LAUNCHING IOS 26 Live: All new features plus the reaction to the overhaul of polarizing liquid glass

Will liquid glass need varnish?

IOS 26 is only a beta stage of the early developer, so there are many rough edges. But some commentators, such as the MKBHD Youtube (above), also underline certain potential problems which are obvious even in the official photos of Apple for the update of the operating system.

In the example above, I agree that locking screen messages would be more difficult to read on certain backgrounds. There is no doubt that the liquid glass effect is attractive, but is it practical? After all, most of us use our phones as tools rather than aesthetic experiences.

There is a lot of time for Apple to bring adjustments to transparency around certain menus, but it could also dilute the new experience that it was so eager to provide in iOS 26. I can’t wait to try the beta version soon and see how Apple refined it before the public beta version next month.

The counterpours work (sometimes)

Apple made the rare admission that he did something wrong at WWDC 2025, bringing a functionality to the photo application in iOS 26.

In a piece of classic euphemism, Craig Federighi (Apple software main vice-president) said that “many of you lacked tabs in the photo application”, so that brought them back in the form of a library and collections (above).

The first is to find more recent shots, while the second houses your albums, your favorites and more. It was certainly not the only criticism of the new application of photos in iOS 18, but it will be a welcome change for many.

The “ clear look ‘is not for me

Although I like many aspects of liquid glass on iOS 26, an option that has confused me a bit is the “clear look” above.

At WWDC 2025, Apple has spoken of the application icons is now made from liquid glass (the difference seems minor) and can adapt to different modes such as dark mode. But one of the new options is the “clear look” above, of which I am not entirely convinced.

As some have noted, it seems a bit that you used a third -budget third -party application launcher and makes it difficult to distinguish applications at a glance. I liked the new ability to hide application names in iOS 18 last year, but it feels a little gadget.

@Techradar ♬ Sound Original – Techradar

How to try the iOS 26 beta developer

If you want to try iOS 26 for yourself, the software is now available in the beta developer.

Naturally, this is for developers, so we would not recommend it exactly. But it is also possible to register and try it as a “individual”. A word of warning, however: the first beta developers have a lot of problems and it has been described as “the bizarrest beta 1 in 12 years”.

If you are ready to take the risk, however, follow our guide on how to download the developer iOS 26 beta. And maybe try it on an older phone rather than your daily transport – it works on all models from the iPhone 11.

A Bienvenue CARPLAY refreshment

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It is good to see that Apple does not abandon his experience as standard Carplay, despite the arrival of Carplay Ultra.

Thanks to iOS 26, Carplay obtains four welcome upgrades – and the EVS correspondent for Techradar, Leon Poultney, has gathered all the new Carplay tips, including a new practical compact view which gives you pop -up overlays for incoming calls.

It does not seem as sophisticated as iOS 26, but all the features should make Carplay less distracting – which is ultimately the main objective of the design of infotainment in the car.

The case against liquid glass

The first reactions to the liquid glass were certainly not positive. Several videos have arisen online showing how translucent widgets and menu superimpositions can start to be a little messy and confusing on busy backgrounds.

Although part of this can undoubtedly be deposited at iOS 26 being a very early beta developer, the former co-founder of the rod Joshua Topolsky (above) noted that there were problems of readability even in the own slides of Apple which show the material of design in action.

He is certainly not the only one to see the distraction potential in the transparent effects, the designer Andreas Storm (below) describing him as “very agitated”.

We soon draw our own conclusions from our practices, but it is just to say that Liquid Glass did not attract universal praise – with some by emerging as the spiritual successor of Aero from Windows 7, and others as the contributor of Techradar, Alex Blake, concluding that it is actually a good thing.

The liquid glass case

If you want to go deeply on liquid glass, it is worth seeing the developer of Apple speak on the concept – he plunges into the minutations of the way it should work, in theory at least.

When you see it in this context, it is very pretty – and a large part of its first observers are big fans. Mark Gurman de Bloomberg, for example, noted that “this overhaul is incredibly cool”, while the first beta testers on X Like @sondesix (below) noted the “satisfactory” animations and visual effects.

Again, making this effect work in all scenarios is clearly a challenge, and a number of videos show that folds to push for the public beta version next month.

Finally, a simpler camera application

I was waiting for Apple to rationalize and put its camera application for years, and that finally did it in iOS 26.

Rather than a confusing list of photo modes and parameters at the base of the application, Apple drops it to two: video and photo. You can then simply slide to see the relevant in each mode, such as cinema and slo-mo for video.

The confused icon line for parameters such as photographic styles and appearance reports has also been improved, with a new liquid glass shutter (of course) below when you slide up. Having descriptions for everyone should also make it much easier to use.

My only scruples is the absence of a pro photo mode, but I guess that Apple did not want to kill third party apps like Halid when she gave them so much praise.

Small upgrades iOS 26 useful

We have already gathered the main features of iOS 26 – for a summary on them, see our big largest guide. But apart from the overhaul, a new telephone application and certain apple intelligence upgrades, there are also smaller quality of life.

Our overview of the best iOS 26 not announced features highlights battery increases, messages filtering, new improved sleep background sounds and improved flight features that all arrive at iPhones.

In a way, I missed that, but iOS 26 will also remind you of if your phone has a dirty camera goal. Personally, I think it seems more useful than AI trying to write my emails, but we will have to see how well it works well in practice.

What is liquid glass?

Before diving into the reaction to liquid glass, what is it? Rather than being specific to iOS 26, liquid glass is a digital and translucent material which says that Apple says “reflects and refracts its environment, while dynamically transforming to help bring greater concentration to content”.

In other words, it is a nice design language that should make iOS 26, iPados 26, MacOS Tahoe 26, Watchos 26 and TVOS 26 all feel fresher, more coherent and (hopefully) more intuitive. This is theory, at least.

The name comes from the idea that it combines the optical qualities of the glass (for example, the enlargement of certain elements when you fly over) with a fluidity which sees the morph menus and changes like a T-1000. Sometimes it looks great, but to others (at least from the first examples that we have seen), it may also seem a little confused on a certain background.

Welcome to our iOS 26 LiveBlog

Hello, Mark Wilson here (editor -in -chief, news) and I will make you guide you through all the reactions and news of the announcement of yesterday of iOS 26.

There is a lot to take – a new “liquid glass” material for the user interface of the iPhone, as well as a ton of new features on applications like Camera, Carplay, Apple Music and even the telephone application.

We also have an exclusive conversation with Apple on the liquid glass to come later, as well as some first practical impressions. So if you want to know how your iPhone will change in the nearby function, stay attentive.