During Apple’s WWDC 2025 keynote today, the company revealed iOS 26 and the new, unified operating system naming structure, introduced a framework allowing any app on iOS to use Apple Intelligence, and more.
iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26 emphasizes translucent design with Liquid Glass
Apple is standardizing its operating system naming across devices and tying the names to the release year, with 2026 bringing the new design language to iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. iOS also comes with a new design language, which Apple calls Liquid Glass. It’s the biggest redesign since iOS 7, said Craig Federighi, Apple SVP Software Engineering.
On macOS, the next operating system will be macOS Tahoe 26. The Liquid Glass design makes app icons and widgets look transparent, and refracts images behind UI elements.
Liquid Glass changes the appearance of floating design elements depending on context and content. More design elements now feature rounded edges to echo the rounded edges of the hardware. The color of elements morphs with the content and appears to float above apps, changing between views. The lock screen, dock, and mobile notifications will be transparent and appear to float above content.
iOS 26 brings slightly expanded generative AI features and Phone quality of life updates
The Phone app will have a new layout, with Favorites at the top of a consolidated menu. iOS 26 will screen incoming calls, automatically answering calls from unknown numbers without notifying the user. If the caller shares their name and reason for calling, the phone will display a transcript of the greeting and user can pick up. Another new feature, Hold Assist, automatically detects hold music and listens for a live agent, ringing again when the phone assistant hears a real person.
Similarly, Messages will screen for spam and unknown numbers and automatically exile unknown senders to a spam folder. They won’t appear as notifications. On the other hand, the phone can detect time-sensitive messages from unknown numbers, like alerts from restaurants that a table is ready.
Genmoji in Image Playground is getting a slight upgrade, with the ability to combine emoji. It has ChatGPT integration with its own artistic styles, too. Essentially, AI-generated images will be more broadly available in Image Playground. Developers can add the feature with the Image Playground API.
In Messages, Apple is adding background colors and designs that are shared with both people in the call. Thanks to Apple Intelligence’s image creation, users can generate a background, too. Users will also be able to add polls and Apple Cash requests in chats. Plus, typing indicators will now work in group chats. Apple Intelligence will be able to perform live translation in Messages, too, and developers can link to live translation through an API.
We will continue to update this article with more news from Apple’s WWDC keynote, so please continue to check back.
