WWDC 2025: iOS 26 & iPadOS 26 Unveiled with Major Design Overhauls and New Features

WWDC 2025 Keynote Highlights

• 🚀 The WWDC 2025 conference has concluded, with all sessions released on day one, shifting from previous years' staggered online releases.
• 💡 Hosts Micah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard discuss the major announcements, focusing on iOS 26 and iPadOS 26.

iOS 26: Design and Apple Intelligence

• ✨ A significant design overhaul, described as the biggest since iOS 7, introduces a "liquid glass" aesthetic with transparency, lighting effects, and enhanced animations.
• 🧠 Apple Intelligence features are integrated, including on-device live translation for Messages and FaceTime, and visual intelligence enhancements for screenshots and app intents.
• 📞 New communication features include Call Screening and Hold Assist, designed to manage incoming calls and reduce user anxiety.
• 🎶 Apple Music gains lyric translation, and a new DJ-like automix feature aims to provide seamless transitions between songs.
• 🎮 A new Apple Games app is introduced, recommending Arcade titles and featuring a "play together" option.
• 💬 Messages receives updates with the ability to screen unknown senders, built-in polls, Apple Cash requests, and customizable backgrounds.

iPadOS 26: Mac-like Features and Enhanced Multitasking

• 🖥️ iPadOS 26 brings Mac-like window management with close, maximize, and minimize buttons, significantly improving multitasking.
• 📁 Users can now set default applications for file types and customize folder appearances, akin to macOS.
• 📄 A Preview app is now available for iPad and iPhone, offering PDF and image editing capabilities.
• ⚡ Background Tasks allow computationally intensive processes to run in the background without interruption, enhancing productivity.
• 🎙️ New audio settings and the ability to perform local recordings of video and audio simultaneously are highlighted.

Shortcuts and Accessibility Updates

• ⚙️ Shortcuts on macOS will now support automations, allowing integration with focus modes.
• ✉️ New actions in Shortcuts enable finding messages and conversations by various criteria, including unread status and date ranges.
• 🤖 The "Use Model" action in Shortcuts allows integration with on-device, cloud, or ChatGPT models for tasks like generating recipes.
• 🧑‍🦯 Accessibility features are enhanced with an accessibility reader, Braille display interface, and updates to Live Listen and Personal Voice.

App Caps and Recommendations

• 🔎 Hidden Folks Plus is recommended as an interactive seek-and-find game available on Apple Arcade.
• ✈️ Aralo is suggested as a cost-effective app for purchasing international mobile data plans for travel.