Summary of outstanding events in WWDC 2025

Apple packed a slew of major updates into its annual Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. During the event, the company unveiled upcoming design updates to its operating systems, as well as a mix of new features for iPhones, iPads, Macs, AirPods, and more.

Here's a recap of some of the most exciting changes Apple announced during the keynote!

Apple's operating systems are now named after the year.

As expected, Apple has given each of its operating systems new version numbers based on the year they were released, rather than in ascending order as before. The new names are iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. They'll be released in late 2025, but they're still easier to remember than iOS 19 , watchOS 12, and macOS 16.

The operating systems are available as a developer beta starting today and will be available to all users this fall.

Liquid Glass design updated across iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and more

Apple is revamping the design of its entire operating system. Now, we have a new Liquid Glass theme that adds transparency to buttons, switches, sliders, text, and media controls across the entire interface.

The date, time, and notification previews on the iOS 26 lock screen will also adopt a new look, allowing you to clearly see your wallpaper behind all the text.

New look for Camera, Safari, and Phone apps

As part of a broader redesign, Apple has unveiled improvements to some of its core apps in iOS 26. Web pages in Safari will now take up the entire screen. The Camera app also has a simplified layout, showing two main options—photo and video—with a toolbar you can swipe to reveal other modes, like Slow-Mo and Cinematic.

The Phone app will also get an upgrade, as it will now feature a layout that combines favorites, recents, and voicemail into one panel, while calls, contacts, and the keyboard remain at the bottom of the app.

iPadOS 26 will come with better windowing features

Apple is bringing a big update to iPadOS 26 that makes multitasking easier. New window features will let you resize app windows, place them around the screen, and open multiple windows at once. It also adds a more precise mouse cursor and a new menu bar that lets you swipe down on an app to see various options and commands. It all looks a lot more Mac-like.

iPadOS 26 will also have a version of the Mac Preview app for viewing and annotating images and files.

Messages gets custom wallpapers and new group chat features

Apple is updating Messages to let you change the background of a conversation and create polls in group chats. Other updates include typing indicators for group chats and the ability to filter messages from unknown senders, which will appear in a separate folder instead of your main list.

Apple Unveils a New Game Hub

Apple has unveiled a new Games app that lets you access all of your Apple Arcade games and discover new ones in one place. You can check out the Library tab to see games you've downloaded from the App Store, and use the Play Together option to challenge your friends.

macOS Tahoe 26 makes Spotlight more useful

The next macOS software update will introduce an upgrade to Spotlight that makes your search results more relevant with personalization and filtering options to help you find specific files, folders, apps, and messages. It also adds the ability to perform actions like sending an email or creating a note.

Apple also brought newly announced Phone and gaming apps to macOS 26, along with support for iPhone Live Activities.

Vision Pro adds PSVR2 controller support

Apple Vision Pro will support PlayStation's VR2 Sense controller in visionOS 26, allowing you to play more VR games. The update also adds a new scrolling feature that lets users navigate apps by looking up or down, along with spatial widgets that "seamlessly integrate into the user's space and reappear whenever they turn on Apple Vision Pro . "

What Apple Intelligence Can Look For on Screen

A new Apple Intelligence feature coming to iOS 26 will let you use the same buttons you use to take a screenshot to summon the AI ​​assistant. From there, you can ask more questions about what you see on screen using ChatGPT or search for a specific item on Google or Etsy to find similar images.

watchOS 26 adds new "wrist flick" gesture

Along with the Liquid Glass design language, Apple is bringing a new 'wrist flick' gesture to watchOS 26 that you can use to dismiss notifications. The Apple Watch will also get a new AI-powered 'Workout Buddy,' which will generate personalized advice and encouragement.

Live Translation will be available in calls and text messages

Apple is building AI-powered live translation into the Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps. You can use the integration to automatically translate text in the Messages app, while you hear the translated voice out loud in the Phone app. In FaceTime, Apple will display translated live captions as you listen to your conversation partner.

AirPods will soon offer new camera controls

Apple has previewed an update that will let users take photos with their iPhone or iPad by tapping on the stem of their AirPods. The company is also working on a new feature that will let users record 'studio-quality' vocals in noisy areas with voice isolation. These features will be available on the AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, and AirPods Pro 2.

Apple opens its AI models to developers

While Apple's keynote didn't feature much AI news, the company did announce that it would give third-party app developers access to the large on-device language model used by Apple Intelligence, allowing them to create their own tools.

Micah Soto

Update 11 June 2025