iOS 26 Features: The Ultimate Mega Guide

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For the last several months, MacRumors has been working on a series of in-depth feature guides and how tos that walk you through the design changes and updates in Apple's new software.

iOS 26 Mega Guide Feature
Our ultimate guide includes all of our iOS 26 coverage, and it is a useful resource for iPhone and iPad users who haven't had a chance to test out ‌iOS 26‌, or those who might want a recap on what's new. We've organized it by app or feature to make it easy to find what you're looking for.

Liquid Glass

Apple's Liquid Glass design brings a big visual change to ‌iOS 26‌. Icons, apps, menu bars, navigation bars, and all other interface elements feature a Liquid Glass aesthetic. It's not just translucency that you have to deal with. There are pop out menus, collapsing navigation bars, and a much more rounded aesthetic.

Lock Screen

The Lock Screen clock has embraced Liquid Glass in a big way, and there are also new options for wallpaper and widgets.

Home Screen

A new design means a new Home Screen, and there are new features for icons, widgets, and wallpapers.

Apple Intelligence

Apple is still recovering from the Apple Intelligence Siri delay and the company didn't make a major deal about ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features in ‌iOS 26‌, but there are quite a few additions.

Live Translation auto translates messages and calls, Visual Intelligence now works with what's on your screen, the Wallet app can track all of your purchases, and there are other small additions to be aware of.

All of the ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features require a device that supports ‌Apple Intelligence‌, which includes the ‌iPhone‌ 15 Pro, ‌iPhone‌ 15 Pro Max, all iPhone 16 models, and all iPhone 17 models.

Messages

There are a bunch of new features in the Messages app, including the option to set custom backgrounds for each chat. Be warned, other people see the background that you set. Group chats support typing indicators and other features, and you can add polls to chats.

Phone

Some of the biggest changes in ‌iOS 26‌ are to the Phone app. There's a whole Call Screening feature that can screen calls from unknown numbers, and a tool that'll wait for you when you're on hold.

AirPods

With an accompanying firmware update, the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4 support Live Translation for in-person conversations, plus there are options like pausing audio when you fall asleep and using the AirPods as a remote for the ‌iPhone‌'s Camera app.

Safari

Safari has an updated layout, a Liquid Glass design, tab bar changes, new privacy features, and more.

Apple Maps

The Maps app can learn your preferred route for your commute and alert you if there's anything that's going to make you late. It's also able to save your location history so you can remember your favorite locations when you travel.

Notes and Reminders

The Reminders app has some hidden ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features included, while the Notes app supports 3D graphics with three-variable equations and more.

Camera

The Camera app received some of the most notable UI changes, with updates to the menu for switching between modes and for accessing different settings.

FaceTime

In FaceTime, there's an updated interface with a card-style layout, call screening, an option to block nudity, and support for Live Translation captions.

Apple Music

Apple Music has an AutoMix feature that provides DJ-like transitions for songs, along with Lyric Translation and Pronunciation features.

Photos

If you hated the unified Photos app in iOS 18, there's good news! Collections and the ‌Photos‌ Library are once again split into two separate tabs. Apple also added support for Spatial Scenes, a feature that gives a 3D look to 2D photos.

Podcasts

The Podcasts app has a Liquid Glass design, new speed controls, and dialogue improvements.

Wallet

There are big changes in the Wallet app, including support for digital passports and major improvements to boarding passes.

Other New Features and Options

Read More

We have a complete overview of all of the new features in ‌iOS 26‌ in one place in our iOS 26 roundup, which is also well worth checking out for all of the smaller details that didn't make it into our guides and how tos.

Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26
Related Forum: iOS 26

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Top Rated Comments

klasma Avatar
klasma
13 weeks ago

Still bad IMO. Apple had to remind us at the last event that design is about how something works, not just how it looks—as though that Steve Jobs quote would somehow make us look away from the Emperor’s new transparent clothes.
Exactly:



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Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kalsta Avatar
kalsta
13 weeks ago

Apple's Liquid Glass design brings a big visual change to iOS 26. Icons, apps, menu bars, navigation bars, and all other interface elements feature a Liquid Glass aesthetic.

Apple is still recovering from the Apple Intelligence Siri delay and the company didn't make a major deal about Apple Intelligence features in iOS 26 …
25 years ago, Apple's Aqua UI was exciting. We had seen nothing like it before. It wasn't without it's critics (no big change is), but with such a revolutionary new OS (Mac OS X), the timing was perfect and I couldn't wait to have those lickable water-drop buttons pop out of my screen.

25 years later, the world of computing is changing again with AI, and Apple's Liquid Glass feels like… like a pointless distraction from Apple's failure to meet its own AI promises, let alone keep up with the competition. And while elements of the UI are kind of clever, Apple hasn't been able to escape the obvious comparisons to Windows Vista and the awful Aero UI.

So, how excited are we about Liquid Glass? I can't speak for others but I feel zero excitement about seeing this across all my devices.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S.B.G Avatar
S.B.G
13 weeks ago
Well done @MacRumors for putting this comprehensive guide together. ?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
grovian Avatar
grovian
13 weeks ago

Then go to android
That is like saying "If you criticize anything about this country you should leave". People want to make things better and if the people who improve leave only slop remains at the end.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
antiprotest
13 weeks ago
This afternoon, when I updated all my Apple devices, and saw the new design everywhere, along with the inconsistent transparencies, the reduced readability, and nonsensical white edges around icons, widgets, and notifications, not to mention the stuttering animations, the bloated system data, the overheating phone -- I sighed.

I was not angry, or even disappointed, but I hung my head and whispered, "That's just like Apple." For they have been like this for many years now.

Rather, the update compelled me to think about life. Why do we fix what is not broken? And why do we break that which we have fixed? With S.O.S d'un terrien en détresse playing in the background, I looked at the screen again. What is this? What have I been doing with my life?

Then I came to the conclusion. Perhaps the new design is not about better visuals, improved functionality, more intuitive interface -- we know it is none of that. But maybe, just maybe, liquid glass is about the broken pieces of ourselves that we lost along the way. It reminds us to put down our now ruined devices, go outside, and take a walk. Listen to the birds sing. Watch the kids play. Visit your friends.

Then come back and complain on MacRumors.

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Deacon-Blues Avatar
Deacon-Blues
13 weeks ago
I see situations like this a lot. The info bar for Safari… does not look great….



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Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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