Following three months of beta testing, iOS 26 was released today, September 15. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, and it is available to install via the Settings app, under General → Software Update.
Below, we have highlighted eight new features included in iOS 26. Even more new features and changes are outlined in Apple's release notes for the update.
Some of the features are only available on newer iPhone models.
Liquid Glass
iOS 26 introduces an all-new Liquid Glass design with translucent menus, buttons, and icons.
Apple describes Liquid Glass as "a new translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings, bringing greater focus to content, and delivering a new level of vitality across controls, navigation, app icons, widgets, and more."
Lock Screen Enhancements
On iOS 26, the Lock Screen's clock automatically adapts to fill the empty space, and you can view full-screen animated album art for supported Apple Music songs.
New iMessage Features
Here are some of the key new features and changes in the Messages app on iOS 26:
- Backgrounds: You can now add a background to any conversation, and all participants will see it. You can choose from Apple's selection of backgrounds, or you can set any of your own photos as a background. You can turn off conversation backgrounds in the Settings app if desired.
- Polls: You can now create polls in group chats, allowing people to vote on topics or questions, such as which restaurant to go to. Apple Intelligence can detect when a poll might come in handy and suggest one.
- Apple Cash in group chats: You can now send and receive Apple Cash in group chats.
- Typing indicators in group chats: You can now see who is typing in group chats.
- "Add Contact" button in group chats: This button makes it easier to add people to the Contacts app in group chats.
- "Select" option: When you tap and hold on a message bubble, a new "Select" option appears. Tapping on it allows you to select a portion of text in a message, whereas you could previously only copy an entire message.
- Unknown sender screening: When turned on, this setting automatically moves messages from unknown senders to the Unknown Senders folder, and hides notifications for them until you accept them.
Call Screening and Hold Assist
iOS 26 adds a couple of useful features to the Phone app: Call Screening and Hold Assist.
Call Screening is an opt-in setting that asks unknown callers for their name, and the reason why they are calling. And with Hold Assist, your iPhone can automatically wait on hold for you during a call, and notify you when the agent on the other line is ready.
Adaptive Power Mode
iOS 26 introduces an Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode.
Apple says Adaptive Power Mode can make "performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness, allowing some activities to "take longer," and automatically turning on Low Power Mode when the iPhone's remaining battery life reaches the 20% mark.
Adaptive Power Mode is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro models and newer. The setting can be turned on in the Settings app, under Battery → Power Mode.
AutoMix
A new AutoMix feature in the Apple Music app can seamlessly transition from one song to the next, like a DJ would. AutoMix replaces the previous Crossfade feature.
Preview App
iOS 26 extends a version of the Apple's Preview app from the Mac to the iPhone, providing you with a built-in app to edit and mark up PDFs and images.
CarPlay Upgrades
When you are using CarPlay with an iPhone running iOS 26, the new Liquid Glass design extends to the CarPlay interface. Like on the iPhone, the new look includes more shimmery app icons and translucent user interface elements.
Starting with iOS 26, you can respond to messages with standard Tapbacks like a heart, thumbs up, or exclamation marks directly through CarPlay.
You can now view your pinned conversations in the Messages app on CarPlay.
CarPlay has a new compact view for incoming phone calls, so that you can still see other information on the screen, such as turn-by-turn directions.
CarPlay's Dashboard screen can now show Live Activities, letting you keep track of things like a flight's arrival time at a glance.
The regular version of CarPlay now has a widgets screen, for things like calendar appointments and HomeKit accessory controls.
iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to detect when the vehicle is in motion and end playback.
Automakers need to add support for this feature, so it might be limited to newer vehicles and take some time to roll out.
More
Read our iOS 26 roundup linked below to learn more about the update.
