All You Need to Know About iOS 26 and Its Liquid Glass Technology
June 10, 2025
At WWDC 2025, Apple did what it does best: surprise, refine, and elevate. Among the most anticipated announcements was iOS 26—a powerful, intelligent, and visually refined operating system that pushes the boundaries of what an iPhone can do in your hands. This year, it’s not just about new features. It’s about a new philosophy, a smarter system, and a more cohesive digital experience built around on-device AI, privacy, and personalization.
Let’s dive into everything that’s officially confirmed and factually unveiled by Apple about iOS 26, and explore how it’s designed to change the way we interact with our devices—while keeping creativity and truth at the core.
Goodbye Numbers, Hello Calendar Clarity: The Naming Shift to iOS 26
Apple has made a subtle but meaningful change: iOS is now named by year.
No more mental math tracking iOS 17, 18, 19… Instead, Apple has synced the software versioning with the calendar, aligning iOS 26 with 2025. This marks a strategic shift not just in labeling but in branding—placing iOS on the same logical plane as macOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 12, and visionOS 2. For developers and users alike, it’s simpler, more consistent, and frankly, overdue.
This change hints at something deeper: Apple is now thinking of all its platforms as a unified ecosystem—more than ever before.
Liquid Glass: A New Visual Language That Breathes
If there’s one thing Apple has always done exceptionally well, it’s design. With iOS 26, Apple unveils a breathtaking new visual aesthetic: Liquid Glass.
Liquid Glass is not just a style. It’s a philosophy of how elements move, interact, and respond. Instead of sharp borders and stark layers, iOS 26 embraces depth, translucency, and fluid motion. Panels shimmer with lifelike reflections. Menus glide with a softness that feels organic. Shadows are deeper, gradients are more immersive, and animations are subtle yet meaningful.
It’s an evolution that feels alive. And while some users might not immediately notice every refinement, the overall experience feels undeniably smoother, more immersive, and more modern.
Unified Across Devices
Apple hasn’t confined Liquid Glass to iOS. It stretches across the ecosystem, bringing a consistent visual and interaction model to iPadOS, macOS, and even watchOS. The experience is beautifully cohesive, especially for users juggling multiple Apple devices.
Apple Intelligence: Privacy-First AI, Finally Here
After years of speculation and cautious moves, Apple has fully embraced generative AI—but with a twist that only Apple could pull off: on-device intelligence.
What Is Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence is Apple’s integrated AI framework, now embedded into iOS 26. But unlike other tech giants relying on cloud processing, Apple prioritizes on-device AI where possible. This ensures user data stays private, is never stored or analyzed externally, and responds instantly.
The core capabilities of Apple Intelligence in iOS 26 include:
- Text summarization in Mail, Safari, and Notes
- Context-aware suggestions across apps
- Systemwide rewriting tools to adjust tone (professional, casual, etc.)
- Message prioritization based on urgency
- Focus-enhanced notifications, showing what’s most important based on context
Apple Intelligence transforms your iPhone from a passive tool into an active digital assistant that works behind the scenes—without sending your information to the cloud.
Mail, Safari, and Messages: Subtle AI, Big Productivity
Mail: Smart Summaries
No more scrolling through paragraphs to get the gist of an email. iOS 26 introduces Mail Summaries, using Apple Intelligence to extract the main points of lengthy emails and present them in a concise, readable format—right above the message. It’s fast, reliable, and private.
This is particularly helpful for professionals, students, or anyone dealing with information overload.
Safari: Highlights Without the Noise
Safari now identifies key information on webpages—whether it’s a recipe’s steps, the main ideas in a news article, or a product’s technical specs—and surfaces it in a summarized view. This highlighting feature is driven by Apple Intelligence, helping users extract useful content without distraction.
Messages: Context-Aware Replies
While not drastically redesigned, Messages in iOS 26 benefits from context-aware suggestions. For instance, when someone texts you about scheduling a meeting, your iPhone may prompt a time suggestion based on your calendar availability. Again, all of this happens on-device.
Messages also integrates more deeply with Mail and Calendar, allowing smarter planning across your digital life.
Apple Maps: Personalization and Memory
Apple Maps in iOS 26 continues its steady improvement with a Visited Places feature that creates a timeline of the locations you’ve been to, alongside photos and metadata. It’s like a memory log—but only visible to you.
This may appeal especially to travelers, joggers, or those who want a digital travel diary without using third-party apps. Again, Apple’s focus is on personalization without privacy invasion.
Security and Privacy: Still Apple’s North Star
Despite the glitz of generative AI and visual overhauls, Apple made sure that privacy wasn’t compromised in the process. Every major iOS 26 feature reaffirms this commitment.
On-Device Processing
- Summaries, suggestions, and generative AI responses are processed locally on your iPhone when possible.
- For tasks requiring more power, Apple offloads to Private Cloud Compute—Apple’s secure cloud servers that process data without storing it.
App Transparency
iOS 26 introduces a Privacy Dashboard that logs how often apps access sensitive resources like location, camera, or microphone. This lets you monitor app behavior and maintain control.
Apple also continues expanding passkey support, encouraging apps and services to move away from traditional passwords entirely. With biometrics and device-based authentication, your credentials are safer than ever.
Compatibility: Who Gets iOS 26?
Apple maintains strong backward compatibility, and iOS 26 is no exception.
As of the official release notes, iOS 26 will support:
- iPhone 15 series
- iPhone 14 series
- iPhone 13 series
- iPhone 12 series (limited AI features)
- iPhone SE (3rd generation and newer)
While older devices will get the core UI and system updates, some AI features may be limited due to hardware constraints (e.g., lacking the latest neural engines).
This is Apple’s way of nudging users toward newer hardware, without locking out the basics.
A Smarter Future, On Your Terms
With iOS 26, Apple has subtly but significantly redefined the modern smartphone experience. It’s not about flashy features or gimmicks. It’s about an operating system that understands you, adapts to your needs, and respects your privacy.
The fusion of Liquid Glass and Apple Intelligence creates a mobile environment that feels more personal, more human, and more powerful. It’s not artificial intelligence for show—it’s real, contextual intelligence built for real life.
Final Thoughts
For the first time in years, iOS feels both new and necessary. It’s a bold response to the AI wave sweeping the tech industry—but done Apple’s way: beautifully designed, privacy-focused, and seamlessly integrated.
iOS 26 is not just about what your iPhone can do. It’s about what it can understand. And for the millions of users who rely on their iPhones to communicate, navigate, work, and play—it’s the beginning of a smarter chapter, written in your language and processed on your device.