At WWDC 2025, Apple announced a range of new features coming to iOS 26 this fall. Updates span multiple apps, introducing improvements like Call Screening, enhanced Wallet functions for travel, and new group chat tools in Messages.
Phone
- Call Screening: Automatically answers unknown calls silently, asking the caller to state their name and reason before ringing your phone.
- Hold Assist: Detects hold music and remains on the line until a live agent is available.
- Live Translation: Translates conversations in real time during calls, delivering spoken translations for both sides.
Messages
- Group chats can now create polls, with Apple Intelligence suggesting polls when relevant.
- New options include custom group chat backgrounds, typing indicators, and Apple Cash transactions within groups.
- Messages from unknown senders appear in a separate folder and remain silenced until accepted.
- Live Translation automatically translates text messages as users type and as replies arrive.
Apple Music
- Lyrics Translation: Displays song lyrics in other languages with phonetic pronunciations.
- AudioMix: Enables seamless song transitions using time stretching and beat matching, similar to Spotify’s AI DJ.
- Karaoke Feature: Turns the iPhone into a microphone for Apple TV, showing real-time lyrics and visuals.
- Users can pin favorite songs to the top of their Library for quick access.
Apple Maps
- Utilizes on-device intelligence to suggest preferred routes during daily commutes and provide delay alerts with alternatives.
- The new Visited Places feature tracks restaurants and shops you visit, with data protected by end-to-end encryption.
Apple Wallet
- Introduces Digital ID to store a digital passport version for age and identity verification, usable at supported TSA checkpoints.
- Allows presenting driver’s licenses or state IDs to selected websites and state agencies for verification.
- Boarding passes now include Live Activities for real-time flight updates that can be shared with others.
- Users can access Maps from boarding passes, track lost baggage via Find My, and view airline services like seat upgrades through Wallet.
- Apple Intelligence automatically summarizes order tracking details from related emails.
FaceTime
- Supports Live Translation with real-time translated captions to facilitate conversations in different languages.
Photos
- Returns to a tabbed interface featuring Collections and Library tabs for easier navigation.
- Includes the ability to convert 2D photos into 3D spatial images.
Camera
- Displays photo and video capture modes prominently, with other modes accessible by swiping left or right.
- Additional settings like flash and frame rate are now accessed by swiping up from the screen bottom.
Apple Podcasts
- Adds customizable playback speed options from 0.5x to 3x.
- Introduces “Enhance Dialogue,” using machine learning to clarify speech over background noise.
Image Playground
- Integrates ChatGPT to generate images in new styles such as vector art and oil painting.
- Users can input text descriptions to create unique images via AI.