Apple’s surprises for WWDC 2025 leak ahead of event

An overhaul for all of Apple’s operating systems

Remember iOS 7? That was when Apple completely redesigned its operating system for the iPhone, opting instead for a much sleeker and more modern look. The same thing is happening again, but this time with all of the operating systems under the company’s umbrella, even watchOS and tvOS. CarPlay will be getting redesigned too, as the idea is to provide a consistent experience across all Apple products.

The new design is based off visionOS, the operating system that powers the Apple Vision Pro MR (Mixed Reality) headset. All of Apple’s operating systems will get a much glassier look, and light will be used throughout the user interface to make for a visually appealing experience. Pop-out menus will become more common as well.

Contrary to many rumors, the app icons on iOS and iPadOS are not going to become round. Widgets will also, naturally, mimic the new look. All of the operating systems are going to follow a new naming convention as well: each of them will now sport the number ‘26’ for the upcoming year. This will continue on to ‘27’, ‘28’, and so on.

Changes to the Phone, Camera, Messages, and Safari apps

The Phone, Camera, Messages, and Safari apps are going to change as well. For the Phone app, Apple is introducing a new scrollable window which will combine recent calls, favorite contacts, and voicemails. This change is optional, and users can revert to the old look from within the app.

The Safari web browser is mostly getting cosmetic changes to reflect the new look across all of Apple’s operating systems. This includes a more transparent and glass-like address bar, in addition to other minor tweaks. The camera app will mostly focus on decluttering its interface in order to provide much simpler access to its myriad of options.

Lastly, the Messages app is getting a modern overhaul to help it compete with alternative messaging apps like Meta’s WhatsApp. This includes the ability to create polls and set background images that are synced across devices.

Preview and Games apps for iOS and iPadOS

The Preview app from macOS is finally coming to iOS and iPadOS, so users can view PDFs or make small edits to them. Before this, iPhone and iPad users would have had to use third-party solutions from the App Store. Preview will be pre-installed on iOS and iPadOS.

Apple is also going to introduce the Games app, as the company makes a push into the gaming industry. This will also be pre-installed, and will be available on a lot more operating systems and devices. However, Gurman claims that this app is “underwhelming” and not as good as Apple needs it to be.

Updates to the Apple Vision Pro

The Apple Vision Pro — which is lending its software design to all of Apple’s operating systems this year — won’t be missing out on all the fun. Aside from the previously reported eye scrolling feature, the Vision Pro is finally going to support VR games more seriously.

There were reports about Apple and Sony teaming up to provide PSVR2 controller support for the Vision Pro. Turns out, Apple’s headset is getting a completely new tool that will allow owners to use other third-party VR controllers as well. This should definitely help sell a few more Vision Pro headsets, as gaming remains the biggest reason most people buy a VR headset in the first place.

And, of course, some AI features regardless

Though Apple will not focus much on AI, it wouldn’t be a 2025 smartphone event without some mention of improvements in that field. Here are some of the standout Apple Intelligence upgrades that the company plans to announce at WWDC that we’ve not covered before:

• Live translation of phone calls and text messages
• Combining two existing emojis for a brand new Genmoji
• Shortcuts app will use Apple Intelligence

And that’s a wrap! There are a few other things that were leaked before, which we’ve already covered: like the iPadOS improvements and updates to the Apple Pencil.

Apple will allegedly refrain from making any promises about features still in development. And while that makes for a “less exciting” event, it certainly means one that sets much more realistic expectations.