WWDC 2025: iOS 26 Liquid glass update | Privacy updates.

Apple has unveiled its latest upcoming upgrades to all its operating systems across products, at WWDC 2025, Apple introduced updates with focus on AI integration to enhanced user experience.

Apple’s Annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025 concluded with mixed reactions from tech enthusiastic people and Apple users combined.

From iOS 26 to VisionOS 26, the entire line up of Apple products have become smarter with, new features, design changes and AI focused approach.

This year Apple unveiled major changes to- iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, and iPad's OS. Let’s dive into the major iOS updates divulged in WWDC 2025.

Apple has unified the version numbers across all platforms, now denoted year vice. iOS 26 will roll out in 2026, so it will be called iOS 26, skipping the iOS 19 and so on, which should have followed the last year's release iOS 18.

iOS 26 with Liquid Glass UI

From lock screen customization to settings on the iPhones, Apple introduced, new UI with “Liquid Glass” design line.

It resembles glass and added fluidity to it. The iOS 26 is packed with intelligent experiences, new design to apps, icons and overall UI.

The Lock Screen and Home Screen

The Lock Screen and Home Screen has been updated with the new time and controls, now made of Liquid Glass. iOS 26 has entirely new styles like all-clear look, glass edge design that is adaptive to dark and light modes.

Dynamic wallpapers, with 3D view angles, adaptive time—fluidly adapts to the available space.

Its San Francisco typeface has been uniquely crafted to dynamically scale to the weight, width, and height of each numeral in order to nestle into the scene. And it doesn't just adapt to the subjects of the photos. It keeps the best part of photo in view.

With each notification on lock screen as it appears, the Lock screen auto adapts and show adjusted elements.

The advanced computer vision techniques running on the Neural Engine, helps generate a spatial scene from your 2D photos, creating a delightful 3D effect, as you move your iPhone in your hand.

Unlocking the iPhone has new liquid glass animation done to it as well.

The Lock Screen, notifications, and Control Centre have new looks with rounded icons mating the phone's curves.

Camera app

The inbuilt Camera app gets a new, more intuitive design as well. Simplified and streamlined design elevates the two capture modes, photo, and video.

With just a swipe of finger to the left or right reveals additional modes, like Cinematic mode or Portrait mode. A simple swipe up lets you easily reach settings, like aspect ratio and timers. Easier to change formats like- 4k shoot and all other options become visible with a single tab.

Photos app

The Photos app takes advantage of the gorgeous new design with the return of the tabs. Photos now features separate tabs for Library and for Collections. The 3D effects on images is also available in Photos, allowing you to experience any photo as an incredible spatial scene.

iOS 26: New Privacy Features for Safety and security?

Safari, FaceTime and CarPlay

Safari, gets new looks as well, with familiar elements with more immersive experience. Web pages now flow edge to edge to the very bottom of the screen, for a better reading experience.

The tab bar has been redesigned to float above the web page, and surfaces frequently-used actions like search and refresh. With a tap, Liquid Glass controls fluidly reveal other actions.

Scrolling dynamically shrinks the tab bar. This resembles in the FaceTime as well, with controls now float on the bottom right and seamlessly recede when you don't need them.

This updated experience also extends to your car with CarPlay. With the compact design, it is easier to see what's on the screen, like your upcoming directions, along with Tapbacks, pinned conversations in Messages and incoming phone calls.

iOS 26 also gives you widgets in CarPlay.

Phone app

The Phone app is easier to use with the option to choose a new unified layout that brings together your Favourites, Recents, and Voicemails, so your most-used features are right at your fingertips.

Your Recents and Voicemails now appear in a single, convenient list below, so you can easily scroll to see who reached out and what they said. And with Apple Intelligence, new voicemail summaries help surface the most important information.

Call Screening helps you quickly gauge whether it's something important, when you receive a call from an unknown number.

Call Screening automatically answers calls from unknown numbers, with Live Voicemail. Once the caller shares their name and the reason for their call, your phone rings. You can view their response, and pick up or ignore.

With Hold Assist, you can skip the waiting time, in situations like calling service centres. When you tap Hold, the phone app keeps the call active while you can keep using your iPhone or even put it away, with hold recording stopped in background. Once a live agent becomes available, the iPhone rings so you can return to the call and let the agent know that you'll be there shortly.

iMessage

iMessage gets new chat backgrounds that appear on every iPhone connected in the conversation. Group chats get poll option, you can watch the votes roll in live. Groups also gets Apple Cash you can request, send, and receive Apple Cash. Typing indicators are also available now in the group chats,

New on-device spam detection gets spam out from Message app, unknown senders appear in a dedicated area, and will remain silenced and won't appear as notifications until you mark them known.

Even with unknown senders turned on, you'll continue to see important time-sensitive messages, for a verification code etc.

Apple Intelligence and Live Translation

Apple updated and enhanced Apple Intelligence into iOS 26 just like previous year. One of the cool new feature is Live Translation, it helps communicate, with translated conversations. It's integrated into Messages, FaceTime, and Phone.

In iOS 26, your iPhone can better understand your routines, and help you remember great places you've been. With Maps feature called, iPhone can remember places, routes, changes to routes and favourite places. With Maps widget, you can check your commute before you leave. If there are significant delays, Maps will send you a notification, with alternate routes displayed as an option.

Car keys in Wallet app provide an easy and secure way, to lock, unlock and start your car, with iPhone or Apple Watch, with over 20 brands already offering car keys in Wallet, Apple Wallet becomes more useful.

With Apple Intelligence, Wallet can now identify and summarize order tracking details, beyond your Apple Pay orders. It will find emails sent by either merchants or delivery carriers and conveniently pull together your order details, order progress notifications, and more, all in a Wallet.

An updated version of Siri will now have natural language processing, contextual responses, and better multitasking support.

iOS now has better control centre options with locking of individual apps and notification alerts based on user experience.

Mental health tracking is now integrated into Health and Fitness features.

Visual Intelligence

Visual Intelligence builds on Apple Intelligence, it helps you explore your surroundings. It works with a press of the Camera Control or Action button to pull up ratings for a café you walk by or find sneakers similar to the ones you see when you're out and about.

It's the fastest way to learn about the objects and places around you. It also works on the screen with any app, just take a screenshot to activate the Visual Intelligence feature, with lots of options to work with.

That's all major iOS 26 features and updates that we find interesting to cover for you. Apart from these mentioned features, there are many more changes and updates in the apps and overall User Interface, with great details that Apple have managed to put together into iOS 26.

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