The exposure tsunami of iOS 26 hit. This system changes are not just a normal skin change, but a full-scale explosion of vision, performance and intelligence, which makes people shine.
First of all, the visual interface has completed a major reshuffle, and Apple introduced a new design language called "Liquid Glass". The entire system seems to be placed under a layer of light glass, with blurry, transparent and glassy texture appearing on the interface. The new control center, toolbar, slider, etc. have a crystal-like light texture. The touch when pressed and slided is carefully optimized. With a small tactile feedback, the illusion of operating on real glass when sliding the volume or brightness bar. This time the interface design is inspired by visionOS, and iOS, iPadOS, macOS, CarPlay and even watchOS will all move towards similar styles.
Icons, menus and internal UIs of the application are all fully updated: the outline of the home screen icon is more rounded, the toolbar is more floating, and the interface of the core system apps such as camera, music, and Safari has also been reorganized. The shooting/video mode switching of the Camera application is more intuitive, and the Safari address bar is more transparent. The entire system has become clean, fresh and modern.
In addition to UI, iOS 26's multitasking capabilities have been upgraded. With the help of hardware performance improvement and design adjustments, the iPhone will provide a true dual-app parallel display, where users can drag and drop content from two apps on the same screen, similar to a split-screen experience of tablets. Picture-in-picture also supports multiple floating windows superposition, making it more natural to work or watch dramas at the same time. In addition, the new "task center" can quickly manage floating small windows and split-screen settings, and the work efficiency has been significantly improved.
AI trend continues to advance. iOS 26 will deeply integrate the Apple Intelligence framework to transform Siri into structural innovation. While the truly powerful Siri GPT may not be ready in the near term, the system will support complex multi-round conversations and cross-app instructions. Users can complete the email search + generate reply + send operation in one sentence. In addition, Messages has added voting functions and smart summary. The Photo App will automatically recognize the protagonist and location and generate theme albums. It can even recommend filters in real time, making it more story-oriented when looking back at the album every day.
AirPods also has AI black technology, adding real-time translation function, you can understand foreign language conversations on your headset, and cooperate with the synchronously updated translation app. When playing music, the lock screen interface will display the dynamic album cover, using visual effects to match the music atmosphere. System-level battery optimization has also introduced an AI engine, which can intelligently sense users' usage habits to adjust the background refresh and refresh frequency, especially adapt to ultra-light models such as the rumored iPhone 17 Air, making the battery life experience more relaxed.
In terms of privacy, iOS 26 strengthens monitoring permission control. The system has added a "Real-time Permission Monitoring" function, so that users can view which app is calling the microphone, camera or location with one click, and can immediately revoke the authorization. Ad tracking SDK is isolated to improve security. The new permission panel will mark what sensitive data the app will access when installing the app, and provide temporary authorization, and will automatically be reclaimed after it is outdated.
Health tools also usher in the "AI Health Coach". It analyzes sensor data from Apple Watch and iPhone, combines expression and intonation changes to generate emotional trend charts, gives more personalized exercise and dietary advice, and can even conduct stress monitoring.
More seamless: iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro can be seamlessly connected. You can drag and drop documents you are working on on your iPhone to your Mac, or cast Vision Pro interface to your iPad, and use gestures and voice to mix controls to make the workflow smoother.
From the compatibility point of view, iOS 26 supports iPhone 11 and later models, but iPhone XS/XR (A12 Bionic) may be squeezed out of the support ranks. Developer Beta will be released after WWDC and is expected to start public beta in July and will be launched simultaneously with the official version of iPhone 17 in mid-September.
Last in general, iOS 26 is a "content reshaping upgrade": it is not just a visual innovation, but a systematic evolution in UI, interaction, AI, privacy, security, health and collaboration. Both life and work scenarios have become more efficient, smarter and more friendly. With the official announcement of WWDC, we will witness how Apple implements these creativity, refreshes the system experience standards again, and makes the Apple ecosystem more closely integrated.
