iOS 26 is now finally officially here, available for download on all supported iPhones. The new operating system features a visual overhaul with a new, gorgeous design and plenty of upgrades sprinkled across your iPhone. Here are the top iOS 26 features you can take advantage of after you install the update.
Liquid Glass
Liquid Glass. | Image Credit - Apple
The star of the show is the new design that Apple calls Liquid Glass. It's immediately obvious when you install the update. All menus are transparent, they have a glass-like sheen, and the animations have been updated to match the liquid and smooth theme. The icons have been reimagined.
Elements across the OS bounce, jiggle, and react when you interact with them. In Apple apps like the Camera app, switching between tabs features a droplet-like animation as you move between different modes at the bottom. Notifications also appear on a semi-transparent background.
You can also choose to make app icons completely transparent for the ultimate glass look.
If you find the text a bit hard to read, you can make the OS less see-through by going to Settings, then Accessibility, then Display & Text Size, and toggling on Reduce Transparency. If you dislike the wiggly movement of the OS, from the same Accessibility section, choose Motion and then toggle on Reduce Motion.
Photo Library sections
Many people disliked iOS 18's Photos app. Now, luckily, Apple has worked on improving it, and with iOS 26, you get two easily viewable options: Library and Collections. These two tabs appear at the bottom of the Photos app and make it easier to find your photos and orient yourself around the app's interface.
Adaptive Power Mode
Adaptive Power Mode is an Apple Intelligence-powered feature that's coming with iOS 26 to the iPhone 15 Pro and later. It learns your behavior and adapts the phone's battery use to save battery. The feature can determine how much power an app can receive, and ensure longer battery life when needed. It can also adjust display brightness in order to help your phone last as long as possible.
Live translation
Image Credit - Apple
With iOS 26, live translation is available in FaceTime, texts, and phone calls, and is based on Apple Intelligence. Keep in mind that Apple Intelligence features are supported on the iPhone 15 Pro or later.
All the translation happens locally on your iPhone, not in the cloud.
Translation in Messages
The app offers to translate a text that you've received in another language as a one-off or to enable live translation. With Live Translation, the original appears alongside the translation. Supported languages are English, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish.
FaceTime and phone calls Live Translation
During a video call, you can use Live Translation as well: you'll get an on-screen text translation. The app recognizes if someone's speaking a supported language on your call.
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Live Translation is also available in phone calls, which is spectacular and simply put, quite ambitious. You will hear a synthesized voice translating what the person is saying. Of course, don't expect it to work flawlessly in the beginning, and it may not recognize some filler words.
Spam calls and text protection
Image Credit - Apple
iOS 26 has an opt-in feature that automatically filters out texts and calls from unknown sources, and you will be prompted to enable it if you wish once you install the update. With this feature, when you receive a text from someone who's not in your Contacts, it is moved to a new section of the Messages app.
If an unknown caller calls you, your phone won't ring; instead, they'll have to explain what they're calling you about, and this works similarly to Google's AI-powered call screening.
Hold Assist
Hold Assist. | Image Credit - Apple
When you're put on hold, you can use Hold Assist with iOS 26. To enable it, you can do so from Settings, then Apps, then Phone, and scroll down for Hold Assist Detection. When you use the feature, you'll get a call back when the hold music stops and the other party picks up.
The person who put you on hold will hear a message telling them you'll be picking up shortly.
Colorful Backgrounds for Messages
You can now add Backgrounds to your chats. You can open a chat and tap the name of the person or the title of the group chat, and then tap the Backgrounds tab. You are able to select a photo from your Photos library or use Playground to create an original image with Apple Intelligence (if your iPhone supports it).
Group chat upgrades: polls, typing notifications
With iOS 26, you can also now create polls in group chats. You'll see immediate feedback, and the poll will dynamically bounce to show which option is in the lead. To create a poll, you should open a chat, tap the plus sign on the left of the text field, and select Polls.
You are now also getting typing notifications in group chats. You will see animated ellipses when people in the group chat are typing. This is a feature that's already present in other chat apps such as Signal, Slack, or Discord.
Visual Intelligence for screenshots
Now, you can use Visual Intelligence with screenshots on iOS 26. For example, if you have an event with a date on your screen, the option to add it to your calendar should appear. Searching is not as in-depth as Google's Circle to Search, though, but we're slowly getting there.
Password app gets Password history
Another super-useful tweak in iOS 26 is password history in the Passwords app. You can now pull up an old password to try if the new one, for some reason, doesn't work. When you open the Password app, you can select the entry, then tap the blue History option that's located at the bottom.
Snoozing alarms gets more customizable
Now you can choose a period to snooze an alarm for. Previously, you only had the option to snooze an alarm for 9 minutes, but you can now choose as little as one minute or as long as 15 minutes.
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Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master's degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She's also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it's walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.
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