At WWDC 2025, one of the biggest developers conferences from Apple has officially launched iOS 26, bringing a complete visual refresh, smarter on-device AI and powerful new features across core apps. From the introduction of Liquid Glass design to Live Translation, custom emojis and app-wide intelligence, the latest iOS 26 aims to transform users interact with their iPhones. Here are the list of new features which were announced at the event for the latest iOS:
New ‘Liquid Glass’ design language
Apple has introduced a futuristic Liquid Glass UI across iOS 26. This translucent visual layer reflects on-screen content and ambient surroundings, giving apps, widgets, and icons a cleaner, more immersive look. It helps reduce clutter and improves focus on important elements.
Adaptive lock and customizable Home Screens
The Lock Screen now adjusts layouts based on your wallpaper, enhancing readability. On the Home Screen, users can now personalise app icons and widgets with transparent effects, offering a minimalist and fresh user interface.
Apple Intelligence with Live Translation
Apple Intelligence has been expanded with Live Translation, enabling real-time translation of spoken and written text across Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps. It works fully on-device, ensuring privacy.
Visual Intelligence Tools
With iOS 26, the iPhone can now recognise contextual information on the screen, such as dates, locations, or product names, and suggest relevant actions like calendar entries or web searches, making the OS smarter than ever.
Genmoji and Image Playground
Users can now create their own Genmoji by combining text prompts with emojis. Additionally, Image Playground lets users generate illustrations using AI—perfect for social sharing or personal projects.
Revamped Phone App with Call Screening
The Phone app has been redesigned to merge Favourites, Recents, and Voicemails into a single streamlined view. The new Call Screening feature transcribes unknown calls in real-time, and Hold Assist notifies users when customer support is ready.
Smarter, More Personal Messaging
Messages now includes a folder for unknown senders and lets users create polls in group chats. Chat wallpapers can be customised for each conversation, adding a more personal touch.
Enhanced CarPlay Interface
CarPlay now displays compact call banners and supports widgets, Live Activities, Tapbacks, and pinned chats—ensuring a smoother, less distracting in-car experience.
Apple Music and Maps were upgraded
Apple Music now includes Lyrics Translation and AutoMix for seamless song transitions. Apple Maps can now track visited places and suggest frequent routes for smarter navigation.
All games in one place
The newly introduced Apple Games app organises all your games, including Apple Arcade titles, under one unified library for easier access and management.