Though Apple postponed significant Siri updates until next year, the WWDC 2025 keynote was packed with exciting announcements. From a refreshed aesthetic across all Apple devices to enhanced windowing capabilities on iPads, the event showcased a plethora of advancements.
Here’s a summary of the standout announcements—don’t forget to participate in our poll regarding your favorites and share your thoughts in the comments!
Liquid Glass
Every Apple device will adopt a fresh, innovative aesthetic through a design concept known as Liquid Glass.
Apple introduced an elegant new design that enhances the user experience, making it both expressive and easy to navigate. This is achieved with a new material named Liquid Glass, which not only reflects and refracts its environment but also adapts to emphasize important content, providing vibrancy across controls, app icons, widgets, and other elements. For the first time, this new design spans multiple platforms—iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26—creating deeper integration while retaining the unique characteristics of each system.
Controls and navigation within apps have received a fresh redesign. Originally tailored for rectangular displays, they are now optimized for the rounded edges of modern devices and app windows, fostering coherence among hardware, software, and content. Crafted from Liquid Glass, the controls form an interactive layer above the apps that transitions dynamically as users navigate or require different options, making it easier to access necessary controls.
Live Translation
Messaging, FaceTime, and Phone applications will now feature an innovative live translation capability.
Live Translation is a revolutionary tool that enables seamless communication across various languages during messaging or calls. Integrated into Messages, FaceTime, and Phone, it employs Apple’s proprietary models, ensuring user privacy by processing data locally.
In Messages, translations occur automatically while the user types, delivering messages in the recipient’s preferred language. On FaceTime calls, users can read translated live captions alongside the speaker’s voice, and during phone calls, translations are provided audibly throughout the conversation.
On-screen Visual Intelligence
Building on its previous functionality with the iPhone camera, Visual Intelligence now extends to on-screen content.
Visual Intelligence now enables users to explore and interact with the content displayed on their iPhone screens. Users can query ChatGPT about what they see and search platforms like Google or Etsy for similar images or products. If a user spots a specific object, such as a lamp, they can highlight it for tailored searches.
Additionally, Visual Intelligence can identify events on a user’s screen, prompting them to add it to their calendar. Apple Intelligence will extract crucial details like date and time for effortless event creation.
Fitness Buddy on the Apple Watch
For those exercising alone, the Apple Watch now offers enhanced motivation features.
Workout Buddy presents a groundbreaking workout experience on Apple Watch, utilizing Apple Intelligence to provide tailored motivational feedback based on users’ workout data and fitness history.
By analyzing real-time workout metrics alongside historical data—like heart rate and personal milestones—Workout Buddy utilizes a new text-to-speech model sourced from Fitness+ trainers, creating a motivational voice that resonates with users’ workout styles. This data-driven feature operates privately and securely through Apple Intelligence.
Foundation Models for Developers
Developers can now leverage Apple Intelligence features directly in their applications.
Apple has made its on-device foundation model accessible to any app, fostering the integration of Apple Intelligence into diverse user experiences.
Through the Foundation Models framework, developers can create intelligent offline experiences while prioritizing user privacy, free from cloud API costs. For instance, an education app could use the model to create personalized quizzes from user notes.
The framework supports Swift natively, simplifying access to AI models with minimal code.
Apple Intelligence-Infused Shortcuts
Shortcuts now harness the power of Apple Intelligence for enhanced functionality.
Shortcuts have undergone significant enhancements, enabling users to implement intelligent actions powered by Apple Intelligence. New features include text summarization and image creation.
Users can tap into Apple Intelligence, whether on-site or via Private Cloud Compute, to generate responses that integrate seamlessly into their shortcuts while maintaining data privacy. For example, a student could create a shortcut that compares audio transcriptions with their notes, adding any missed points. Additionally, users have the option to incorporate ChatGPT into their shortcuts for richer functionality.
iPadOS 26 with Windowing and More
Apple has significantly upgraded the iPad, introducing full windowing functionalities.
iPadOS 26 features intuitive capabilities for managing, organizing, and navigating between app windows—all while maintaining the simplicity expected by iPad users. The new windowing system allows users to resize and position app windows fluidly and to open multiple windows concurrently.
Familiar window controls facilitate actions such as closing, minimizing, or resizing. Users can easily arrange their windows with a flick, and previously resized apps will remember their dimensions when reopened. The innovative Exposé feature provides an overview of all open windows, making switching effortless. This system integrates seamlessly with Stage Manager for users seeking organized workspace setups and external displays.
macOS 26 with Major Continuity and Spotlight Enhancements
Along with receiving the Liquid Glass update, macOS 26 also introduces significant enhancements to Continuity and Spotlight.
The Phone app now appears on Mac, allowing users to make cellular calls via their nearby iPhone. This version mirrors the iPhone app, including features such as Recents and Voicemails, while adding new functionalities like Call Screening and Hold Assist. Call Screening identifies unknown calls, prompting for information before the user decides if they want to answer. Hold Assist retains the user’s position in line during lengthy holds, enabling continued productivity on their Mac.
Users can see Live Activities from their iPhone displayed in the Mac menu bar, granting real-time updates about various events. Clicking on these activities opens the corresponding app in iPhone Mirroring mode for detailed insights and actions.
Spotlight has been revamped to provide an improved searching experience, dynamically ranking results like files and messages based on relevance. Users can filter results quickly and see documents from third-party cloud storage. Spotlight also allows users to execute actions directly—such as composing emails or creating notes—streamlining workflows significantly. The new quick keys feature further enhances efficiency by enabling rapid access to specific tasks.
visionOS 26 Gets Major Improvements
This version introduces spatial widgets, shared experiences, and enhanced 360-degree video support.
Users can enrich their environments with favorite widgets featuring stunning visuals, clocks, and easy access to Apple Music playlists. The Widgets app aids in discovering additional widgets from compatible iOS and iPadOS applications, with developers able to create custom widgets via WidgetKit.
With visionOS 26, users can share spatial experiences with others using Apple Vision Pro, from enjoying 3D movies together to collaborating on projects. They can also invite remote participants via FaceTime, expanding the possibilities for interaction.
This version utilizes advanced AI and depth computing to produce realistic spatial photos, allowing users to experience scenes from multiple angles more naturally.
Additionally, visionOS 26 supports native playback of diverse content formats from various brands, enhancing the viewing experience of immersive 3D footage. Developers can harness this playback feature in their applications as well.
tvOS Receives Liquid Glass and a New Karaoke Feature
tvOS adopts the new aesthetic alongside the introduction of iPhone microphone capabilities.
The Liquid Glass design invigorates Apple TV, offering a fresh look that emphasizes content and enhances interactions within the app. Users can enjoy a more engaging viewing experience while managing settings like sleep timers and audio adjustments calmly.
tvOS 26 elevates karaoke nights, allowing users to utilize their iPhones as handheld microphones, providing an amplified vocal performance for fun sing-along sessions.
AirPods Enhance with Camera Remote and Studio Mic Features
AirPods also introduced several noteworthy updates, particularly emphasizing audio quality and content creation.
Content creators can now enjoy studio-quality audio recordings, beneficial for interviews, podcasts, and music production—even in challenging environments, thanks to Voice Isolation technology. This enhanced recording quality is compatible across Apple devices and apps, ensuring high fidelity.
With the new camera remote feature, users can utilize AirPods to control the Camera app on iPhone or iPad, enabling seamless photo and video recording from a distance—ideal for performances or dynamic content capture.
What Are Your Favorites?
Feel free to select multiple features in our poll and share all your insights and responses in the comments.
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Image: Apple
