Indeed, Liquid Glass does bring somewhat of a major change to iOS 26, or what we would have called iOS 18 (Apple is switching iOS numbers to years, and iOS 26 will release in the fall). I've been using the developer beta of iOS 26 for some weeks now,

We've seen how the new Liquid Glass design language in iOS 26 will change Apple's own apps, but what about third-party apps? Here's a sneak preview.

As part of iOS 26's interface changes, your iPhone lock screen can take on a new look with spatial photos available as the background image for your phone and an adaptive time feature that adjusts the look of the on-screen clock to fit with the other visual elements. We go through all the iOS 26 lock screen changes.

Apple released the first public beta of iOS 26 on July 24, more than a month after the company announced the next iOS version at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. That

Visual Intelligence is getting a new screenshot search feature in iOS 26, giving the iPhone it's own version of Google's Circle to Search.

iOS 26 brings a new translucent "Liquid Glass" look, the latest on-device Apple Intelligence perks (real-time translation and a smarter Visual Intelligence search ), and phone and text upgrades like built-in call screening and in-chat polls.