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By: Courtney Walsh
Apple is in a fight with Google and all its Gemini onslaught on consumers with software, and feature updates that people are demanding. WWDC 2025 took place this week and I was unsure what would happen with the tech titan. They dropped a ton of updates and also rolled out some new things many of which I think will be well-received by Apple product junkies like myself. And thank you Jesus for streamlining the OS to one thing and not 30 versions. A choice was made to make design more important than Ai, now we wait and see if it works.
Liquid Glass
This is a new look that gives widgets and icons a glossy, glass-like appearance, and should also make it easier to perform tasks within other apps while not distracting you. It will take some getting used to and at the end of the day does it really matter? But, just like the dynamic island maybe it turns into something we grow to enjoy who knows. The Liquid Glass display is translucent and will behave like glass in the real world. Your content informs the color of the screen and will adapt between light and dark environments. In addition, alerts appear from where you tap, and context menus expand into a scannable list when you scroll and tap.
New Features
I won’t lie a lot of these features will come in SUPER handy in my day-to-day and I can’t wait to give them a spin. The ones that stood out to me were the phone app redesign you will be able to scroll through it all on one screen, translucent bar at the bottom you can use to have quick access to contacts. Hold Assist, a new feature, will mute hold music but keep you on a call until someone picks up on the other line. If you have friends or family who speak a language you don’t have no fear. LIVE Translate is a God send and will be used for messager as well as music.
Make the group chat come to life and add some color to the background, post polls, and see text bubbles to see who is talking next. For me dumb little add-ons like this make me smile, having an unknown sender folder to get rid of spam. Help keep the main thing, the main thing. Of course, two things most of us use daily the Maps app and Wallet all get a facelift and new features such as Real ID and also “visited places”. For the Apple watch, we get a sort of workout buddy to keep us informed about our fitness as well as Apple music playing a bigger role in things. We all know the tunes set the mood you will be able to pick music based on the type of workout you are doing. Mac Os Tahoe is the desktop’s new operating system also liquid glass takes over.
iPadOS26 is what we have been screaming for and then some. new games and phone apps, the iPad, though, gets a new menu bar and windowing feature that makes the tablet’s UI look and feel a lot more like macOS. That means it should improve multitasking, something iPad power users have wanted for a long time. You can resize windows, snap them to different corners, or swipe them away temporarily to get a glimpse of your home screen. Apple claims the window system is designed to work just as well with touch input (either via fingers or a stylus) or trackpads on compatible accessories. Oh, happy day if this is all true! Files are sorted in list form and colors!
iPadOS 26 will bring new features for podcasters like, including the ability to record “studio quality” vocals with AirPods. Users will also be able to press and hold their AirPods to start and stop the recordings they’re making on their iPads. In addition, a new local capture feature will integrate with video conferencing apps to let users record their video on iPads for things like remote group podcasts. SWEET!
With tvOS26 you get a karaoke type of deal with your iPhone being used as a mic which will lead to nights of amazing drunken fun for all. You will also be able to set up profiles and setup shows you want to watch.
Overall
This was 100% focused on designing and improving an ecosystem that needed a facelift as the users have been screaming for. Of course, people on those other brands will say these updates are old news to them and Apple is copying them. One thing about Apple users we are very loyal and won’t care. We will update our products and dive head-first into using them. I can’t wait to give it all a spin and then circle back with thoughts. My fellow writer Rick O’Donnell will be shooting out his thoughts as well. What do you think let me know down below.
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