As part of Apple’s Liquid Glass redesign, announced at WWDC 2025, the new iOS 26 will rework some native Apple features and apps.
The Lock Screen and Home Screen are getting updates that align with the overall aesthetic of Liquid Glass. On the Lock Screen, Apple is using a custom font called San Francisco to display the date and time. Then, depending on what image is chosen for the Lock Screen, the font will stretch to take up the space that’s available. For example, if you have a photo of your dog with the sky in the background, the time will stretch to fill up the sky without obscuring the photo of your dog.
Lock Screen images can also now appear more animated with an AI-powered 3D effect, which Apple SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi described as “bringing favorite memories to life.” As you move your iPhone around in your hand, the subject of your background will appear to pop out from the rest of the image.
On the Home Screen, Apple will continue offering users ways to customize the appearances of app icons. As part of the Liquid Glass redesign, Apple will redesign many native app icons, intentionally designing them so that they look good in dark mode or in a new all-clear look.
When you’re listening to music with your screen locked, you may be able to see animated representations of the music, which is similar to a feature Spotify already has. For example, an artist might upload a short clip from a music video that loops seamlessly, which would then display on the lock screen.
Native iOS apps like Camera, Photos, Safari, FaceTime, Phone, and CarPlay will also get a bit of a makeover in iOS 26.
The Camera app will be more streamlined toward helping people navigate among often-used settings, like adjusting the brightness or aperture of a photo, or toggling between photo mode and video mode.
Apple is also updating the Photos app to bring back tabs to toggle between the library and collections, which Federighi said many users missed when it was removed in a recent update.
In the Safari redesign, web pages will flow edge-to-edge on the screen.
FaceTime will get a new landing page that shows personalized contact posters for people you frequently talk to, which includes video messages from those contacts that autoplay as you scroll.
The Phone app’s updates are similar to FaceTime’s updates in that they emphasize putting the people you talk to most front and center. Instead of having favorites on a separate tab from the contacts list, the new design combines the two tabs while bringing favorites to the front.
These updates also extend to Apple CarPlay. Now, users can display widgets, tapback on messages, and pin conversations. These widgets might include flight status, for example, which would allow a driver to easily see a friend’s flight status as they drive to the airport.