Liquid glass design, iOS 26 and major announcements at Apple’s WWDC 2025

At its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9, Apple lifted the veil on iOS 26, unveiling a refreshed design called 'Liquid Glass'.

As showcased at WWDC 2025, this translucent interface incorporates glass‑like surfaces on controls, navigation bars, app icons and widgets, creating a sense of depth as elements reflect and refract background imagery. 

On the lock screen, the clock dynamically adjusts its size to occupy available space within the chosen wallpaper, while a subtle parallax effect responds to device movement. Across the Home screen, users will discover expanded customisation options, enabling them to apply clear, floating icon styles and to reposition widgets with newfound precision.

Apple has also shifted its operating‑system naming to match the year of release rather than sequential version number such as iOS 19, watchOS 12, and macOS 16. Going forward, the platforms will be known as iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26, all due to arrive in late 2025.

Image: Apple

Apple Intelligence gets a boost

Apple's on‑device artificial intelligence receives a significant boost in iOS 26 under the banner of Apple Intelligence. Live Translation is now deeply integrated into the Phone, Messages and FaceTime apps, providing automatic real‑time conversion of speech and text in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Chinese. 

Image: Apple

Visual Intelligence extends the system's capabilities by allowing users to pose questions about on‑screen content drawing on a local large‑language model. The feature can identify products and suggest similar items on services such as Google or Etsy, and it will detect events in text or images, prompting users to add details automatically to their calendar. 

Additionally, developers gain access to Apple's Foundation Models framework, which supports the creation of bespoke AI‑powered shortcuts, writing tools and an Image Playground for generative emoji and Genmoji combinations.

Core apps reimagined

With the Liquid Glass design, the Phone app now merges favourites, recents and voicemail into a single unified view, utilising live voicemail transcription and a hold‑assist functionality that alerts users when a call is answered on the other end.

Image: Apple

Messages introduces a silent filtering of unknown senders, which are shuttled into a separate folder until manually reviewed. Group chats display typing indicators, and conversation threads can be enlivened with AI‑generated backgrounds and poll‑creation tools powered by Apple Intelligence. 

The Camera app's interface has been streamlined, while Photos divides its interface into discrete Library and Collections tabs. Safari gains a flowing page‑turn animation, and apps such as Music, News and Podcasts adopt a floating, minimising tab bar to place emphasis on content.

CarPlay and connectivity enhancements

In the automotive environment, iOS 26 brings a compact incoming‑call banner to CarPlay so that drivers may receive caller information without forgoing route guidance. Messages in CarPlay will support Tapbacks and pinned conversations, and HomeKit widgets and Live Activities can be displayed on the dashboard. 

Image: Apple

AirPods users will find new camera‑control gestures like a tap on the stem captures a photograph on the paired iPhone or iPad, and an anticipated update will allow for voice‑isolated, studio‑quality vocal recordings using AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation and AirPods Pro 2, according to Apple.

Gaming and entertainment

At WWDC 2025, Apple introduced the Games app, which consolidates every installed title into a single catalogue and integrates social features such as friends' activity feeds, challenge invitations and high‑score leaderboards. 

Image: Apple

Apple Music also gains AI‑driven features, including AutoMix, which blends tracks via time‑stretching and beat‑matching, as well as Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation tools for international audiences. 

On the Apple TV front, a machine‑learning powered vocal‑reduction mode can detach lead vocals from tracks for karaoke use, and a new feature enables users to overlay their own voice through an iPhone acting as a microphone, synchronised with on‑screen lyrics.

Tahoe for macOS and Vision Pro enhancements

Alongside iOS 26, Apple revealed its next macOS release, dubbed Tahoe. Echoing Liquid Glass, Tahoe offers a transparent menu bar, customisable folder colours and emoji annotations. Mac users can harness shortcuts and Spotlight to invoke on‑device AI actions or to launch iPhone apps directly. 

Image: Apple

For the Vision Pro, Apple introduced compatibility with Sony's VR2 Sense controllers, enabling game‑style interaction, and partnerships with Canon, GoPro and Insta360 for native playback of wide field‑of‑view videos. According to Apple, developers may now embed three‑dimensional objects in web pages that Vision Pro users can manipulate in their real‑world environments. 

Image: Apple

Compatibility and roll‑out

Apple has confirmed that iOS 26 will be offered as a free over‑the‑air update to iPhone 11 and later models. However, the advanced Apple Intelligence functions will be confined to the iPhone 16 range and iPhone 15 Pro line. The first developer beta is available immediately to registered participants, and a public beta will follow in July 2025 via the Apple Beta Software Programme. A final release is expected alongside new hardware in the autumn.