New Features for Apple iOS 26!

Apple has announced the new iOS 26 at June’s WWDC 2025; a big jump from iOS 18 in terms of naming scheme for sure, with fans speculating that it’s done to achieve parity with the date next year. And yes, the new version appears to bring a completely new look to your iPhone’s software and how it presents its apps. It’s got a whole host of new AI tricks too.

Here, we’ve taken a look at some of the new changes coming with this version here, based on what’s been reported by those who got into the beta test.

Clear Liquid Glass

Dubbed “Liquid Glass”, the overhaul gives all of your icons this sheen as if it’s built with a translucent material. You even have the option of making all your icons transparent if you want; perfect if you want an uninterrupted view of your wallpaper without losing legibility. Mostly.

If that’s not for you then don’t worry. You can always adjust the transparency in the Settings, allowing you to make your icons more opaque while retaining that smooth, glassy skin.

Apart from this major visual change, you do get updated design elements around your apps. There’s a new Camera layout which is a lot simpler than the one on iOS 18 on our iPhone 16, which should be useful when you’re capturing a particular shot.

Apple also redesigned the tab bar for Apple Music, News, and Podcasts. It can now shrink dynamically whenever you switch to a different tab or app without interrupting playback.

Visual Intelligence Expanded

Apple’s Visual Intelligence will be getting some more capabilities to make it even more useful for their users. “Onscreen Awareness” has been expanded for one, now allowing you to identify things on a screenshot via ChatGPT, unlike before which only worked on things seen through your phone’s camera.

This works in tandem with Highlight to Search which is basically Android’s “Circle to Search” in terms of functionality. Alternatively, you can use the “Ask” button to ask the AI specific things in what you’re looking at.

Staying Connected

The Phone app has received an overhaul too, with a unified layout that now combines Favorite, Recents, and Voicemails all in one place. We think it might take some time getting used to though, especially with the big redesign.

Other features are more oriented towards privacy from the looks of it.

There’s Call Screening, which builds on their Live Voicemail, where the phone’s AI can now pick up details about the caller, giving the user more information to decide whether they want to accept or ignore the call.

There’s better security in Messages as well. You can now screen messages from unknown senders, with the phone even putting them into its own dedicated folder. It’s going to be up to the user whether they want to accept it into their regular inbox.

Oh, and Live Translation has been improved and further integrated into the Phone, Messages, and FaceTime apps, leading to more accurate translations on the fly. And yes, all of these are run entirely on your device for added privacy.

Enjoy the latest iPhones and Apple accessories here at Kimstore! Get big discounts when you order today!

AI-powered battery feature?

There’s also a new “adaptive power” mode added as part of iOS 26, which is aimed at helping you get more mileage out of your phone’s charge. Once triggered, the phone will make small adjustments depending on what you’re doing such as turning down screen brightness or even dialing back a bit of performance on apps.

It’s a little different from the already existing “low power mode”, which automatically kicks in when your iPhone reaches 20% battery, further restricting background activities.

Unfortunately, this feature is going to be even more restricted, requiring an iPhone 15 Pro or newer model in order to enjoy these battery benefits. Speaking of new device restrictions though:

Goodbye to the rest of the “X” iPhones

Unfortunately for those still using these devices, Apple’s added a new trio of phones that won’t be eligible for iOS 26. These are:

• iPhone XR

• iPhone XS

• iPhone XS Max

Besides that, there’s been nothing announced so far so as long as you have an iPhone from like the iPhone SE 2nd Gen onwards, you should be eligible for the software upgrade. Still, you can keep using your older phone; you just don’t get any security updates so you have to be more careful.

And you don’t even need to spend a lot to get an eligible phone either! We’re currently running a great sale on the iPhone 13 here; more than eligible for the update and cheaper than even the iPhone 16e. Check it out today!

For gadgets and electronics, get it at Kimstore!