iOS 26 Review: Apple Embarks On A New Era Of Mobile Software – BGR

After three months of beta testing, Apple has finally released iOS 26 to the public. The most important update to iOS since iOS 7 got off to a rough start due to controversies regarding its most important feature, the Liquid Glass design, but by the time Apple seeded the Release Candidate version following its fall press event, everything seemed to be falling into place.

Unlike in previous years, Apple is not just revamping some parts of the software, but the entire iOS experience. Of course, it will still feel very familiar to users, but Apple is signposting the evolution of its software by jumping from iOS 18 to iOS 26 — both to bring a new level of consistency between all of its software and to make it clear that significant changes are in store.

In our iOS 26 review, we discuss the good, the bad, and the in-between of Apple’s latest iPhone software update based on the past three months of beta testing, as well as how the Release Candidate version has managed ahead of the update’s official release.

Looking back to when Jony Ive introduced iOS 7 all those years ago, you probably remember how different the experience felt once it became available compared to iOS 6. That said, you won’t have the same feeling with iOS 26. Yes, it’s “beautiful, delightful, and instantly familiar,” as Apple says. Users are going to see a lot of different tweaks between the Lock Screen, Home Screen, Control Center, app designs, and even new ringtones.

However, this is not a completely new experience. That said, the user experience from one Apple device to the next will feel more similar, as the Mac added many features and design elements from iOS and iPadOS, while iPadOS moved a bit closer to macOS.

More than that, the experience on all of the “26” updates feels even more interactive, and paying attention to the little details of how toggles switch or how you slide your finger across some pages will be refreshing, even if you’re not upgrading to the shiny iPhone 17 models.

For the majority of the WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple focused on the new Liquid Glass design. Besides the major design change, the most important features arriving in iOS 26 are related to Apple Intelligence.

With a more realistic outlook on AI integration following a disastrous introduction, Apple introduced AI features in iOS 26 that are actually available on day one. Some of the most interesting features are onscreen ChatGPT awareness, which lets you talk to AI about what’s on your screen, the ability to create a Genmoji by combining two emojis, and an AI-powered Shortcuts app that lets you create your own Apple Intelligence chatbot.

Apple is also going all in with a Live Translation feature in Phone, FaceTime, and Messages. Visual Intelligence now looks a lot like Google’s Circle to Search, and users will soon see several apps with Apple Intelligence features. That said, while Apple continues to improve Apple Intelligence with useful abilities, Siri is still a daily struggle. My most common issue with the personal assistant is asking it to play a playlist or my songs on shuffle and getting the following message: “Sorry, something went wrong.” We need the smarter Siri as soon as possible.

iOS 26 won’t be as much of a breakthrough update if you’re not deeply integrated in Apple’s ecosystem. For example, iMessage added polls, background support, and the ability to screen new senders. These are all great additions if Messages is your texting app of choice.

Apple Music now has Lyrics Translation and Lyrics Pronunciation for a few different languages, users can auto-pin their favorite media on the Apple Music library, and a new feature brings animated covers of albums to the Lock Screen. That said, if you’re using Spotify or another music streaming service, you might not even notice that these features exist.

However, I’d like to point out how poorly AutoMix worked during my tests. This Apple Music feature is meant to serve as a virtual DJ that mixes one song into the next, but it rarely seems to pick up on songs that have endings the listener might want to hear, and sometimes you’ll start hearing the voices of different singers simultaneously because the feature is starting the mix too quickly. That said, this might work better for electronic music. For songs with lyrics, it might be best to just turn this feature off.

During these past three months, iOS 26 has been draining my iPhone’s battery at an alarming rate. The company’s new Adaptive Power Mode didn’t do much besides letting me know that I was using my iPhone a lot and turning on Low Power Mode when hitting 20% battery life. I have had this feature on for the past month, but I honestly haven’t noticed much difference when it’s turned off.

That said, after updating to the iOS 26 Release Candidate version, the battery life on my iPhone 16 Pro Max seems to closer to when I was on iOS 18. Again, this doesn’t mean I don’t have to charge my iPhone before the day ends, but at least iPhone owners can expect to have a similar experience to what they’re used to once they update.

It’s also important to note that iOS 26 RC has been very reliable overall, and there haven’t been any major bugs or issues impacting the use of the software. While we still need to see developers updating their apps to support the new software, there aren’t any massive problems plaguing the update for those who decide to update on day one.

As mentioned above, yes, you should install iOS 26. It runs on iPhone 11 or newer devices, and Apple did a great job with this update. While Liquid Glass gives us a glimpse of Apple’s vision of the future, don’t expect huge changes to how you interact with your iPhone.

Over the past few months, I’ve been showing iOS 26 to my friends and they haven’t been very impressed with the changes, even though most of them liked the new Lock Screen revamp with a bigger clock and the new Clear icons.

iOS 26 is a no-brainer upgrade, and it’s all about making Apple’s software more cohesive across all of its hardware. I’m excited about the upcoming updates, as the company has yet to reveal what else it has planned for this cycle, since it hasn’t announced any of the features that wouldn’t be ready for the first version of iOS 26. We’ll be back with more in the weeks and months ahead.