“iOS 26 New Features: Liquid Glass Redesign, AI Upgrades, and Top Changes You Must Know (2025)”

iOS 26: What’s New In Apple’s Latest Update

With the release of iOS 26 (September 15, 2025), Apple has rolled out one of its most ambitious updates in years. It brings together a major visual redesign, deeper artificial intelligence (AI) features, and quality-of-life improvements across many apps. Below is a breakdown of the top new features, what works well, and some caveats to watch out for.

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Key Features & Changes

1. Liquid Glass: A Visual Makeover

A new unified design language across Apple platforms, dubbed Liquid Glass, with translucent, glass-like elements, soft rounded edges, dynamic lighting, and depth effects. Apple+3The Verge+3TechCrunch+3
UI elements like the Camera, Safari, Control Center, Lock Screen, etc., have been refreshed to reflect the aesthetics inspired by visionOS. TechCrunch+2The Verge+2
Some parts had legibility issues in initial betas; Apple has made adjustments in transparency and contrast. The Verge+2TechCrunch+2

2. Apple Intelligence & Live Translation

Live translations are now built into Messages, FaceTime (with live captions), and even phone calls with spoken translation. TechCrunch+2Apple Support+2
New or improved tools like Genmoji (mix and match or create new emoji), Image Playground, and Visual Intelligence. You can ask questions about what’s on your screen, analyse images, etc. Business Insider+3TechCrunch+3Apple+3

3. Smarter Call, Message, and Notification Control

Call Screening: Unknown callers can be required to state their reason for calling before your phone rings. Helps with spam. TechCrunch+2The Washington Post+2
Hold Assist: If you’re on hold (for example, in a customer service queue), your iPhone can wait and notify you when someone actually picks up. TechCrunch+1
Filtering unknown senders and sorting messages more intelligently. The Washington Post+2Apple Support+2

4. Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Widgets

Lock Screen gets more dynamic: the time display adapts depending on the wallpaper or photo; wallpapers get a subtle 3D effect. Apple Support+1
On the Home Screen, app icons can be tinted (light, dark, or clear) to match your style. The Economic Times+2Apple Support+2
More powerful widgets, and Live Activities enhancements so that you can view real-time updates (sports, rides, etc.) at a glance. Apple+2Apple Support+2

5. New & Upgraded Apps

Preview app comes to iPhone (and iPad) to view, annotate, sign PDFs and images, scan documents, etc. TechCrunch+1
Games: A redesigned Games app – consolidating your played games, Game Arcades, achievements, and suggestions. TechCrunch+1
Maps: Preferred route suggestions, visited places history, better alternate route notifications. TechCrunch+1
Music: AutoMix (dynamic song switching), lyrics translation and pronunciation. TechCrunch+1

6. Battery & Performance Enhancements

Adaptive Power Mode: iOS 26 can make small adjustments (lowering performance, tweaking brightness, delaying some tasks) to extend battery life. Particularly beneficial on recent iPhones. The Verge+2TechCrunch+2
General responsiveness improvements, especially on supported devices. Apple Support+1

7. Accessibility, Parental Controls & Journaling

Braille Access has been improved – better support with Braille displays, document reading, live captions, etc. Apple Support
New “Vehicle Motion Cues” to reduce motion sickness for passengers. Apple Support
More robust journaling features: multiple journals, map-viewing entries, photos/drawings inline. Apple Support
Parental setup enhancements: during device setup for teens, age-appropriate protections auto-applied. Apple Support

What Devices Are Supported & What’s Dropped

iOS 26 supports iPhone 11 and later, including SE (2nd gen). TechCrunch+1
Some older devices are no longer supported, particularly those with older chips that can’t handle the new visual/AI features. BILD+1

Things To Be Aware Of / Early Feedback

Legibility/Readability: Some users found the glass-like, translucent UI harder to read in certain lighting or with certain wallpapers. Apple has tweaked some of these issues, but it may still be less sharp than the older flatter design for some. The Verge+1
Learning Curve: Because of redesigns, relocated controls, new UI conventions, etc., some muscle memory (how you used to do things) may need adjustment.
Performance/Battery Trade-offs: Adaptive Power helps, but some features maybe reduce performance to save battery; on older supported devices, the trade-offs could be more noticeable.
Feature Availability: Some features (especially AI-powered ones, live translation, etc.) are available only in certain languages/regions. Also may depend on hardware capabilities. Apple Support+1

Should You Upgrade?

If your device supports iOS 26 and you like the idea of a visual refresh + smarter AI tools + better control over spam/scams, it’s definitely worth considering.

If you prefer stability, maximum speed, or dislike change (especially big UI overhauls), you might wait a little—let bugs get shaken out, especially in early days.

Pro Tips: Getting the Most Out of iOS 26

Tweak Liquid Glass: Choose wallpapers and icon styles that improve contrast. Use settings that reduce transparency or glass effects (where possible) if legibility is an issue.
Explore Apple Intelligence Early: Try live translation in your usual apps, check message backgrounds, test Genmoji – these often show off the best of what’s new.
Activate Call / Message Filtering: Set up call screening and unknown sender filtering to reduce spam burden.
Use Adaptive Power: If you find battery draining faster than usual, try turning on Adaptive Power mode.
Backup First: As always, before major updates, do a full iCloud or local backup. Some apps may behave differently; ensure you’ve got space, and that you’re ready for possible minor glitches early on.

Final Thoughts

iOS 26 represents a more ambitious direction for Apple than many incremental updates. The Liquid Glass redesign is its boldest visual change in years, and the expansion of AI-powered features (especially live translation and screen understanding) shows where Apple is pushing forward in usability. While not every feature will feel revolutionary to every user, taken together they mark a shift in how the iPhone interacts with you—not just what you do with it, but how it looks, understands, and helps.

If you’re ready for change, iOS 26 likely makes your iPhone feel fresh. If not, take your time—but don’t ignore what’s coming. The future version of iOS is built on this foundation.

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