New iOS App Features: What's Coming to Apple Apps

Apple Announces iOS 26 Features at WWDC 2025

During Monday’s WWDC 2025 event, Apple introduced a range of new functionalities slated for release with iOS 26 this autumn. These enhancements will be integrated throughout Apple’s suite of applications.

Key Updates Across Apple Apps

Significant improvements are coming to core apps. These include Call Screening, expanded capabilities within the Wallet application for travelers, and long-awaited enhancements to group chat functionality in Messages.

Introducing Apple Intelligence

A central component of the iOS 26 update is Apple Intelligence. This includes features like Live Translation, designed to facilitate real-time communication across languages.

Enhanced User Experience

Beyond the core feature additions, Apple is focusing on usability improvements. The return of tabs to the Photos app is a prime example of this commitment.

This change aims to streamline photo organization and navigation for users. Further details regarding new features will be added to this article as they are officially released.

Telephone Capabilities

The Call Screening feature empowers users to ascertain the purpose of an incoming call prior to answering it. Upon receiving a call from a number not recognized in your contacts, Call Screening will answer the call automatically and without audio for the user.

The caller will be prompted to state their name and the reason for their communication. Subsequently, the iPhone will alert you with a ring, displaying the transcribed response for review before you choose to answer or decline the call.

Advanced Call Features

Hold Assist is designed to recognize when you’ve been placed on hold, maintaining the connection for you until a representative becomes available. This eliminates the need to wait on the line listening to music.

Live Translation facilitates real-time conversation translation. As you speak, your words are translated and audibly conveyed to the other party using artificial intelligence.

Conversely, when the other person responds in their language, you will receive an immediate spoken translation of their reply.

• This feature allows for seamless communication across language barriers.
• It operates dynamically during the call itself.

Messages

Users participating in group conversations within the Messages app are now equipped with the ability to generate polls. This enhancement facilitates more efficient event planning and expedited decision-making processes.

Furthermore, Apple Intelligence is being integrated to proactively identify scenarios where a poll would be beneficial, subsequently prompting users to initiate one.

Group chats have also been updated with the functionality to establish personalized chat backgrounds and observe real-time typing indicators.

Financial transactions are now streamlined, as Apple Cash requests, sending, and receiving are all supported directly within group conversations.

A new feature allows for the filtering of messages originating from senders not currently in your contacts. These messages will be organized into a separate folder.

Within this folder, users can designate a number as known, request additional information, or simply delete the message.

Apple emphasizes that messages from unidentified senders will remain muted until explicitly accepted by the user.

Live Translation is also being introduced to Messages. This capability provides automatic, real-time translation of text as it is composed and received.

The translated text will be displayed in the user’s language of choice, ensuring seamless communication with contacts who speak different languages.

Apple Music

A new Lyrics Translation function is being rolled out to Apple Music subscribers, designed to facilitate comprehension of song lyrics when they are in a foreign language. Furthermore, a Lyrics Pronunciation tool will be implemented, showcasing lyrics phonetically to aid users in singing along, even in languages they don't speak.

The application is also receiving an AudioMix capability. This feature creates seamless transitions between tracks by employing techniques such as time stretching and beat matching, mimicking the style of a DJ for uninterrupted listening.

In addition, Apple is introducing a karaoke mode. This transforms an iPhone into a portable microphone when connected to an Apple TV.

As you sing, the feature will enhance your vocal projection while displaying synchronized lyrics and accompanying visuals on the television screen.

Users will now have the option to pin their most-played music to the top of their Library within Apple Music. This enhancement provides quicker and more convenient access to preferred songs.

Key New Features

• Lyrics Translation: Understand songs in any language.
• Lyrics Pronunciation: Sing along with phonetic lyrics.
• AudioMix: Enjoy DJ-style transitions between songs.
• Karaoke Mode: Turn your iPhone into a microphone.
• Pin Favorites: Easily access preferred music.

The AudioMix feature presents a direct challenge to Spotify’s AI DJ functionality, offering a similar continuous playback experience.

Apple Maps

Enhancements are being implemented to Apple Maps to improve its understanding of typical travel patterns. The application will now leverage on-device processing capabilities to identify and display frequently traveled routes for commutes to work or home.

Users will also receive notifications regarding traffic congestion and be presented with alternative route suggestions.

New Visited Places Feature

A new feature, Visited Places, is being introduced to Apple Maps, designed to assist users in recalling locations they have previously visited.

The system allows iPhones to automatically detect visits to establishments like restaurants and stores, with a complete record of Visited Places accessible within the Maps application.

Privacy is a key consideration; Apple emphasizes that Visited Places data is secured with end-to-end encryption, ensuring the company itself has no access to this information.

• On-device intelligence is used for route preference learning.
• Real-time delay notifications are provided.
• Alternative routes are suggested to bypass congestion.
• Automatic detection of visited locations is available.
• Visited Places data is end-to-end encrypted for user privacy.

These updates aim to make Apple Maps a more intuitive and helpful navigation tool for daily use.

Apple Wallet

A digital version of passports, known as Digital ID, is now available within Apple Wallet. Apple clarifies that this feature is not intended to supersede physical passports. Instead, it provides a convenient method for age and identity verification within compatible applications.

Furthermore, Digital ID will be accepted at participating TSA security checkpoints, offering an alternative identification method for domestic travel, particularly relevant with the ongoing Real ID implementation.

Expanding Digital Identification Options

Beyond passports, users will soon be able to utilize their driver’s licenses or state IDs stored in Wallet for online age and identity confirmation. This functionality is initially launching with several partners.

These include Chime, Turo, Uber Eats, and U.S. Bank, alongside the Arizona MVD, Georgia DDS, and Maryland MVA. This expansion streamlines the verification process across various online platforms.

Enhanced Travel Experience

Apple is also improving the boarding pass functionality within Wallet. Users will now receive real-time flight updates through Live Activities.

This feature extends to the ability to share these Live Activities with others, keeping friends and family informed of travel progress.

• Access to Maps is now directly available from the boarding pass.
• Users can leverage Find My to monitor baggage and report lost items.
• Key airline services, like seat upgrades and standby lists, are readily accessible.

Intelligent Order Tracking

Apple Wallet is now incorporating Apple Intelligence to automatically analyze and present order tracking information. This information is extracted from emails received from retailers and delivery services.

This automated summarization provides users with a simplified and efficient way to stay informed about their purchases and deliveries.

FaceTime

Similar to the functionality being added to Phone and Messages, FaceTime is set to incorporate Live Translation. This feature will facilitate communication between individuals who speak different languages.

During a FaceTime call with someone speaking a different language, translated captions will be shown in real-time. This allows both participants to follow the conversation and understand each other effectively.

The integration of Live Translation aims to break down language barriers and enhance the accessibility of FaceTime for a wider global audience.

Photos

Responding to considerable negative feedback regarding the Photos application redesign within iOS 18, Apple is reinstating a tabbed interface for the Photos experience. Within the Collections section, users will locate their marked favorites, curated albums, and a comprehensive search function spanning their entire photo library.

The Library tab has been implemented to facilitate easier navigation through recently captured images.

Furthermore, the Photos application now possesses the capability to convert standard 2D photographs into immersive 3D spatial photos.

Camera

The primary interface of the iPhone’s Camera app prominently displays the two most frequently utilized capture options: taking photos and recording videos. Further capture modes, including Portrait Mode and Cinematic Mode, are revealed through a simple swipe gesture, either to the left or right.

Access to a wider range of settings, encompassing features like the flash, timer, aperture, and additional controls, is now achieved by swiping upwards from the screen’s lower edge.

Format Options

Users can readily modify capture formats with a single tap. This functionality proves particularly useful when transitioning between HD and 4K resolutions, or when fine-tuning the frame rate during video recording.

Adjustments to these settings are now more intuitive and accessible, streamlining the user experience within the Camera application.

Apple Podcasts

A revamped, personalized playback experience is being introduced to Apple Podcasts. This update will empower users to select from a range of listening speeds, spanning from 0.5x to 3x.

The addition aims to align the Apple Podcasts listening experience with that of competitors like Spotify, which currently offers adjustable playback speeds for podcasts.

New Audio Clarity Feature

Furthermore, Apple Podcasts is implementing an “Enhance Dialogue” function. This utilizes both audio processing techniques and machine learning algorithms.

The purpose of this feature is to improve the clarity of spoken words by reducing the prominence of surrounding background noises.

Consequently, listeners will benefit from a more focused and intelligible audio experience.

Image Playground

A ChatGPT integration is being implemented by Apple to enhance the capabilities of Image Playground. This update will grant users access to a wider array of artistic styles, including options like vector artwork and oil painting simulations.

Furthermore, a new “Any Style” feature is being introduced. This allows users to precisely articulate their desired aesthetic through descriptive text.

How the Integration Works

When the “Any Style” option is selected, Image Playground will transmit the user’s description or uploaded photograph to ChatGPT. ChatGPT will then process this input to generate a distinctly original image based on the provided specifications.

Essentially, the system leverages the power of ChatGPT to translate textual or visual prompts into unique and customized imagery within the Image Playground application.

• Users can specify styles like vector art.
• Options also include emulating styles such as an oil painting.
• The “Any Style” feature enables detailed descriptions.

This integration expands the creative possibilities within Image Playground, allowing for greater control and personalization in image generation.