iOS 26 Brings a New Liquid Glass, Sassy Look to iPhone

6 days ago 2

At WWDC 2025, Apple just announced iOS 26, a rebranded new version of the software powering the iPhone.

Apple has determined that the future of iPhone is brighter and more translucent with the announcement of the next version of iOS, with a new look called Liquid Glass that takes on visual characteristics of glass similar to the VisionOS interface on Vision Pro. And how do we know it's the future? Because the next iPhone system is now iOS 26, renamed to coincide with next year as part of a lineup-wide rebranding to bring symmetry to the system names, such as MacOS 26 and WatchOS 26.

After more than a decade of a flat, clean user interface -- a revamp introduced in iOS 7 when former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive took over the design of software as well as hardware -- the iPhone is getting a new look. The new design extends throughout the Apple product lineup, from iOS to WatchOS and even TVOS.

Translucency is the defining characteristic of Liquid Glass, behaving like glass in the real world in the way it deals with light and color of objects behind and near controls. But it's not just a glassy look: The "liquid" part of Liquid Glass refers to how controls can merge and adapt -- dynamically morphing, in Apple's words. The dock and widgets are now rounded, glassy panels that float above the background.

Camera and Photos apps go even more minimal

The Camera app is getting a new, simplified interface. You could argue that the current Camera app is pretty minimal, designed to make it quick to frame a shot and hit the big shutter button. But the moment you get into the periphery, it becomes a weird mix of hidden controls and unintuitive icons.

Now, the Camera app in iOS 26 features a "new more intuitive design" that take minimalism to the extreme. The streamlined design shows just two controls: Video or Camera. Swipe left or right to choose modes. Swipe up for settings such as aspect ratio and timers, and tap for additional preferences.

With the updated Photos app, viewing the pictures you capture should be a better experience -- a welcome change that customers have clamored for since iOS 18's cluttered attempt. Instead of a long, difficult-to-discover scrolling interface, Photos regains a Liquid Glass menu at the bottom of the screen.

The Phone app gets a revamp

The Phone app has kept more closely than others to the look of its source: a spare interface with large buttons as if you're holding an old-fashioned headset or pre-smartphone cellular phone. iOS 26 finally updates that look not just with the new overall interface but in a unified layout that takes advantage of the larger screen real estate on today's iPhone models.

It's not just looks that are different, though. The Phone app is trying to be more useful for dealing with actual calls -- the ones you want to take. The Call Screening feature automatically answers calls from unknown numbers, and your phone rings only when the caller shares their name and reason for calling.

Or what about all the time wasted on hold? Hold Assist automatically detects hold music, and can mute the music but keep the call connected. Once a live agent becomes available, the phone rings and lets the agent know you'll be available shortly.

Messages updates

The Messages app is probably one of the most-used apps on the iPhone, and for iOS 26 Apple is making it a more colorful experience. You can add backgrounds to the chat window, including dynamic backgrounds that show off the new Liquid Glass interface.

In addition to the new look, group texts in Messages can incorporate polls for everyone in the group to reply to -- no more scrolling back to find out which restaurant Brett suggested for lunch that you missed. Other members in the chat can also add their own items to a poll.

More useful is a feature to better detect spam texts and screen unknown numbers, so the messages you see in the app are the ones you want to see and not the ones that distract you.

Safari gets out of its own way

In the Safari app, the Liquid Glass design floats the tab bar above the web page (although that looks right where your thumb is going to be, so it will be interesting to see if you can move the bar to the top of the screen). As you scroll, the tab bar shrinks.

FaceTime focuses on calls, not controls

FaceTime also get the minimal look, with controls in the lower-right corner that disappear during the call to get out of the way. On the FaceTime landing page, posters of your contacts, including video clips of previous calls, are designed to make the app more appealing.

Last year, iOS 18 brought a number of ways to customize the iPhone experience. You can rearrange app icons on the home screen with less grid-imposed rigidity than before, finally change or remove the app buttons on the lock screen and customize Control Center to include whichever controls you want in an order that suits you.

iOS 18 also introduced iPhone Mirroring for controlling the phone when it's out of reach, a redesigned Photos app (that has gotten a mixed reception), the ability to hide apps for privacy and a new Passwords app that collects all of your logins and passkeys in one location.

If Apple hews to its usual timeline, the finished version of iOS 26 will be released in September or October with new iPhone 17 models. In the meantime, developers are expected to get access to the first developer betas starting today, with an initial public beta arriving within a few weeks. (Don't forget to go into any beta software with open eyes and clear expectations.)

Follow the WWDC 2025 live blog for details about Apple's announcements.

This is a developing story.

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