MacRumors

Apple at WWDC previewed a bunch of new features coming in its updated operating systems, but certain changes will have been met with dismay by third-party developers who already offer apps with equivalent or similar features. In other words, their product has been "sherlocked" by Apple.

When Apple creates an app or a feature that has functionality found in a third-party app, it is referred to as sherlocking. The name dates back to a "Sherlock" search tool in OS X that Apple enhanced with features that were cribbed from a third-party app called Watson. Watson's developers accused Apple of copying the product without compensation, and from then on, sherlocking has been used to describe apps that are supplanted by Apple.

Here are the features in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and watchOS 26 that, to various extents, sherlock popular existing apps.

Apple's Sherlocking New Features

• Enhanced Spotlight with Actions – Provides suggested apps, commands, and custom shortcuts with the ability to perform actions like creating calendar events or making GIFs directly from search. Sherlocks Raycast and Launch Bar.
• Call Assist with Screening – Takes calls from unknown numbers silently, captures the caller's name and reason for calling, then lets you choose to accept or reject with typed responses. Sherlocks Robokiller and Truecaller.
• Parcel Tracking in Wallet – Uses Apple Intelligence to automatically track and summarize order status by analyzing emails from merchants and delivery services. Sherlocks various package tracking apps.
• Flight Tracking via Live Activities – Allows users to track and share flight status through Live Activities in Wallet, plus airport navigation with gate and amenity information in Maps. Sherlocks Flighty.
• AI Model Integration in Xcode – Makes ChatGPT the default assistant for Xcode 26 and allows developers to connect other AI models using API keys for coding assistance. Sherlocks Alex for Xcode.
• Local Capture for iPad – Enables creators to record videos locally using any video calling app and share recordings with others for podcast creation. Sherlocks Riverside.
• Notes App for Apple Watch – Brings the official Notes app to Apple Watch with watchOS 26, allowing users to take notes directly on their wrist. Sherlocks various note-taking apps for Apple Watch.
• Allow in the Menu Bar – In macOS Tahoe's System Settings, you can now control which third-party apps are allowed to display menu bar items. Sherlocks Bartender and Ice.
• Spotlight Clipboard Search – In macOS Tahoe, Spotlight users can search and view previously copied content in their clipboard history – including both text and images – making it easy to retrieve items copied earlier. Sherlocks Paste and Pastebot.

Of course, some of these apps may still offer additional functionality beyond what Apple has implemented, and developers of sherlocked apps sometimes find ways to improve their apps to differentiate them from Apple, so there's hopefully life left in many of them yet.

Do you know of any other new features not listed here that potentially sherlock existing third-party apps? Let us know in the comments.

Amazon this week is discounting a collection of Beats headphones and speakers, including an all-time low price on the Powerbeats Pro 2. You can get this new 2025 model for $199.95 in four colors, down from $249.99. This deal on the Powerbeats Pro 2 is being matched at Best Buy, along with a few other Beats deals.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This sale also includes major discounts on products like the Beats Pill, which has hit $99.00 on Amazon, down from $149.95. This discount is available in three colors of the Bluetooth speaker.

Additionally, Amazon has the Beats Studio Buds+ for $99.95, down from $169.95. These have up to 9 hours of playback (up to 36 hours with charging case), USB-C, active noise cancellation, transparency mode, and an IPX4 rating for sweat and water resistance.

You'll also find a few steep discounts on over-ear headphones, like the Beats Studio Pro at $169.95, down from $349.99. Many of these deals are matches for the record low price on each pair of headphones.

• Beats Studio Buds+ - $99.95, down from $169.95
• Beats Pill - $99.00, down from $149.95
• Beats Solo 4 - $99.95, down from $199.95
• Beats Fit Pro - $169.95, down from $199.99
• Beats Studio Pro - $169.95, down from $349.99
• Powerbeats Pro 2 - $199.95, down from $249.99

Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

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Many of Apple's announcements during its WWDC 2025 keynote this week were leaked ahead of time, but there were also a few rumors that proved to be inaccurate.

In this WWDC 2025 edition of our Rumor Report Card, we have reflected on some of the bigger hits and misses leading into Apple's annual developer conference.

The grades that we have assigned to each rumor below are just for fun.

A+

We give full marks to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who accurately leaked a wide range of software details ahead of WWDC 2025, including the new naming convention for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and so forth, the Liquid Glass design, iPads getting several Mac-like features, several new Phone and Messages app features, new preinstalled Games and Preview apps on iOS 26, live translation of calls and texts, and much more.

9to5Mac also accurately leaked several details, ranging from the Messages app getting polls to a full-screen album artwork option on the iPhone's Lock Screen.

B

Jon Prosser was first to report that iOS 26 would feature a new translucent design. In videos on his YouTube channel Front Page Tech, he accurately leaked several iOS 26 design elements, including the new floating tab bar within apps. However, at one point he incorrectly said that Home Screen app icons would be round.

The leaker @MajinBuOfficial accurately claimed that iPadOS 26 would feature a Mac-like menu bar at the top of the screen. However, he wrongly said that the menu bar might only appear when the iPad is connected to a Magic Keyboard.

C-

Ahead of the WWDC 2025 keynote, 9to5Mac and MacRumors reported on homeOS trademark activity that was potentially linked to Apple. homeOS could end up being the name of the operating system that powers Apple's rumored smart home hub, but neither the software platform nor the device were announced at WWDC 2025.

homeOS very well might end up being announced in the future, but speculation that it might be unveiled at WWDC 2025 proved to be inaccurate.

F

@MajinBuOfficial claimed that iOS 26 would enable Stage Manager on iPhones with a USB-C port, but no such feature was announced at WWDC 2025.

Amazon this week is providing record low prices on multiple models of the iPad mini 7, starting at $399.99 for the 128GB Wi-Fi tablet, down from $499.00. Colors on sale at this price include Purple, Space Gray, and Blue.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Compared to past sales, this is a match of the best price we've ever tracked on the tablet. You can also get the 512GB Wi-Fi iPad mini 7 for $699.99, which is another $99 discount and available in multiple colors.

This time around, we aren't tracking any all-time low prices on the 256GB Wi-Fi model, and there's just one low price available for the cellular models. You can get the 512GB cellular iPad mini 7 for $849.00, down from $949.00, which is a match for the best price we've ever tracked on this tablet.

Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.

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Apple has released updated design resources for developers and designers working on projects for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe 26, following the company's introduction of its new "Liquid Glass" design language at WWDC 2025.

The updated files, available on the Apple Design Resources website, include iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26 Sketch Library and App Icon Templates (available for Sketch, Photoshop, and Illustrator).

Liquid Glass is Apple's new translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings, while dynamically transforming to help bring greater focus to content across system controls, navigation elements, app icons, and widgets. The design represents the most significant visual overhaul since iOS 7.

The resource library includes UI elements ranging from action sheets and keyboards to the redesigned tab bars that shrink when scrolling to maintain content focus. Apple's macOS Tahoe 26 resources feature updated elements like arrow buttons, color wells, and redesigned window controls that complement the translucent aesthetic. Apple has not yet released resources for tvOS 26, visionOS 26, or watchOS 26.

WhatsApp plans to support Apple in its ongoing legal battle with the UK Home Office over user data privacy, the messaging platform's boss Will Cathcart has told the BBC.

The Meta-owned service warned that the case "could set a dangerous precedent" by encouraging other governments to demand access to encrypted communications.

Apple launched legal action after receiving a secret government notice earlier this year demanding backdoor access to encrypted iCloud data worldwide. The UK used its Investigatory Powers Act to require Apple to compromise its Advanced Data Protection feature, which encrypts user photos, notes, messages, and device backups.

Rather than comply, Apple pulled the encryption feature from UK users entirely in February.

"WhatsApp would challenge any law or government request that seeks to weaken the encryption of our services," Cathcart said. The company vowed to continue defending users' "right to a private conversation online."

The encryption controversy has drawn criticism from American politicians, with some calling it a "dangerous attack on US cybersecurity." Tulsi Gabbard, director of US National Intelligence, described the UK's demands as an "egregious violation" of US citizens' privacy.

A UK court rejected the government's attempt to keep details of Apple's legal challenge secret. Judges ruled that conducting hearings entirely in private would be "truly extraordinary."

The Home Office has defended its position, saying the government's "first priority" is keeping people safe while protecting privacy. Officials argue the powers help investigate serious crimes including terrorism and child abuse.

Apple maintains that creating backdoors would inevitably compromise security for all users, making them vulnerable to malicious actors.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple has released a unique haptic trailer for its upcoming "F1" movie starring Brad Pitt, available exclusively in the TV app on iPhone.

The trailer uses the iPhone's Taptic Engine to create vibrations that sync with the on-screen action. When F1 cars roar around the track, you can physically feel the engine vibrations in your hands. The haptic effects match the intensity of what's happening on screen, ramping up as engines rev and providing subtle feedback for smaller actions like a bouncing ping pong ball.

To experience the trailer, iPhone users need iOS 18.4 or later and can find it featured in the TV+ tab of the TV app.

In the film, Brad Pitt stars as an F1 driver who was an up-and-coming talent in the 1990s, until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, Pitt is invited to join a former teammate's struggling F1 team, in a last-shot bid to save the team and become the best in the world. It looks to be a classic underdog story.

The haptic trailer is Apple's latest marketing push for F1, which hits U.S. theaters on June 27. The film will eventually stream on Apple TV+ after its theatrical run, which could be Apple's last effort at big-money theatrical releases for the foreseeable future.

Now in the hands of developers, macOS Tahoe introduces a long list of new features – some were showcased at Apple's WWDC keynote, while others were quietly added behind the scenes. We've rounded up a selection of smaller but still useful changes you'll find in the update.

• Volume/brightness overlays – The traditional large overlays that appear when you adjust volume and brightness are gone, and have been replaced with smaller, oblong overlays that appear in the top-right of the screen under the menu bar, notification-style.
• Background apps – macOS now notifies you via a new popup when apps attempt to run a daemon after they have been closed. You can "Always Allow" the background process to run or you can deny it permission.
• Unified Safari URL Bar – Safari no longer offers the option to unify the tab bar and the address bar (the Compact tab layout setting), perhaps because it wasn't popular with users. Apple could always reinstate it in a later beta version.
• Spotlight Clipboard Access – Spotlight can now search clipboard history, including items from Universal Clipboard.
• Finder icon – Apple has flipped the color of the classic Finder icon in Tahoe. The blue is now on the right side of the face instead of the left, and it has been given a glassy cast in the Liquid Glass style.
• Clear Look – Apple has added a third "Clear" system appearance to go alongside the existing Dark mode and Light mode options. Clear Look adds a glassy translucent appearance to app icons and widgets. There are also colorful new light and dark tint options for icons and widgets, similar to iOS.
• Menu bar items – Users now have more granular control over which apps can add menu bar items, with toggles in settings to turn off menu bar items for individual apps.
• Games App – Apple's new Games app lists all the games installed on your Mac, even if they weren't downloaded from the App Store.
• PS5 controller options – A new Game Controllers settings menu lets you remap and customize PlayStation controllers, right down to the level of haptic feedback and even the lightbar color.
• Lock Screen Clock – In Wallpaper settings, you can now change the style of the Lock Screen clock, just like in iOS 18.
• Control Center – Like iOS, you can now customize the layout of Control Center, with the ability to add third-party app controls, including apps installed on your iPhone (which launch iPhone Mirroring when clicked). These controls can also appear in the menu bar.
• Safari – Safari now has a transparent address bar, and colors from webpages shine through the browser's main toolbar.
• Spotlight – Suggested apps listed in Spotlight include iPhone apps, which are opened with iPhone Mirroring. Spotlight can also now search through an active app's menu bar items.
• Live Activities – macOS Tahoe can display an iPhone's Live Activities directly in the menu bar.
• Game app – The new Game app comes with a Game Overlay that appears onscreen while you play. The overlay offers social features like friend invites and chat, along with quick access to system settings such as Low Power Mode.
• Image Playground – Image Playground can now use ChatGPT to create more realistic pictures based on your prompts.
• Folder icon customization – You can now customize the look of individual folders with the use of emojis and other select glyphs.
• Quick Keys – You can assign Quick Keys to individual actions, allowing you to add a reminder by typing "ar" into Spotlight, for example.

Currently only developers have access to an early version of macOS Tahoe – although anyone can technically install the developer beta. Apple is planning to provide a public beta in July. macOS Tahoe will see a public launch in September.

Found something new that we didn't include here? Let us know in the comments below.

Apple introduced a new, compact design for Safari in iOS 26 that serves as the default layout, but there are two other design options available if you don't like it.

In the Safari section of the Settings app, you can select Compact (the default), Bottom, or Top. The latter two are the options in iOS 18, so ‌iOS 26‌ uses that same layout, but with a tweaked design to match the Liquid Glass aesthetic.

Functionally, the Bottom and Top Tabs operate in the same way as the Safari Tab bars in ‌iOS 18‌, so you don't need to change anything about how you use Safari. The Compact option hides the share, bookmark, and tab settings behind the three-dot button on the left of the URL bar.

The Liquid Glass translucent design blends the URL bar and buttons into the background of the webpage you're looking at regardless of what layout you choose. The effect is similar in both Light and Dark mode, with the color of the bar determined by the webpage's content.

When you scroll down with any of the Tab settings, the URL bar and buttons collapse down into a single, small bar with just the webpage address listed. The collapsible bar allows you to see more of the webpage without distractions.

Back when iOS 15 was in beta testing, Apple changed the design of Safari and did not initially provide different layout options for the URL bar. Apple received negative feedback throughout the beta testing process, and ultimately implemented options to revert to the original design. This time around, Apple has learned its lesson, and has provided users with more choice for the Safari layout.

Apple has actually offered design choices for several of the ‌iOS 26‌ design updates that could be controversial. The Phone app offers a unified view, for example, but by default, it's not implemented. There are also glass-like icons that can be selected, but they're also not the default option.

Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi and marketing chief Greg Joswiak are on a media tour this week, following the WWDC 2025 keynote.

The latest interview comes from The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern, who sat down with Federighi and Joswiak to discuss Apple's delayed personalized Siri features.

Stern asked the executives if Apple had a working version of the more personalized Siri when the company demonstrated the features during its WWDC 2024 keynote.

According to Federighi, it did.

"We were filming real working software, with a real large language model, with real semantic search, that's what you saw," said Federighi.

"There's this narrative out there that it was demoware only," added Joswiak. "No."

Federighi also gave the same answer about why the personalized Siri features were delayed as he did in another interview. In short, there were quality issues, and Apple is shifting to a newer underlying architecture for Siri to overcome that.

Apple first announced the personalized Siri features during its WWDC 2024 keynote. The new capabilities will include better understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. For example, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info from the Mail and Messages apps. Apple said it currently plans to release the features in 2026.

Apple is integrating Apple Intelligence in the Wallet app in iOS 26, with the aim of powering a new package tracking feature. Apple Wallet will be able to automatically scan your emails to find messages from merchants or delivery carriers, and tracking numbers will be added to the Wallet app so you can keep an eye on upcoming deliveries.

Package tracking is already a feature in the Wallet app, but at the current time, it only works with purchases made using Apple Pay. Going forward, you won't need to buy something with ‌Apple Pay‌ for it to show up in the order tracking section of the Wallet app.

If you're running ‌iOS 26‌, package tracking can be enabled by opening up the Wallet and ‌Apple Pay‌ section of the Settings app, tapping on ‌Apple Pay‌ Defaults, selecting Order Tracking, and toggling on Orders Found in Mail. Note that the feature has a beta label, which means Apple is still working out bugs.

‌iOS 26‌ is limited to developers right now, but Apple plans to release a public beta in July. The update will launch to the public in September alongside new iPhone models.

At its WWDC 2024 keynote last year, Apple previewed a more personalized version of Siri that has since been delayed until next year. Subsequently, Apple was hit with class action lawsuits that accuse the company of false advertising, and well-known Apple commentator John Gruber strongly criticized the company over the situation.

Apple also missed its promised 2024 timeframe for launching next-generation CarPlay, which it first announced all the way back at WWDC 2022. The company finally announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra last month, with the software system rolling out in high-end Aston Martin vehicles in the U.S. and Canada to start.

It appears that Apple learned a valuable lesson.

During its WWDC 2025 keynote, there was a noticeable lack of new software features that Apple promised as coming later this year. The company did say that Apple Intelligence will be gaining support for additional languages later this year, but most of those languages had already been announced months ago. Over the past several years, on the other hand, there were typically quite a few "later this year" labels on Apple's software pages.

Still, not every new feature announced at WWDC 2025 is available in the first betas of Apple's latest software releases. The lack of "later this year" phrasing suggests that those features will be ready by time iOS 26 and the other updates are released in September, however, as opposed to subsequent versions like iOS 26.1 or iOS 26.2.

Overall, it is clear that Apple is being more cautious, as was expected. In a report last month about Apple's artificial intelligence shortcomings, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett cited sources who said that Apple planned to mostly stop announcing new features more than a few months before they are ready to launch. Based on the WWDC 2025 keynote, that does appear to be the company's approach for now.

If you've seen the anime-style Studio Ghibli images that people have been making with ChatGPT, you might be interested to know that Apple has integrated this feature into Image Playground in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe.

‌Image Playground‌ doesn't add new art styles designed by Apple, but it does support several ChatGPT Styles. Options include oil painting, watercolor, vector, anime, and print, which complement the existing Apple-created Animation, Illustration, and Sketch styles.

The ChatGPT options are similar to what you can get if you use ChatGPT 4o for image creation, and the anime style in particular is one that's been popular on social media. In ChatGPT, you can type in any style you want, and Apple has a similar feature with the "Any Style" option. You can select "Any Style" and then add the descriptors that you want, even asking for a realistic image.

You can create images based on text descriptions, or you can upload a photo to have it converted into the style of your choice. When using the ChatGPT option, you will need to give the okay for your iPhone to send the image to ChatGPT.

As with standard ‌Image Playground‌ image generation, you can add in additional phrases to tweak the result that you get from ChatGPT. ChatGPT is fairly slow compared to Apple's own on-device image generation capabilities in ‌Image Playground‌, so expect to wait for the end result.

Unlike Apple's ‌Image Playground‌ default styles, ChatGPT has no problem with copyrighted content. It will make an image that uses the Studio Ghibli style, or that features Elmo. You're also welcome to include violence, so Elmo can be bloody and hold a knife. Technically, ChatGPT isn't supposed to make violent images featuring children's characters either, but there are simple wording tricks to get around that. Apple does warn before sending any images to ChatGPT, and it is made clear that it's ChatGPT creating the images. ChatGPT has far fewer guardrails than Apple's standard ‌Image Playground‌ tools, which is something to be aware of.

It is worth noting that creating images with ChatGPT uses up tokens, and if you have a free account, you won't be able to create more than one or two. You'll need a paid account to use the feature more frequently.

There is no limit on the number of images that you can generate using the built-in ‌Image Playground‌ options, and it is worth noting that Apple has one other new feature you can use, and that's the "Genmoji" option. You can combine multiple emoji into a single ‌Genmoji‌, a feature that's new in ‌iOS 26‌, or describe an emoji character to create something new. ‌Genmoji‌ does not work with photos, and it is a description-only setting. The ‌Genmoji‌ that you create can be added to your emoji keyboard so you can use them in Messages.

‌iOS 26‌ is available for developers right now, but Apple plans to release a public beta in July. The software will see a public launch in September alongside new ‌iPhone‌ models.

In a WWDC interview with Tom's Guide editor-in-chief Mark Spoonauer, and TechRadar editor-at-large Lance Ulanoff, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi explained why the more personalized version of Siri has still yet to launch.

Federighi admitted that the first-generation architecture that Apple was developing for the personalized Siri features was too limited, which prevented the features from reaching the company's high quality standards. By spring 2025, Apple decided that it needed to fully shift Siri to a second-generation architecture that it had been planning, in order for the personalized features to reach a quality level that meets customer expectations. That decision led Apple to delay the features for up to another year.

Even with the second-generation architecture, Federighi said that Apple is still working to perfect the Siri features. In the interview, Apple's marketing chief Greg Joswiak confirmed that the "coming year" refers to 2026, so it is likely that the company is currently planning to launch the features as part of iOS 26.4 next spring.

Multiple class action lawsuits were filed against Apple in the U.S. and Canada over the delayed Siri features, which were heavily advertised by the company last year.

Apple first announced the personalized Siri features during its WWDC 2024 keynote. Specifically, Apple said that Siri would gain improved understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. For example, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info from the Mail and Messages apps. At the time, Apple said that the capabilities would be available within a year, but evidently it was overconfident and had to return to the drawing board.

With iPadOS 26, Apple is introducing major changes to the way that multitasking works, and part of that update will see the removal of Split View and Slide Over, two multitasking interface options that have long existed on the iPad.

iPadOS 26 allows for multiple app windows, each of which can be resized freely on the display. The feature works on all ‌iPad‌ models able to run iPadOS 26, though there are limitations on how many apps can be open at once. On older iPads, for example, you're limited to four apps. Newer iPads can have more open app windows.

You can change the size of ‌iPad‌ app windows, move them on top of each other, and rearrange them as desired, much like on the Mac. There are also tiling options so that you can see two to four apps side-by-side, a feature that's similar to Split View.

Windows retain their positions even when you shut off your ‌iPad‌ or close an app, and you can see all of your open apps with a swipe up gesture that activates an Exposé-style view.

‌iPad‌ app windows feature the Mac traffic-light controls, and these can be used for resizing and closing apps. ‌iPad‌ apps also have Mac-style menu bars for tweaking settings, and there's a feature for running system-intensive tasks in the background.

The new multitasking feature that replaces Slide Over and Split View is much more robust, so it is unlikely that most ‌iPad‌ users are going to miss these options.

Apple has removed several Apple Watch faces that are options in watchOS 11, nixing the Fire/Water, Gradient, Liquid Metal, Vapor, and Toy Story watch faces, according to a post on Reddit.

Apple tends to quietly remove some watch face options when it launches a new version of iOS, so it is not a huge surprise to see these go missing. It is not clear why Apple picked these watch faces in particular, but it could be because they were used less often.

Apple didn't add new watch faces with watchOS 26, but some watch faces have new Liquid Glass-inspired design options.

Apple is expanding the Weather app in iOS 26 with a new feature: Severe Weather Alerts and Widgets for Predicted Travel Destinations. This enhancement offers proactive notifications for locations you may soon visit, leveraging Apple's "Proactive Intelligence" to keep you informed before you arrive.

The new feature builds on the existing severe weather notification system, which currently supports alerts for a user's current location. ‌iOS 26‌ uses on-device processing to estimate where you might be traveling soon if the Significant Locations & Routes permission setting is turned on.

This will be particularly useful for travelers, commuters, or anyone planning a day trip or overnight stay, ensuring users are not caught off guard by incoming extreme weather events at their destinations.

To enable this feature, users will need to:

• Enable Significant Locations & Routes in Location Services.
• Set Weather app location access to “Always”.
• Turn on Severe Weather notifications in the Weather app settings.

If these conditions are met, the Weather app can access predicted destinations and deliver timely alerts relevant to those areas. Importantly, Apple states that it may associate the region of your possible travel destinations with your Apple ID, similar to how it handles alerts for your current location.

This feature also integrates with Smart Stacks in watchOS 26 and Widget Suggestions. When enabled, the Weather app can automatically display a destination-specific widget in your Smart Stack, providing at-a-glance weather updates for places you're likely to visit.

Finally, it appears ‌iOS 26‌ will extend the satellite connectivity for Emergency SOS and Messages introduced in earlier releases to Weather data. This ensures users without Wi-Fi or cellular access can still receive critical weather warnings even when out of range of terrestrial networks.

Apple has announced iOS 26, and the upcoming software update includes a long list of new features and changes for iPhones.

The first iOS 26 developer beta is now available, and a public beta will follow next month. The update will be released later this year.

iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 and newer.

Below, we have provided a high-level overview of 100 new features and changes that are coming with iOS 26, in no particular order:

1. A new Liquid Glass design with shimmery app icons and a translucent interface that reflects and refracts the surrounding colors
2. There is a redesigned tab bar in apps
3. A new "Clear" option for Home Screen app icons and widgets, alongside the existing "Light" and "Dark" options
4. On the Lock Screen, the clock dynamically adapts to fill empty space
5. On the Lock Screen, there is an option to view full-screen album artwork
6. Polls in group chats in the Messages app
7. Add a custom background to any conversation in the Messages app
8. You can now send and receive Apple Cash in group chats in the Messages app
9. Typing indicators are now visible in group chats in the Messages app
10. There is a new "Add Contact" button in group chats in the Messages app
11. A new "Select" option in the Messages app lets you select a portion of text within a message bubble
12. Messages app can screen messages from unknown senders, placing them into an Unknown Senders folder
13. Messages app has gained natural language search
14. Hold Assist can wait on hold for you during a phone call, and notify you when the live agent is ready for you
15. Call Screening automatically answers unknown callers, and asks for their name and the reason for their call, before your iPhone rings
16. Live Translation for calls and texts across the Phone, FaceTime, and Messages apps
17. A preinstalled Apple Games app lets you discover games, in-game events, and compete with friends with new challenges
18. A preinstalled Preview app lets you create, edit, annotate, markup, and export PDFs, plus crop, flip, rotate, and resize images
19. Photos app is now split into Library and Collections tabs
20. Relevant video thumbnails are now shown in search results in the Photos app
21. In the Photos app, you can create 3D spatial versions of photos, which was previously only possible using the Apple Vision Pro
22. Camera app has a simpler design with Video and Photo tabs
23. In the Camera app, you will receive an alert if a camera lens needs to be cleaned, so long as "Lens Cleaning Hints" is toggled on in the Settings app
24. The screenshot editing interface has been slightly redesigned
25. In the Settings app, you can now turn off CarPlay screenshots under General → Screen Capture, so that taking a screenshot on your iPhone does not also generate a CarPlay screenshot while the device is connected to CarPlay
26. In the Settings app, can now turn off iCloud Drive syncing via cellular data
27. Phone app now has an optional all-in-one layout that combines Favorites, Recents, and Voicemails
28. Phone app now supports screen sharing and SharePlay during phone calls
29. Phone app offers new Monogram styles for contacts
30. A new Focus mode lets you silence an individual SIM
31. Journal app now lets you create multiple journals
32. Journal app entries can now be viewed on a map
33. Journal app now lets images be added inline with text
34. Passwords app now shows password history
35. Safari now has three layouts: Compact, Bottom, and Top
36. Safari now offers advanced fingerprinting protection for all browsing by default
37. Tips app now offers step-by-step guides for troubleshooting common iPhone issues
38. You can now test AirPods beta firmware directly via the Settings app
39. You can start recording video in the Camera app by pressing and holding on the stem of AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro 2
40. AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 now offer studio-quality audio recording
41. AirPods can now detect when you fall asleep and automatically pause audio
42. You are now notified when your AirPods are fully charged
43. You can be reminded to charge your AirPods when their battery life is low
44. AirPods audio can now automatically switch to CarPlay as necessary
45. You can now set a custom snooze duration of 1 to 15 minutes in the Clock app
46. Visual Intelligence now works with on-screen content, so you can ask ChatGPT questions about what you are looking at
47. Visual Intelligence can now read aloud and summarize screenshots with text
48. Genmoji can now combine two standard emoji into one custom one
49. Image Playground offers new ChatGPT image styles, including Oil Painting, Watercolor, Vector, Anime, and Print
50. In the Shortcuts app, there is a new set of shortcuts powered by Apple Intelligence
51. Apple Music lets you pin playlists, albums, and artists at the top of the Library tab
52. Apple Music lets you create playlist folders
53. Lyrics translation for Apple Music songs
54. AutoMix for Apple Music can seamlessly mix from one song to the next like a DJ
55. Live Activities support for boarding passes in the Apple Wallet app
56. Wallet app now displays relevant information below the boarding pass, such as Apple Maps directions to the appropriate airport terminal, and a shortcut to the Find My app's baggage tracking feature
57. Create a digital ID in the Wallet app using your U.S. passport, for age and identity verification in supported apps, and at select stores and TSA checkpoints
58. In participating U.S. states, "Verify with Wallet on the Web" enables you to present your driver's license or state ID in the Wallet app to websites for age and identity verification, starting with Chime, Turo, Uber Eats, and U.S. Bank, as well as the Arizona MVD, Georgia DDS, and Maryland MVA
59. You can now manage AutoFill credit cards in the Wallet app
60. When toggled on, a new Adaptive Power mode can make small adjustments to extend battery life, such as by slightly lowering display brightness or allowing certain background activities to take longer
61. In the Settings app, you can see how long it will take for your iPhone's battery to achieve a full charge when the device is charging
62. The entire Battery section of the Settings app was overhauled
63. A new "Keep Audio in Headphones" setting prevents audio from automatically switching to newly connected devices, like car speakers or Bluetooth speakers, when you are already listening through AirPods or other headphones
    
64. You can now access a list of blocked contacts via the Settings app
65. Safety Check is now an option when blocking a contact
66. Apple News+ subscribers in the U.S. and Canada can play a new Emoji Game
67. A new set of Background Sounds include Babble, Steam, Airplane, Boat, Bus, Train, Rain on Roof, and Quiet Night
68. The so-called Home bar at the bottom of the screen is now hidden more often
69. Weather via satellite will allow you to receive the latest forecast information while outside of Wi-Fi or cellular range
70. In the Notes app, notes can be exported as a Markdown file
71. With Apple Intelligence, the Reminders app can suggest tasks, grocery items, and follow-ups based on emails or other text on your device
72. Apple Intelligence can automatically categorize reminders in the Reminders app
73. You can now create reminders in the Reminders app via the Action button
74. Apple Maps can now learn your commute between home and work, and notify you if there are any significant delays along your typical route, and offer alternate routes if available
75. Apple Maps can intelligently detect and save the places that you frequently visit and spend time in, such as restaurants or stores
76. Apple Maps now lets you choose from additional types of incidents on the "Report an Incident" screen
77. You can use an iPhone as a wireless microphone for the Apple Music Sing feature on the Apple TV 4K (3rd generation)
78. In the Apple Podcasts app, there are now a wider range of playback speed options, from 0.5x to 3x
79. In the Apple Podcasts app, an Enhance Dialogue option lets you hear speech more clearly over background sounds
80. In the Apple Wallet app, Apple Intelligence can now automatically identify, summarize, and display order tracking details from emails sent from merchants or delivery carriers
81. Apple Pay now lets you use rewards and installments for in-store purchases
82. Custom Plans in Apple Fitness+ now automatically create a personalized schedule based on users' workout and meditation preferences
83. New accessibility features, such as Accessibility Reader and Braille Access
84. Personal Voice can now create a smoother, more natural-sounding replication of your voice in less than a minute, using only 10 recorded phrases
85. Vehicle Motion Cues has gained new options to further help reduce motion sickness
86. Parents can now create or move kids into Child Accounts even more easily
87. Parents can grant an exception for their child to download an app with an age rating that exceeds the app content restriction they set
88. Enhancements across Communication Limits, Communication Safety, and the App Store include parental approvals for contact requests from kids, and blurring out sensitive content in FaceTime calls and photos in Shared Albums
89. There is a new "Transfer From Android" option during eSIM setup
90. Wi-Fi Aware is now supported
91. You can now sync captive Wi-Fi portal login information across Apple devices
92. Arabic calculator
93. Multiscript keyboard for Arabic/English
94. You can now specify spelling while using the Dictation feature
95. Liquid Glass design extends to CarPlay when using an iPhone running iOS 26
96. CarPlay now can now show Live Activities on the Dashboard screen
97. CarPlay can now display widgets for things like calendar appointments and Home app accessory controls (previously CarPlay Ultra only)
98. CarPlay now has a compact view for incoming phone calls
99. CarPlay now shows pinned conversations in the Messages app
100. CarPlay now lets you respond to messages with the standard set of Tapbacks in the Messages app