iOS 26 Unveils Liquid Glass Design and AI-Powered Features

Apple's WWDC 2025 introduced iOS 26, a major update that redefines the iPhone experience with a new design language called Liquid Glass and a unified version number across all Apple operating systems. This update is packed with AI-powered tools, usability enhancements, and smarter system controls that promise to make everyday interactions more intuitive and efficient.

Revolutionizing Usability with Customization and AI

One of the standout features is the ability to customize alarm snooze durations from 1 to 15 minutes, a seemingly small change that greatly enhances user control. AI integration extends into the Shortcuts app, where developers can select local or cloud-based AI models for tasks like summarization, enabling smarter automation. Safari now supports a new gesture to bookmark pages quickly, and the screenshot menu leverages visual intelligence to offer summarization or read-aloud options based on screen content.

The phone app sees improvements with filters for calls, voicemails, and spam, plus a revamped call interface featuring easy access to call assist, recording, and live translation. Focus modes can now be applied per SIM, enhancing personalized device management.

Smarter Battery Management and Performance Insights

iOS 26 introduces a redesigned battery menu that consolidates daily and weekly performance views, offering comparative indicators to track usage trends. It also provides detailed per-app consumption insights, highlighting apps running excessively in the background. A new adaptive power mode intelligently reduces brightness or slows apps during high battery usage periods, extending device longevity. Additionally, users can now see estimated charging times and override charging limits for specific sessions.

Enhanced Apps and Language Support

The Reminders app now automatically categorizes to-dos and suggests items when sharing content, such as extracting ingredients from a recipe. Messages allow partial text selection within conversations, improving communication precision. Apple Music users gain playlist folder organization and new song transition effects like crossfade and automix, plus fresh album animations on the Lock Screen.

Camera functionality is smarter too: iOS 26 nudges users to clean dirty lenses and offers new settings to show or hide indicators for flash, Live Photo, and video formats. A Camera Adjustments menu lets users fine-tune controls or disable them for a streamlined experience.

Language support is expanded with bilingual suggestions in 10 languages, native Arabic transliteration, and a 24-key Thai keyboard. The system intelligently recommends adding keyboards and content in secondary languages based on user activity, making multilingual communication seamless.

The Podcasts app now offers playback speeds from 0.5x to 3x and an enhanced dialog feature to boost voice clarity on a per-episode basis, enriching the listening experience.

With iOS 26, Apple continues to blend design elegance with AI-driven functionality, delivering a more personalized, efficient, and intelligent mobile experience. Whether it’s through smarter battery management, AI-powered shortcuts, or enhanced multilingual support, this update sets a new standard for what users expect from their devices.