tahoe), watchOS 26, and tvOS 26, all named for the year ahead. Although they will technically be released in 2025. Anyway….
A new design
The biggest visual shift in years, Apple’s new software design uses a dynamic material dubbed Liquid Glass, inspired by the interface of Vision Pro. It’s translucent and animated, reflecting your wallpaper and surroundings while adapting to light and dark modes. Every platform now shares a more unified aesthetic, but it still preserves the personality of each device.
Buttons, sliders, tabs, and sidebars now shimmer with real-time rendering effects, giving apps and system menus a more tactile, vibrant feel. Tab bars shrink and expand as you scroll, notifications blend into the background more elegantly, and controls float above content instead of boxing it in. From Camera to FaceTime, Music to Safari, Apple’s apps have been subtly redesigned to draw your focus toward content and reduce visual clutter.
iOS 26
iOS 26 combines that visual refresh with some genuinely useful upgrades. There’s lots to explore, but here are the highlights…
The Lock Screen now has spatial wallpapers with 3D-like depth effects, and the clock elegantly expands or shrinks to perfectly fit photo subjects. Home Screen widgets and icons can adopt the Liquid Glass look, and there’s a stunning new clear appearance option.
Messages adds support for custom backgrounds, group chat polls, and better message screening, with unknown senders automatically quarantined to a separate inbox. Apple Intelligence even suggests polls when it thinks they might help.
The Phone app now combines call history, voicemails, and favorites into one unified view. Call Screening helps filter unknown numbers, and Hold Assist listens in on hold music and notifies you when a real person picks up.
Visual intelligence is smarter too, letting you interact with what’s on screen – translating live in FaceTime, suggesting calendar events based on screenshots, or identifying images to shop for online.
Other highlights include a redesigned Safari with flowing, edge-to-edge pages, simplified Camera controls, and a refreshed Photos app that splits content into Library and Collections.
iPadOS 26
iPadOS 26 gets the same Liquid Glass makeover as iOS but adds a powerful new windowing system, finally making iPad multitasking feel as flexible as a desktop. You can resize, reposition, and tile app windows fluidly, with familiar controls and Exposé-style overviews of your open spaces.
Files gets a major update too, with folder customization, default app settings, and drag-and-drop Dock integration. The new Preview app brings full PDF editing with Apple Pencil support. Background Tasks and advanced audio routing bring desktop-level power to creative pros.
Apple Intelligence features also shine here, with smart Shortcuts, Genmoji customizations, and more control over Image Playground creations. Live Translation is available across Messages, Phone, and FaceTime, while the new menu bar and 3D graphing in Calculator further showcase the iPad’s maturing capabilities.
Apple Intelligence
Apple’s AI play, branded Apple Intelligence, is now baked into nearly everything. It powers Live Translation in Messages, Phone, and FaceTime; recognizes visual content across your screen; and integrates deeper with Siri, Shortcuts, and system features.
It’s still a little underwhelming compared to Apple’s original promises, but steady progress is being made here. What’s more, non-Apple apps will soon be able to expand and improve on these features. That’s because Apple’s new Foundation Models framework gives third-party developers direct access to Apple’s on-device model, allowing private, offline AI features in their own apps with just a few lines of code. It’s a big move, and it could kick off a new wave of intelligent, privacy-preserving app experiences.
Elsewhere in the ecosystem
Apple Music adds AutoMix and live lyrics translation. Maps gets Visited Places. Wallet supports installment payments and real-time flight updates. AirPods now support gesture-based controls, studio-quality recording, and camera remote functions. Accessibility sees upgrades like a systemwide reading mode and new braille features. And the new Apple Games app offers a central hub for playing, managing, and discovering titles.
We also saw first glimpses of macOS 26 (codename Tahoe), watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. For more on those platforms, check out Apple’s website.
Availability
iOS 26 and all other platform updates are available to developers immediately, with public betas arriving in July. The full release is expected this fall, compatible with iPhone 11 and later. Apple Intelligence features require newer hardware like iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, or M1-based iPads and Macs, and are initially available in English with more languages coming later this year.
We’ll be digging deeper into every change in the days ahead. Stay tuned!