Apple announced iOS 26 during WWDC 2025 on June 9. iOS 26 has new features and changes and new features. Some features stand out and make you like really want them.
Adaptive Power Mode
Low Power Mode in iOS has existed for a while now. It helps your battery by reducing background stuff to last longer. Adaptive Power Mode is actually being added to iOS 26 now.
It saves you when using too much by dimming or slowing stuff. It starts Low Power Mode instantly when the battery is at 20 percent.
Lock Screen Widget Customization
In iOS 16, Apple first let users change the Lock Screen. It did, however, only do a few things. At that time, all you could do was change the text and color of the clock and tools. A company that had never liked changes before made a big move.
You can move widgets and change how they look with iOS 26. Now, tools can stay at the top or move down near the buttons.
Move the clock app around to change how big or small it looks. It’s even cooler that the clock app changes size when your background has a picture. As an example, iOS will change the size of a cat in a wallpaper if you do that. The clock app will also be shrunk to fit exactly.
Read Also: 7 Ways to Boost Your WiFi Signal 2025
Visited Places In Apple Maps
Viewed Places is one of the coolest new tools in Apple Maps. Visited Places lets you track and tell where you have been. You see trips listed by type like travel food or nature after time. Scroll the list to see newest items always stacked at the top. Apple has given the Timeline feature in Google Maps its own twist, making it feel more like their native version.
Paths learns your commute routes. It shows these routes in Apple Maps. It then estimates arrival times and suggests alternative routes if needed.
Updated Photos App
In iOS 18, the Photos app got a new look, and a lot of us didn’t like it. It now has a single-tab style with Collections at the bottom and Library at the top. Apple has heard our complaints and made a big change to the Photos app in iOS 26 to make it smoother to use.
The pictures app now has two tabs: Library and Collections. Library shows your most recent photos. Collections shows your albums. You can change the card size in Collections. You can also show only names or rearrange the cards.
Onscreen Visual Intelligence
One cool thing about iOS that has been around for a while is Visual Lookup and Live Text. Now that it’s always on the system and in all the apps, it’s even better. Have you seen something cool on Instagram or TikTok? Take a shot. Visual Intelligence can be used to search for pictures to find out more.
By default, Google’s image search is used. Check it later in an app you use a lot if it’s not important. You can also circle something in the picture to look at it and ask Visual Intelligence about it. Visual Intelligence can tell what things are in pictures. It tells you to add a music ticket to your calendar if it sees one.
Messages Enhancements For Group Chats
Apple Messages now has polls for group chats. This lets you quickly gather opinions. For example, use a poll to decide on a meeting date.
The translation feature is also very useful. This tool lets you translate messages automatically into the system’s main language. Apple offers several languages for translation. You can also choose a different language if you don’t like the system default.
For those who like to change things, you can change the images for everyone in the group chat. You can pick a picture from your photos, use Apple’s ready-made options, or create your own. You can use markers to type. Also, Apple Pay is now in group chats. This means you can send and receive money right in the chat.
Call Screening
Call Screening is a new feature in iOS 26 from Apple. That will help you stop getting spam calls and telemarketers. Call Screening will take a call from an unknown number in the background. And it asks the caller for their name and reason for calling. That’s all it does.
Your iPhone shows caller answers and rings right after info is shared. You respond or ignore based on what the caller actually said. I think it is kind of a cool way to avoid robocalls.
Conclusion
iOS 26 has many cool new features that make your iPhone better, more unique, and simpler to use. Apple announced this update at WWDC 2025. It builds on previous versions and adds new features that users have been asking for. Some of the changes made to iOS 26 are useful in real life, not just nice-to-haves.
There are, for instance, better ways to save battery life and give you more space on your lock screen. Yes, this update has something for everyone. You can change your home screen’s look, use Maps to track trips, or quickly find info in pictures.
