iOS 26 is now obtainable. This is learn how to set up it in your iPhone

After a summer season of beta updates, iOS 26 is right here. So long as you’ve got a compatible iPhone, you possibly can set up the brand new software program proper now. Head to Settings > Basic > Software program Replace, and prepare for a Liquid Glass makeover.

iOS 26 affords Apple’s biggest visual change to its software since iOS 7. (That was when Jony Ive’s flat design changed Scott Forstall’s skeuomorphic one.) This time round, the software program adopts a translucent materials theme: Liquid Glass. Though it is not a return to skeuomorphism, it does reincorporate a way of depth, simulating a pleasantly refractive glass. Count on colours and visible results that reply to their onscreen environment.

Apple has taken flak from business pundits for not dashing headfirst into AI. (Or, at the least it hasn’t with the identical manic frenzy as its competitors.) The corporate is taking a extra measured strategy, steadily incorporating it into its software program. This yr’s Apple Intelligence additions embrace stay translation in messages, FaceTime and Cellphone. Visible Intelligence additionally expands past the digicam and into screenshots. And your Genmoji and Picture Playground creations would possibly look much less… unusual than final yr’s variations.

Even Apple Music will get a brand new AI function. Its new automix generates transitions between songs, aiming for DJ-like progressions. I discover that it really works greatest with danceable genres like EDM or hip-hop. It often will not hassle attempting to combine much less beat-driven singer-songwriter-type stuff.

Arguably handier than new AI options is Apple’s revamp of its communication apps. Name screening permits you to collect information from callers earlier than deciding whether or not to choose up. Maintain Help saves you from having to take heed to the Muzak. And the Messages app provides new screening choices and filters. You can even add customized backgrounds and even conduct polls in your messaging threads. Lastly, the Cellphone app cleans up its interface, unifying its tabs right into a single checklist.

There’s rather more on faucet, in fact. For that, you possibly can take a look at Engadget’s iOS 26 preview.

It is not all in regards to the iPhone. Apple’s different software program updates are right here as we speak, too. iPadOS 26 provides the pill its most Mac-like productivity boost to date. watchOS 26 adds sleep scores and an AI coach. And macOS 26 Tahoe adds a Phone app and souped-up Spotlight search. All of these (together with visionOS 26 and tvOS 26, which nonetheless exist) undertake the brand new Liquid Glass aesthetic. You may obtain every by way of Settings > Basic > Software program Replace.