During its WWDC 2025 keynote held on June 9, Apple officially announced iOS 26, packed with a variety of features and improvements. But despite the slew of tweaks and additions, there are standout features that you’ll actually be excited to use.

7

Adaptive Power Mode

Low Power Mode has been part of iOS for quite some time, which helps make your iPhone battery last longer by reducing background activity. But on top of that, iOS 26 is finally adding a new option called Adaptive Power Mode.

With the mode enabled, it’ll come to the rescue whenever your usage is higher than usual to make necessary adjustments like lowering the screen’s brightness or slowing down some processes to ensure your battery lasts longer. And at 20% battery left, it can automatically enable Low Power Mode if necessary.

Apple first introduced Lock Screen customization in iOS 16. However, it came with very limited capabilities. At the time, you could only change the font and color of the clock and widgets. Even so, that was a massive improvement at the time for a company that was so allergic to giving its users ways to customize their devices.

But with iOS 26, Apple will let you customize the Lock Screen widgets further by allowing you to change their location. Finally, you can move the widgets to the bottom (close to the Camera and Flashlight buttons) or keep them at the top below the clock.

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You can also customize the clock widget in iOS 26 by dragging it down to make it larger, depending on your preference. Even more exciting is that the clock widget’s size is dynamic when you have a subject in your wallpaper. For instance, if you adjust the size of a subject in a cat wallpaper, iOS will automatically adjust the size of the clock widget for a perfect match.

5

Visited Places in Apple Maps

One of the most exciting new features in Apple Maps is Visited Places. With Visited Places, you can have your device detect and log where you’ve been. Later, you can view your visits in an organized manner by type (like dining, travel, and nature) and city. You can alternatively scroll through the whole list, which will display the most recent ones at the top. This is similar to the Timeline functionality found in Google Maps, but with Apple’s own spin on it.

Another handy feature is Routes, which learns the routes you take on your commute and will display them in Apple Maps. Using this data, your device can display your estimated arrival time and even automatically suggest alternative routes in case your preferred option is slow that day because of traffic or some other reason, or isn’t passable due to a closure.

4

Updated Photos App

There was an overhaul of the Photos app in iOS 18, and many of us were not fans of the design, which used a single-tab layout with the Library at the top with Collections at the bottom. Thankfully, Apple has listened to our woes and has made a big change to the Photos app in iOS 26 to improve usability.

The Photos app now has two tabs: one for the Library to view your photos, starting with the recent ones as always, and another tab for Collections. So, if you want to view an album or your memories, you open the Collections tab, and you’re good to go. The Collections tab even includes options to customize the size of the various cards, and you can reorder or collapse all the options to see only the titles.

3

Onscreen Visual Intelligence

Visual Intelligence has been available in iOS for a while in the form of Live Text and Visual Lookup. But now it gets even better by being ever-present across the system and in all the apps. When you see a sneaker on Instagram or something that captures your interest in a TikTok video, you can screenshot and perform an image search using Visual Intelligence to get more details about it.

By default, it uses Google’s image search. But, depending on the item, you can check it in some of your frequently used apps instead, like Pinterest or Etsy. Additionally, you can circle to search if you’re interested in a specific item in the screenshot and ask Visual Intelligence about it. Visual Intelligence is context-aware, too—if, for instance, the screenshot includes a concert poster, it will suggest adding it to your calendar. And yes, there’s even a button to ask ChatGPT about it.

2

Messages Enhancements for Group Chats

Messages has received one of its biggest updates to date for group chats. Apple has finally introduced a Polls feature that you’ll be able to use to collect everyone’s feedback in an instant to see what the majority wants. For instance, if you’re planning a meet-up and can’t decide on a date, send a poll and let everyone vote.

Translation is another nifty addition. With it, you’ll be able to set automatic message translation from a specific language to your system’s default language. Apple offers several languages to translate from, and you can also pick which language to translate to if you prefer something else than your system’s default.

If you’re into customization, you can customize backgrounds, which will apply to everyone in the group chat. You can either pick a photo from your photos, use Apple’s default options, or create something custom using the tools provided. Other additions to group chats include typing indicators and Apple Pay support so you can send or receive payments directly in the chat.

1

Call Screening

If telemarketers and robocalls often spam you, Apple is finally offering a solution to your woes in iOS 26 with Call Screening. When you receive a call from an unknown number, Call Screening will silently take the call in the background and ask the caller for their name and the reason for their call.

Once they share the details, your iPhone then rings and displays the caller’s response on the call screen. You can choose to reply to the response, take the call, or ignore it, depending on what the caller said. It’s a perfect way to deal with robocalls.

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iOS 26 is one of Apple’s biggest iPhone updates yet, introducing a refreshed design and meaningful new features. From Call Screening and Visited Places to polls in group chats, this update packs a lot to be excited about. Even existing features, like Visual Intelligence, have been upgraded in ways that make them far more useful.