Apple's iOS 26 with the new Liquid Glass design is now available to everyone | TechCrunch

"Apple's iOS 26 software update for iPhones is available today to all users using iPhone 11, iPhone SE 2, and later. iOS 26's marquee feature was Apple's Liquid Glass design, which included elements on screen that resembled a "glassy" look. Other features included a call screening assistant, a new gaming and preview app, in-app translation across the system, and updates to Genmoji and Image Playground apps."

"The operating system update also went through a big numerical change as Apple jumped from iOS 18 to iOS 26 for two key reasons. First, it wanted to bring all operating systems - iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and VisionOS - in sync. And it also wanted to reflect the year number in which the majority of the people will use this update."

"Liquid Glass design has been the biggest visual overhaul for iOS in years. Apple's intention with this redesign was to take inspiration from the Vision Pro interface and apply it to all of its operating systems. The elements are meant to look like they are made of translucent glass. This resulted in challenges in terms of readability and how elements in the background look."

"Since June, Apple has made changes to how "glassy" the interface looks multiple times through beta releases. While the company is releasing the stable version of iOS 26 today, we might expect visual tweaks for improved readability and usability in the coming months. This visual change might take a bit of time for users to adjust, and they might not like certain elements right away."

iOS 26 is available today for iPhone 11, iPhone SE 2, and later models. The update's major visual change, Liquid Glass, applies translucent, glass-like interface elements inspired by Vision Pro across Apple's operating systems, creating readability and background-contrast challenges. Apple adjusted the visual treatment through betas and may continue refining readability and usability post-launch. iOS 26 also includes a call screening assistant, a new gaming and preview app, systemwide in-app translation, and updates to Genmoji and Image Playground. The version number jumped from iOS 18 to iOS 26 to align OS versioning across platforms and reflect expected year of majority use.

Read at TechCrunch