Highlights
- iOS 26, macOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26 and visionOS 26 were introduced at the WWDC 2025 keynote.
- Apple unveils iOS 26 with Liquid Glass redesign, CarPlay updates, Games app and more.
- macOS Tahoe 26 has been introduced with a redesigned UI, updated Spotlight, Phone app and more.
- iPadOS 26 announced with new design, windowing system and Files upgrades.
Caption – Apple CEO Tim Cook during WWDC 2025. (Image Credits – Apple YouTube)
Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference has officially kicked off today with Apple’s keynote event, live from Apple Park. The Cupertino Giant, as expected, has unveiled some major new OS versions like iOS 26, macOS 26, iPadOS 26 and more.
WWDC 2025 Keynote
Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the WWDC keynote by talking about the F1 movie, an upcoming Apple TV production. Cook starts by dedicating WWDC to app developers while also reaffirming Apple’s commitment to their success.
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering, admits there is a delay in Siri development. “This work needed more time to reach out high quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year,” he said.
You can check out the entire opening keynote here –
Meanwhile, here’s everything we know after the just-concluded WWDC 2025 keynote live stream.
Foundation Models Framework
Apple has introduced a new version of its foundational large language models, optimised for both on-device and cloud-based processing with a strong emphasis on developer integration. For the first time, third-party app developers will gain access to these models, the same technology behind features like Writing Tools, Genmoji, and document summarisation.
This opens the door for developers to build and integrate their own AI-powered tools directly into their apps.
iOS 26 Redesign
Caption – Apple renames its different OS to correspond to the year. (Image credit – Apple)
Apple is shifting its operating system naming from version numbers to year-based names, starting with iOS 26 and watchOS 26. This change, announced by Craig Federighi at WWDC, accompanies the company’s biggest software redesign in years.
The nomenclature of the Apple OS will now reflect the year.
Apple’s Liquid Glass design
Apple introduces the “Liquid Glass” design on iOS.
Alan Dye, vice president Human Interface, announces a massive overhaul of Apple’s design language across every OS using “liquid glass” with the optical qualities of glass.
Caption – The first look at the Liquid Glass design. (Image credit – Apple)
It’s a sweeping overhaul of Apple’s design language across every operating system, built around a new “liquid glass” aesthetic. Inspired by the optical qualities of real glass, the interface brings a level of fluidity only Apple can deliver.
It refracts light, reacts to movement, and responds in real time to your content, making navigation clearer and creating dynamic, live experiences.
Dynamics Wallpapers
The time fluidly adapts to the available space with the timeface crafted to nestle into the scene. It also keeps the best part of the view as new information comes in. There’s also a gorgeous new way for artists to show off their artwork, says Apple’s Craig Federighi.
Car Play Updates
CarPlay has a compact design so you can still see what’s on the screen when you get a call. iOS 26 also gives you widgets and live activities such as a friend’s flight status, all designed in a way that keeps you focused on the road. All of these updates also come to CarPlay Ultra with a unified and consistent experience across all driver screens.
CarPlay Ultra also lets you choose the layout and design. “We’re so excited to work with different automakers, combining their look and feel with the power of the iPhone.”
Apple Revamps Phone App with Hold Assist
The Phone app, largely unchanged since 2007, gets a fresh, optional scrollable view in iOS 26 combining favourites, recent calls, and voicemails. Users can quickly identify important calls as callers share their name and reason before deciding to answer or ignore.
The new Hold Assist feature maintains your place on hold, as soon as it detects the ‘hold’ music, and lets you use your iPhone freely, making waiting smoother and more convenient.
New iMessage features under iOS 26
Apple Intelligence will now suggest polls on group chats in iMessage. You can also send and receive Apple Pay requests on iMessage, which finally gets typing indicators.
Apple also announces new screening tools for iMessage to filter out spam messages. ‘Unknown senders appear in a dedicated area until you decide on how you want to respond’
Apple Integrates ChatGPT
Apple has announced more refinements to Genmoji and Image Playground. Image Playground sends your descriptions to ChatGPT for a customised image generation while ensuring nothing is shared without your consent with ChatGPT. Meanwhile, Genmoji is now blending emojis with text inputs for enhanced customisation.
Live translation for iMessage, FaceTime and the Phone app
Live translation automatically translates text into other languages using AI. On Facetime, you can follow along with real-time live translate captions. On a phone call, the call is translated as you talk. As they respond, you can hear a spoken translation of their voice. This works even if you call someone who doesn’t have an iPhone.
Apple Music Gets Lyrics Translation and Automix
Apple Music now features lyrics translation and pronunciation to help users follow along in multiple languages. It also introduces Automix, which seamlessly blends songs together like a professional DJ for uninterrupted listening.
Apple Maps Gets New Updates
Your iPhone will now learn your preferred routes and suggest alternate route options. If you’ve wanted to return to a location, Apple is introducing Visited Places. You can view the Visited Places in the Apple Maps library that are protected by end-to-end encryption and can be deleted with a swipe.
Apple Introduced a New Games App
There is a dedicated tab for Apple Arcade. In the library tab, you can see all the games downloaded from App Store. The Play Together tab lets you compare scores with friends and compete with them using Challenges. For developers, single-player games can be turned into multiplayer games.
Visual Intelligence Update
Visual Intelligence is now extended to the iPhone screen so you can tap into the capabilities of apps across the App Store. It works automatically with any app. You can open a social media app and, for instance, find out where to buy a jacket by taking a screenshot with Visual Intelligence options appearing at the bottom.
Visual intelligence also lets you extract information from a screenshot. You can also tap the Ask button to ask ChatGPT questions about what appears on your screen. “Visual intelligence makes it easy to search across apps, take actions, and ask questions,” says Apple.
WatchOS Updates
Watch OS brings an AI-powered Workout Buddy that lets you identify meaningful insights in real-time. Combined with Apple Intelligence on your iPhone, the metrics are transformed into actionable insights such as an AI-voiced pep talk.
It will be available starting in English across few workout types. Workout app also gets a new layout with custom workouts just a tap away. There are also new media features built right into the app.
tvOS 26 Updates
- Updates to Apple Music Sing and enhancements to profile switching.
- Uses real-time rendering to refract surrounding colours into other UI elements.
- TV app uses Liquid Glass to feature new poster art.
- Home screen has updated icons with depth and specular highlights.
- New Aerial screensavers.
macOS Tahoe 26 – What’s New
Apple introduces macOS Tahoe 26 wit a completely redesigned UI and new features such as an overhauled Spotlight search, new Phone app and Live Activities, and updates to Apple Intelligence.
New features in macOS 26 include the –
- addition of the Phone app, available on the Mac for the first time.
- Seamlessly access recent calls, contacts and voicemails.
- Spotlight search results across files, folders, events, apps are combined into a single view.
- Users can run contextual commands based on their search results.
- Live Activities from iPhone to Mac.
- Live language translation in Messges and FaceTime.
- Shortcuts updated with Apple Intelligence
- Improvements to Genmoji and Image Playground as well.
- New Games app comes to the Mac
- New Messages features like customisable backgrounds and polls in group chats.
- The Journal app comes to Mac with macOS Tahoe.
visionOS 26 New Features
Here’s what’s new in visionOS 26:
- Spatial widgets, including Clock, Weather, Music, and Photos
- Brand new Widgets app for finding spatial widgets
- All-new Personas now have striking expressivity and sharpness, offering a full side profile view, and remarkably accurate hair, lashes, and complexion
- Spatial scenes powered by AI where users can lean in and look around, which upgrades the current experience for spatial photos and more
- New support for for 180-degree, 360-degree, and wide field-of-view content from Insta360, GoPro, and Canon
- Safari adds spatial browsing to “transform articles…hide distractions, and reveal spatial scenes that come alive as they scroll“
- PlayStation VR2 Sense controller is now supported by visionOS
- Logitech Muse is a new spatial accessory built for Apple Vision Pro
- Folders are available in the Home View
- Support for unlocking your iPhone while wearing Vision Pro
- Look to Scroll for hands-free content navigation
- Redesigned Control Center
- Answer iPhone phone calls inside visionOS
iPadOS 26 – New features
Powerful new features help users “work with, control, organize, and switch between app windows — all while maintaining the immediacy and simplicity that iPad users expect. The new windowing system lets users fluidly resize app windows, place them exactly where they want, and open even more windows at once.”
Updates
- Exposé shows users all their open windows at once
- Menu bar comes to iPad for the first time
- Files app gets updated List view
- Folders from Files app can be added to iPadOS dock
- Brand new Preview app for iPad
- Background Tasks enable apps to run more intensive processes
- Live Activities are used to show the progress of Background Tasks
- Long-awaited system audio upgrades where users can “choose different microphones for each app, as well as individual websites”
- Journal app comes to iPad for the first time
- Apple Games is a brand new cross-platform app
- Import and export Markdown in Apple Notes
- Reed pen is added to system tools palette
- Phone app comes to iPad
FAQS
Q1. What is the biggest change introduced in WWDC 2025?
Answer. Apple has shifted to year-based OS naming, launching iOS 26, macOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26 instead of version numbers.
Q2. What is the “Liquid Glass” design in iOS 26?
Answer. The Liquid Glass design enhances Apple’s UI with real-time light refraction, fluid movement, and dynamic responsiveness, creating a more immersive experience.
Q3. What updates has Apple made to CarPlay?
Answer. CarPlay Ultra introduces live widgets, flight tracking, and customizable layouts, offering a seamless, unified driving experience across screens.
Q4. What is Apple’s new Foundation Models Framework?
Answer. Apple has optimized on-device and cloud-based AI models, allowing third-party developers to integrate AI tools like Writing Tools, Genmoji, and document summarisation.
Q5. How has the Phone app been redesigned in iOS 26?
Answer. The Phone app now combines favourites, recent calls, and voicemails into a scrollable view while Hold Assist detects hold music, letting users use their phone freely.
Also Read: Tim Cook Confirms More Apple Stores Will Open in India in 2025
