Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 26, officially released on September 15, ushers in one of the most significant upgrades in years. The update introduces some great visual redesigns, new intelligence features and practical usability enhancements.
After spending a few hours with iOS 26, here are my early impressions. What’s working, what needs some fine-tuning and what users should know!
Liquid Glass Design: A Bold Visual Shift
Perhaps the most immediately noticeable change in iOS 26 is the Liquid Glass design. Translucent, rounded elements now flood the User Interface with the widgets, icons, menus, notification banners, etc. all having a frosted glass effect that subtly ‘reflects’ your background underneath.
On first use, this design feels futuristic and polished. However, legibility can sometimes suffer in bright light or with busy wallpapers. Overall though, it looks great and has a refreshing feel to it!
Apple Intelligence
iOS 26 has clearly expanded Apple Intelligence tools in meaningful ways. Live Translation is integrated across Messages, FaceTime and Music with Visual Intelligence being a great update when taking screenshots and asking questions about the full screenshot or specific parts of it.
It seems to be taking a small hit on the battery but I think it’s a little too early to tell if this is an update problem or just simply me being really excited and using my phone more than usual!
Usability: Good and Bad
CarPlay was one of the most things I was excited about and it looks incredible! It’s easier to handle and gives a fully refreshing look to the dashboard.
With Messages, features like Polls, Custom Backgrounds and typing indicators when you’re in group chats offers some smarter filtering. However, I’m interested to see how the spam filtering and call-screening tools will work.
Some application interfaces feel more streamlined as photos and the camera benefit from cleaner menus and a more intuitive layout. Not sure yet if it’s something that users can get bored from with time but for now, it’s all very refreshing.
My Final Thoughts
Overall, iOS 26 doesn’t look like an incremental upgrade. It’s a reimagination of the iPhone experience. The strongest points are for design innovation, intelligent features and usability-focused refinements especially for those who have been iOS users for a longer time as it marks a change in aesthetic and interaction style.
That said, of course some tweaks are needed such as contrast and legibility in the Liquid Glass UI.
iOS is showing that Apple is pushing forward on design and intelligence together, which seems to be setting the stage for future devices and updates.