The 7 coolest new features coming to your iPhone in iOS 26

• Apple released the new version of the iPhone's software on Monday: iOS 26.
• It's the iPhone's biggest software redesign since iOS 7, where Apple moved from "skeuomorphic" design to a "flatter" look.
• Here's a look at some of our favorite iOS 26 features, which are expected to debut later this year.

Apple's biggest software redesign in over a decade is officially out.

The new iPhone software, iOS 26, launched Monday. It includes several standout features across its suite of products and services. The update will be preloaded onto the freshly launched iPhone 17 and iPhone Air, which are available for preorder as of Friday. Older models can also be updated to the new iOS.

Apple first introduced iOS 26 at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, where it demonstrated several of the features that are available as of Monday. It comes with a new look that Apple called the "broadest design update ever" during the WWDC keynote.

We rounded up the new iOS 26 features we found to be the coolest or most useful.

Let's dive in.

The new look: Liquid Glass

While it's not exclusive to the iPhone, Liquid Glass was the main feature touted at WWDC 2025.

It's Apple's new design language for its software and the company's first major software redesign for the iPhone since iOS 7. It extends across Apple's other devices too: It's available in software updates for Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

With a translucent, glass-like aesthetic, the Liquid Glass design adapts in different environments based on content and context and is coming to everything from switches and sliders to the iPhone's home screen and control center.

More Visual Intelligence features

If you have an iPhone that's powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence, there are some new Visual Intelligence features that can tell what's on your screen to help you take various actions.

If you're scrolling on social media, for example, and you find a product you like, you can press the same buttons you'd press to take a screenshot. Then, a new option will offer Visual Intelligence capabilities, including searching sites like Google and Etsy for the product to buy. (Android users familiar with Google's Lens AI tool have enjoyed a similar feature for a bit now.)

You can also ask ChatGPT about what you see on your screen, or if you come across an event, you can add it to your calendar, prepopulated with the date, time, and location.

Big improvements to your group chats

Messages also get an upgrade in iOS 26. Typing indicators — the bubble with three dots that lets you know when someone is typing — are coming to group chats; these were previously only available in one-to-one messages between two people.

And look out, Venmo: You can also start requesting, sending, and receiving Apple Cash in group chats.

In addition, you'll soon be able to create polls and set backgrounds for chats, whether you choose from a preset offering or use AI to create a custom one in Apple's AI image generator, Image Playground.

In messages, you can start making Frankenmoji (not an Apple term, that's just ours) to combine multiple emoji or Genmoji, and even a text description of anything else you want to add, to create a unique one.

Help dealing with pesky phone calls

The Phone app looks a lot different in iOS 26. Instead of the call log, voicemails, and favorites being under separate tabs, they're combined to show who's calling, what they're saying, and who you might want to call.

There's also the Call Screening feature, which essentially answers unknown calls for you to determine whether they're spam. If the transcript looks legit, you can answer the call yourself.

Hold Assist, another new feature, can detect hold music on customer service calls and keep your spot in line until an agent is available to help, so you don't have to sit there waiting for them.

New travel tools

Your Apple Maps app is getting smarter. As you move about, Maps will learn your routine and suggest better routes each day. It will know your preferred route and adapt to changes to your daily commute.

With the new Visited Places feature, you don't have to rack your brain for that restaurant you went to but can't remember the name of. Your iPhone will detect where you are and store it in case you need to come back to it later.

For air travel, boarding passes are getting a new look, and there are directions to find your gate in the airport.

New features also help you get through TSA with fewer physical documents in your hand. In nine participating states, you can store your ID in your Apple Wallet.

"Digital ID can be used for domestic travel at supported TSA checkpoints, in apps, and in person where age and identity verification are required," Apple says.

Translations in real time

Texting, calling, and FaceTiming across language barriers are about to get easier. Thanks to Apple Intelligence, iOS 26 includes live translation for Messages and one-on-one calls via Phone or FaceTime.

Live translation on Messages is available for English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and simplified Chinese.

On Phone and FaceTime, live translation is only available for English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Later this year, the company plans to add support for simplified Chinese, traditional Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and Korean.

Live translation will also be available via AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation and AirPods Pro 2 and later.

The new Apple Games app

Apple is introducing a new Games app, which allows users to play with friends and find new game recommendations.

The personalized hub allows users to see all the games they've downloaded across iPhone and iPad in one location. It also centralizes all friends and groups from Game Center — Apple's social gaming network — in one place.

Users can also connect to and navigate the Games app via a compatible game controller.