Apple WWDC 2025 is currently underway at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, and several new features have been announced. Most of the announcements were similar to those being predicted by leaks and media reports. The highly awaited iOS 26 was finally unveiled, and the update aims at bringing a new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to its users. iOS 26 has introduced new features in CarPlay, Apple Music, Maps, and Wallet, as well as Apple Games.
Also read: Will WWDC 2025 Witness the Launch of iOS 26?
“iOS 26 shines with the gorgeous new design and meaningful improvements to the features users rely on every day, making iPhone even more helpful,” said Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering, Apple. “Experiences are more expressive and personal, from the Lock Screen and Home Screen, to new capabilities across Phone and Messages that help users focus on the connections that matter most. And with powerful new Apple Intelligence capabilities integrated across the system, users can get things done easier than ever.”
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Another important feature that was announced was the Liquid Glass, a translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings. The new design would be available across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26. “This is our broadest software design update ever. Meticulously crafted by rethinking the fundamental elements that make up our software, the new design features an entirely new material called Liquid Glass. It combines the optical qualities of glass with a fluidity only Apple can achieve, as it transforms depending on your content or context. It lays the foundation for new experiences in the future and, ultimately, it makes even the simplest of interactions more fun and magical,” said Alan Dye, vice president of Human Interface Design, Apple.
The newly introduced “Liquid Glass” material brings a translucent, glass-like appearance with adaptive functionality. Designed to respond to its surroundings, it adjusts its color based on nearby content and seamlessly shifts between light and dark environments. Developed through collaboration between design and engineering teams, Liquid Glass employs real-time rendering technology, dynamically reacting to movement with specular highlights for a lifelike visual effect.
In addition to these updates, Apple Intelligence has been enhanced and will bring the Live Translation feature Messages, FaceTime, and Phone to help users communicate across languages, translating text and audio on a realtime basis. Users can also ask ChatGPT questions about what they are looking at onscreen to learn more, as well as search Google, Etsy, or other supported apps to find similar images and products. Visual Intelligence will aid them with the answers.
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For Messages, iOS 26 offers enhancements to conversations, including custom backgrounds and the ability to create polls. Users will also be able to generate unique backgrounds that fit their conversation using Image Playground for Messages. All the new features will be available this year as a free software update for iPhone 11 and upwards. However, the Apple Intelligence features will be available for only the supported devices namely iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad and Mac models with M1 and later that have Apple Intelligence enabled.
