Apple has finally opened the gates for the masses to test the next big iPhone software update. The public beta build of iOS 26 has finally been released, and it brings with it a whole bunch of new features and UI changes. The big draw, of course, is the new Liquid Glass design makeover .
To put it mildly, it has proved to be a controversial choice, and over the numerous developer updates that Apple has released so far, it has refined the glass-inspired UI design. To date, it remains a topic of hot discussion, but it’s here to stay regardless.
With it comes a fresh look for the lock screen, which now features an adaptive clock widget that adjusts its size based on the on-screen content. It can even turn static images into spatial wallpapers that respond to motion. Beyond the big aesthetic overhaul, iOS 26 also brings a whole bunch of new features , but five of them stand out from a functional perspective. Let’s dive in:
Visual Intelligence for the screen
When Apple Intelligence first landed on the iPhone, one of the most notable capabilities in the AI bundle was Visual Intelligence. Essentially, you just need to point the camera at the world around you, and the AI will help you make sense of it.
Whether it’s pulling information from a poster, identifying plants, or translating text, it can handle it all. Even open-source projects have launched similar apps , some of which run entirely on the iPhone. With iOS 26, Apple has expanded Visual Intelligence to cover whatever appears on your phone’s screen.
Based on the content that appears on the screen, or the element users choose to highlight, Visual Intelligence will find similar matches on Google Search or on shopping sites. It will also assist with adding events to the calendar or just pulling up more information about it using ChatGPT.
A big upgrade for the Phone app
Some of the most notable changes in iOS 26 were apparently reserved for the Phone app. Apple combined the Favourites, Recents, and Voicemails sections under a unified dashboard. Another notable addition is the call screening facility, which informs users about the intent of the caller before they pick up.
My favorite, however, is the hold assist system. For my reporting duties, I often find myself waiting on extended hold periods while trying to communicate with employees at various agencies, both government and private. The new Hold Assist feature in the Phone app will handle the wait times for you.
Once your call is put on hold by the person on the other end, the onboard assistant takes over. When a human returns to attend the call, the Phone app will inform you of their availability so that you can carry forward the conversation without wasting your time.
A cleaner camera app
Apple received a lot of flak for its Photos app redesign not too long ago. Not all those problems have been addressed with iOS 26, but the entire app has been simplified across two main sections. The Library is where you find all your photos, while the Albums feed is where you get all the custom and preset folders.
Of course, it has all been redesigned to match the Liquid Glass theme, which also extends to the camera app. To make things simpler in the camera app, Apple now only shows two options at the bottom, one each for photo and video. Only when you slide across the pill-shaped controls will you get access to other modes such as portrait, panorama, and slo-mo.
Each mode now prominently shows the granular options at the top, but you don’t have to stretch your fingers all the way up to make adjustments. Every granular control, from exposure and aspect ratio to styles, now conveniently opens in a dashboard at the bottom of the screen.
This is particularly helpful while taking photos in portrait orientation. Plus, the consolidated approach just makes it easier to access the desired tools while using the iPhone one-handed. Furthermore, format and resolution options have also been expanded and given their own unique place in the camera viewfinder, which means you no longer have to make a trip to the Settings app each time you need to tweak those presets.
The Messages app is more fun
Remember the call screening feature mentioned above for phone calls? Well, Apple is extending that convenience to the Messages app, as well. All the messages from unknown senders are silenced and pushed into a separate folder. On the more functional side of things, it now supports live translations for texts.
Apple is also taking cues from other communication platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram. To that end, you can finally set custom backgrounds for chats. These can be created on the fly using the Image Playground system. Moreover, typing Indicators have finally been enabled for group chats.
Additionally, you can create polls in the Messages app. Interestingly, Apple Intelligence will automatically suggest the polling system when it detects that a conversation is going in that direction.
Apple Maps is now your travel diary
Apple Maps is one of the most underrated apps offered by the company, though it’s not without its own share of bad history. With the arrival of iOS 26, the app is getting a new feature called Visited Places. Think of it as a personal log of all the notable places you have visited, from monuments to coffee shops.
Users can opt for their iPhone to detect their visit to places of importance, and subsequently view these locations in Apple Maps under the “Visited Places” dashboard. It’s a neat way of saving the location details and going back in time for reference information whenever the need arises.
Thanks to Apple Intelligence, these places will be detected and logged automatically, and even the preferred route information will be saved. Thankfully, all the data saved in the Visited Places dashboard is end-to-end encrypted, which means not even Apple can access it, let alone any third party.
