Welcome back! 🍎
Here’s the latest with Apple.

• Everything announced at WWDC 2025

• What’s going on with Apple Intelligence?

• & more!

📊 Poll

Last week, we asked: Are you more excited for a redesign or new features? Why?

Here were my favorite replies:

This week: Are you a fan of the iOS 26 redesign? Why or why not?

🗞️ The Latest

⚙️ Apple’s Big Shift

Apple unveiled all of their new software updates at WWDC ‘25 and just as rumored, the numbering scheme has been changed across the board to match the year. So now, every OS ends with “26” for the year 2026. The new Liquid Glass redesign was also rolled out across every OS.

Here’s a rundown of the standout features from each update, what apps got “sherlocked,” and some thoughts.

iOS 26

• iOS 26 brings the biggest visual overhaul since iOS 7. Icons and UI elements now feature a sleek, glass-like finish making them feel more modern than iOS 18. Also, tilting your phone causes light to refract off the app icons, creating a subtle shimmer effect.

• The Messages app gets polls, chat backgrounds, typing indicators in group chats, a new section for unknown senders so it doesn’t clog up your actual messages, a “select" option to copy certain text from messages, and more.

• The Phone app gets a redesign and includes major new features such as Call Screening, where an unknown caller needs to state why they’re calling before it rings on your end. Along with that, it includes Hold Assist, Live Translation, and being able to mark voicemails as spam.

• Music gets a new AutoMix feature for better transitions, full-screen animated album art on the Lock Screen, an option to pin music, folders for playlists, and more.

• Screenshots have been revamped with a new look and, for Apple Intelligence-compatible devices, features Visual Intelligence. This allows you to take a screenshot and search Google for similar images, or ask ChatGPT for more details. It’s basically an improved version of Android’s Circle to Search feature.

• The Battery screen in settings has a new look, there’s a new Adaptive power mode, and Battery Intelligence will show you how long it’ll take until your battery finishes charging on the Lock Screen.

• Camera gets its first major redesign in years, with a much simpler UI, a new notification if the camera lens is dirty, camera control adjustments, and more.

• Here’s my detailed video covering everything new in iOS 26 (so far).

iPadOS 26

• This was the biggest update to the iPad…maybe ever! And that’s because iPadOS is finally more like macOS.

• There’s a new Windowing system for multitasking that is far more flexible than Stage Manager and adds a new flick gesture, app expose, and works with external displays.

• There are new macOS-like window control buttons (Close, Minimize, Full-Screen), along with a Menu Bar up top that has the same File, Edit, View, and History tabs that we’re used to on the Mac.

• Files finally gets closer to a real file management system with resizable columns, collapsible folders, customizable folders, and the ability to change the app that certain file types open in by default.

• You can now run intensive tasks, like video exports, in the background.

• Here’s a video covering everything new in iPadOS 26 (so far).

macOS Tahoe 26

• macOS 26 gets the Liquid Glass treatment, along with a transparent menu bar, a new Brightness & Volume HUD (finally), a redesigned Control Center, and even a new cursor!

• Spotlight search has been supercharged with a clipboard manager, the ability to run app/system actions, and a spotlight search that actually shows you the files you’re looking for.

• There are four new apps: Phone, Journal, Games, and Magnifier. Along with a revamped Preview app and Automations added to Shortcuts.

• Continuity with the iPhone is also improved with Live Activities support. The app will open on iPhone when you click the live activity on Mac.

• Here’s a video covering everything new in macOS 26 Tahoe (so far).

watchOS 26 & Others

• watchOS 26 gets a new wrist flick gesture to dismiss notifications, the Notes app, an AI-powered Workout Buddy, automatic volume adjustment based on your ambient noise, and the new Liquid Glass design. Minor update!

• tvOS 26 was even more minor than watchOS. Aside from design changes, it gets the ability to select a profile on wake, gets Apple Music Sing with the iPhone mic, you can set a permanent AirPlay speaker, and you can link login information to your Apple Account.

• visionOS 26 was a big update. Personas got their most significant upgrade yet, to the point where it actually looks like a real person on a call with you. Spatial Scenes are incredibly cool, you can finally join another Vision Pro user (in the same room) for spatial experiences, there’s spatial browsing in Safari, and much more.

Sherlocked Apps

Every year, Apple unveils new features that mimic the functionality of popular third-party apps. This is referred to as “sherlocking,” and here are the latest victims.

• Truecaller and Robokiller: iOS 26 comes with a new call screening feature that forces an unknown caller to state why they’re calling before it rings on your end. This is even better than third-party screening apps.

• Notes apps for Apple Watch: watchOS 26 brings the Notes app to Apple Watch.

• Package tracking apps: Apple Wallet adds a new Apple Intelligence-powered feature that automatically identifies and adds tracking details from emails sent from merchants and delivery carriers.

• Bartender and Ice: macOS Tahoe allows you to control which third-party apps are allowed to be displayed in the menu bar.

• Riverside: The new Local Capture feature in iPadOS 26 allows users to record video & audio locally while on a call, so they can share recordings with others for podcast creation.

• Flighty: Apple finally adds live activities to flight tracking with iOS 26, along with airport navigation and gate information in Maps. Flighty is still much more powerful though, so it will likely benefit from Apple’s addition.

• Raycast and Alfred: macOS 26 adds actions to Spotlight, allowing you to run system commands and set custom keyboard shortcuts straight from Spotlight. The two alternatives are also more powerful than Apple’s, so they’ll likely benefit.

• PastePal and Clipboard managers: macOS Tahoe also adds clipboard history to spotlight.

• Alex for Xcode: Xcode 26 adds ChatGPT as the default assistant and allows developers to integrate other AI models using API keys.

My take: Wow, this WWDC was one of the best in recent memory. No AI promises, no filler, just pure software features like it should be.

I love the new Liquid Glass design. It might be my favorite design language yet from Apple. The UI elements, the animations, and the hidden Home Bar in applications. Chefs kiss. It just feels more modern compared to iOS 18. I haven’t felt that way since iOS 14.

Aside from the design, iOS 26 isn’t as feature-packed as iOS 18, as expected. But I do think the Messages and Phone features are going to be a huge hit for average consumers. Not being forced to pick up a spam call until they explain why they’re calling is huge, as is live translation, and hold assist.

Aside from that, I’ve been loving Visual Intelligence with screenshots, AutoMix in Apple Music is insanely good (when it works), the CarPlay additions are great, and I can’t wait to try out the new boarding pass features.

For watchOS 26, I’ve been enjoying the Notes app more than anything. Being able to quickly create a note by lifting your wrist and talking to Siri is so clutch!

But I think iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and visionOS 26 were the biggest winners from WWDC.

After years of hearing the same rumor over and over again, the iPad is finally more macOS-like! The new Windowing feature is excellent, coming from someone who disliked Stage Manager with a passion. Oh, and the new Windowing mode is even available on the base $300 iPad. Awesome!

I can’t believe it. Spotlight search on Mac actually shows me the result for the file I was looking for. It’s a miracle!

Aside from that huge change, I’ve been loving the clipboard manager feature, and even though it only holds the last 8 hours of clips, I rarely ever need to go back that far anyway. I’ll be ditching my third-party solution now.

Also, the Liquid Glass design shines extra bright on macOS, especially in dark mode. I think I like it on Mac better than anywhere else.

And the Vision Pro got a massive update that has gone overlooked by many, for obvious reasons.

Overall, I was impressed with WWDC 2025 and I love how Apple didn’t make any new Apple Intelligence promises that they couldn’t keep.

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📲 What’s up with Apple Intelligence?

There was a stark contrast between this year’s WWDC and last year’s: Apple Intelligence dominated the conversation in 2024, while it was barely mentioned this time around. Let’s discuss.

• There were some additions to Apple Intelligence, such as Visual Intelligence with screenshots, ChatGPT in Image Playground, Workout Buddy on watchOS 26, Live Translation, and contextually-aware Spotlight on macOS 26.

• But developers got one of the biggest AI features this time around: access to Apple’s Foundation Models.

• Apple is now giving developers access to its AI models through the new Foundation Models framework.

• This lets developers integrate more advanced AI features into their apps while leveraging Apple’s on-device systems with “as few as three lines of code.”

Upgraded Siri Gets New Hope

One thing missing, though, was any mention of Siri. And now we know why.

• Apple’s Siri revamp is now expected in iOS 26.4 next spring.

• This new Siri will understand personal context, have precise control over actions inside applications, and more.

• If they stick to this timeframe, Apple will have gone nearly two years between announcing the new Siri and shipping it.

• Apple execs opened up about why the upgraded Siri was delayed and their plan for the eventual rollout. You can see what they have to say in this interview with Joanna Stern.

• One interesting thing they mention is that the Siri features were real and working, but were delayed due to reliability. So, no, the features were not vaporware, they were actually developed and real at WWDC ‘24.

My take: It seems that Apple has learned a big lesson after the failed Apple Intelligence rollout. They are no longer announcing, nor mentioning, new AI features well in advance of launch.

It’s refreshing to see Apple execs being honest about the rollout and not making excuses. They just want it to be the best and they’re willing to take the heat in the short term if that means they get the praise in the long term.

As for the revamped Siri delay, this is the timeframe we predicted a few months back: Spring 2026. Let’s hope these features deliver and that Apple continues to make progress on ‘LLM Siri’ aka the more ChatGPT-like version of Siri.

And then for the developer features announced at WWDC ‘25: I think these are huge and will open up a lot of opportunities for apps to be more intelligent and cost less (as this will be free, as opposed to paying for API calls).

📰 Quick Bites

• Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

• Apple Releases Exclusive Haptic Trailer for 'F1' Movie

• WWDC 2025 Proved That Apple Learned a Valuable Lesson

• 'AirPods Pro 3' Referenced in iOS 26 Code

• Apple Says These 13 Vehicle Brands Will Soon Offer iPhone Car Keys

• Steve Jobs' Iconic Speech at Stanford Now Available in Higher Quality

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