Liquid Glass, iOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, a new Games App, and Everything Else Announced at WWDC 2025

Apple chose WWDC 2025 to convey a significant message: Its ecosystem required a major overhaul. The company began this transformation with the most visible aspects, such as design, and extended it to more foundational elements, including the naming convention of its operating systems.

A Total Redesign: The Future of the Apple Ecosystem

Apple introduced Liquid Glass, a new translucent design that reflects and refracts the environment, providing real-time visual depth.

• This redesign applies to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, featuring new icons, floating controls, and adaptive navigation bars.
• Lock screens, desktops, Docks, and key interfaces (including Camera, Safari, and Apple Music) now offer a revamped and more consistent user experience.

iOS 26: Design Takes Center Stage

iOS 26 combines a visual redesign with integrated AI features.

• Apple Intelligence enables real-time message translation, event suggestions, and visual content creation through Genmoji and Image Playground.
• The Phone and Messages apps have been updated to enhance spam detection, call waiting management, and include AI-suggested polls.
• CarPlay improves its interface by adding pinned conversations, widgets, and a compact view for calls.
• Apple Music features lyrics translation, automatic mixes, and personalized music suggestions.

Apple Games: The New Hub for Gaming Across the Entire Ecosystem

Apple also introduced the new Apple Games app, dedicated to enhancing the gaming experience with social features, organized catalogs, and connections to Apple Arcade.

• This app consolidates all games installed on the user’s devices, whether they’re games on the iPhone, Apple Arcade games, or Game Center games.
• It offers quick access to recent games, scores, achievements, and active events.
• It features social elements such as shared rankings, friend challenges, and progress tracking.
• It’s available on iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, and visionOS 26, with designs tailored for each platform.
• On macOS and visionOS, it includes Game Porting Toolkit 2, offering enhancements for developers looking to adapt games for Apple Silicon.

watchOS 26: Smart Motivation and Enhanced Control from Your Wrist

With watchOS 26, users can expect improvements in personalization, smart features, and convenience, particularly for training, communication, and daily management.

• Workout Buddy uses Apple Intelligence to provide motivational messages during workouts.
• The Workout app has been completely redesigned, now offering music suggestions tailored to the type of exercise.
• Real-time translation is available in the Messages app, along with new conversation backgrounds that sync with your iPhone.
• A new wrist flick gesture allows users to dismiss notifications without needing to touch the screen.
• Additional updates include enhancements to the Notes app, accessibility features, and improvements within the Phone app.

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iPadOS 26: Windows That Bring You Closer to the Mac

iPadOS 26 elevates productivity with enhancements that create a more desktop-like experience.

• Windows can now be freely resized and positioned anywhere on the screen, similar to macOS.
• Stage Manager has become more flexible, allowing greater control over the size and position of open apps.
• New keyboard shortcuts enable easy switching between windows or adjusting them without needing to touch the screen.
• Apps will remember their layout when reopened, facilitating more complex and sustained workflows.

macOS Tahoe 26: A System That Aims for Customization

macOS Tahoe 26 introduces a clearer interface, system-wide distributed intelligence, and a strong focus on gaming.

• The Phone app is now available on the Mac, featuring Call Screening and Hold Assist via Continuity.
• Spotlight has been redesigned for more efficient actions, shortcuts, and content searches.
• Apple Intelligence powers Shortcuts, supports real-time translation, and enables automation of complex tasks.
• The new Apple Games app organizes users’ game catalogs and allows for seamless gameplay with Game Overlay.
• Updates for Safari, Messages, FaceTime, and Photos include visual improvements, new features, and enhanced content control.

visionOS 26: One Step Closer to Fluid Mixed Reality

The Vision Pro system continues to improve, focusing on navigation, performance, and sharing.

• Users can now pin apps in space, allowing them to pick up right where they left off, even when the device is turned off.
• The Personas feature has been added to SharePlay, allowing users to see realistic avatars of other participants during shared sessions.
• A new Travel Mode adapts the Vision Pro experience for use on trains and in moving environments.
• visionOS 26 introduces simpler and more precise gestures for controlling the interface, reducing the need for excessive head or hand movements.
• Apple has added support for PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers, opening up new options for gaming with haptic control and motion tracking.

The Logitech Muse is now an official accessory, enabling accurate data entry in spatial environments and collaboration in apps like Spatial Analogue.

Images | Apple

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