Apple introduced a bunch of updates and new features for iPhones through its upcoming iOS 26 operating system.
The tech giant provided a preview of the new iPhone operating system as part of the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) it held on Tuesday afternoon.
iOS 26 “brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to apps users rely on every day,” Apple said.
Many aspects of the iPhone’s interface will get a new look through a new software design called “Liquid Glass.” According to Apple, it will help provide “greater focus to content, delivering a new level of vitality across controls, navigation, app icons, widgets, and more.”
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The tab bar within Apple Music, News and Podcasts, for instance, will get smaller and larger as users scroll down and up while it floats above the content, Apple said.
With it, the company announced it was simplifying the layout of its Camera app to help users “keep their attention on the moment they’re capturing” and making webpages in Safari fill the iPhone screen so that users can “see more of the page while maintaining access to frequently used actions like refresh and search,” among other things.
Users will see the time display on their Lock Screen change size based on the space within their Lock Screen photo through iOS 26 and Liquid Glass.
Apple said the new “Liquid Glass” software design will be present across the new operating systems for its other types of devices in addition to iOS 26.
Updates are also coming to popular apps such as Phone and Messages through the upcoming iOS 26, according to the company.
Its Phone app will start putting Favorites, Recents and Voicemails “all in one place,” Apple said. A new “Hold Assist” feature will let iPhone users know when a live agent gets on after being put on hold during a call.
Meanwhile, Apple said new features for Messages will help screen communications from unknown senders, with such messages slated to go into a folder where they can “mark the number as known, ask for more information, or delete.”
Other new features that Messages will get include the ability to create polls and set backgrounds for their conversations, according to the tech giant.
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iOS 26 is shepherding in more Apple Intelligence features on iPhones.
Users will be able to enable “Live Translation” on Messages, FaceTime and Phone that can provide AI-powered translations from different languages while communicating with others, Apple said.
With the new operating system, users with iPhones that support Apple Intelligence can also “ask ChatGPT questions about what they’re looking at onscreen to learn more, as well as search Google, Etsy, or other supported apps to find similar images and products,” according to the company.
“Experiences are more expressive and personal, from the Lock Screen and Home Screen, to new capabilities across Phone and Messages that help users focus on the connections that matter most,” Apple executive Craig Federighi said in a statement. “And with powerful new Apple Intelligence capabilities integrated across the system, users can get things down easier than ever.”
Apple has continued to ramp up the capabilities Apple Intelligence offers since first unveiling it at last year’s WWDC.
At this year’s WWDC, the tech giant also detailed what consumers can expect to see with new operating systems for iPads, Macs, Apple Watch and more.
Over the first two quarters of fiscal 2025, Apple has generated nearly $219.7 billion in total net sales. Its net income over the first half of the year, meanwhile, amounted to $61.1 billion.
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