The annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC25), happening from June 9–13 (pacific time) once again showcased Apple's latest features and tools across iOS, macOS, tvOS, iPadOS, watchOS and more.
Whether you’re curious about Apple’s roadmap or you just want to watch Apple's CEO Tim Cook host the F1 movie introduction of this stream (also starring Brad Pitt), here’s your guide to making the most out of your Apple iPhone with these new iOS updates from WWDC25.
iOS26 will be coming this July/Fall 2025.
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New Toolkit for Developers: Foundation Models Framework
Craig Federighi, Apple's senior VP, presented the future of Apple Intelligence. He introduced the new Foundation Models framework. This toolkit allows developers to build apps that tap into Apple’s AI system.
"Liquid Glass" Redesign on iOS
There's a major iOS redesign, launching as iOS 26 this year. Its new refreshed design taps into the presentation of apps on iOS, fondly called "Liquid Glass", where apps looks as it sounds.
The new design extends to the Home Screen and Lock Screen.
Photos App Fixed
Apple has fixed/organised the Photos app by splitting your "library" and "collections". This makes it easy to look for your visuals instead of going through the agressive suggestions.
Introducing Carplay Ultra
Apple is launching CarPlay Ultra, where Apple will team up with automakers and bring enhanced integration between your car and iOS 26. Here, you can do things like tracking a friend or family member while you're on the way to pick them up. You can also customsie the look of the widgets and all.
Polls & Apple Cash in Group Messages
Love your group chats and all? Apple has now made it more interactive with Polls and Apple Cash, where you can... literally make polls and send cash to your friends and family.
New Hold Assist Feature
If you're like us and you hate scam calls or need to hold a call for some reason, the new Hold Assist feature is designed to notify the user when a live agent is available. They will screen your call to let you know what the caller is asking for.
Live Translations Now in Yours Calls
Live Translation is now integrated into Messages, FaceTime, and your calls so you can communicate across languages, translating text and audio right away.
iOS26's Live Translation is also released as an update into Apple-built models and that it'll run entirely on device, so your conversations stay personal.
Apple Watch: Digital ID
Finally there's some interesting updates to the quiet side of Apple Watch. You can now do installment payments and add the likes of your passport details for boarding flights and such with Digital ID. You can also share your Live Updates on your flight details and such.
Note that Apple says Digital ID is currently not a full replacement of your passport. But it should help to streamline the likes of domestic gate clearance. This is however more applicable to countries that do not heavily rely on the likes of Malaysia's e-Gates.
Genmoji & Image Playground
You can also create brand-new emojis or AI-styled images within Notes or Messages, and you do not need any internet for most prompts too.
A New Games App
This new Apple Games app will act as an all-in-one destination for your games. The 'portal' lets you jump back instantly into the likes of your most beloved games or interact with friends (kind of like a mini native Steam app).
Players will also easily get game updates and major events here.
Streamlined Layouts: Apple Music, News & Podcasts
Within these 3 apps, the tab bar has been redesigned to float above your content, and will shrink when you browse, arranging content neatly to the front and center, and then expand again when you scroll back up.
Also read: Your AirPods Can Now Record High-Quality Audio & Be A Camera Remote
More to Visual Intelligence
You can now search for images quickly on your iOS26 with Visual Intelligence via the screenshot button. At the bottom right of your screen after the screenshot, there's a button to let you access similar images.
Natively, Visual Intelligence is integrated with ChatGPT. So you can ask your questions and such about the image like you would on ChatGPT.
You'll also be able to use OS26 Visual Intelligence on apps like Google, Etsy and more to come.
More Intelligent Shortcuts
You can now tap into a whole new set of shortcuts enabled by Apple Intelligence, and see dedicated actions for features like Writing Tools and Image Playground.
Apple Intelligence: Summarise Order Tracking
Apple Intelligence will also be able to identify and summarize your order tracking details from emails sent from merchants and delivery carriers, complete with full order details and progress notifications without you needing to look beyond. This wotks even for purchases not made with Apple Pay.
Messages: Get Rid of Unknown Messages
You'll be able further "scrutinize" who appears on your main message screen, and screen out unwanted unknown messages.
Precisely, messages from unknown senders will appear in a dedicated folder where users can then mark the number as known, ask for more information, or delete. These messages will remain silenced until you accept/approve them.
Apple Music: Lyrics Translation & Pronounciation
Love your Apple Music? There's now Lyrics Translation to help you understand the words to your favorite songs, getting you closer to appreciating the music pieces. You can take one step further with the Lyrics Pronunciation and easily sing along to the song, regardless of language.
There's also AutoMix that uses intelligence to transition from one song to the next like a DJ, using time stretching and beat matching to seamlessly move from one song to the next.
Apple Maps: Visited Places
Go down the memory lane with the new Visited Places to help you remember the places you;ve been. You can activate this via iPhone detect when you're at a place like a restaurant or shop, and view all of your Visited Places in Maps.
For your safety, Visited Places is protected with end-to-end encryption and cannot be accessed by Apple.
Additionally, the Apple Intelligence on Visited Places means it'll better understand your daily route, presenting you with updates on your preferred routes, notifications of delays and offering alternate routes.
Browsing with Safari
A mini update is that you can get more privacy on Safari with advanced fingerprinting protection, now extended to all future browsing by default.
Accessibility Reader, Braille, Listening & More
More updates on accessibility features extends to Accessibility Reader, which provides a customized systemwide reading experience, and Braille Access, an all-new interface for iPhone devices with connected braille displays.
There are also updates to Live Listen, Background Sounds, Personal Voice, and more, offering you better accessibility across the Apple ecosystem.
For more information, visit Apple Newsroom here. Or, watch the WWDC 2025 Livestream here:
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