Apple’s WWDC25 was unexpectedly less about hardware and more about harmony. The Cupertino company took the stage with a clear message that while life is complicated, your tech should not be. With no new devices on display, the spotlight shifted instead to software — specifically, a unified, more elegant experience across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Vision Pro.
Leading the charge at WWDC25 is a new visual language Apple calls Liquid Glass. It’s not actual glass per se, though Apple describes it as both expressive and familiar to the current OS design where a singular dynamic material reflects and refracts its environment, adapting in real-time to enhance focus and clarity for users. And it’s spectacular — think of it as a living glass surface where it is adaptive, fluid, and visually responsive. Something that hasn’t quite been done before, and nothing quite like what we’ve seen from Apple in a while.
But what has caught the attention of Apple’s fans is that the new OS design forms not only the backbone of the newly-introduced iOS 26, but also the iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26, marking the first time a design language has flowed seamlessly across all Apple platforms with 26 as a marker for the brand’s new streamline of its OS-naming conventions. According to Alan Dye, Apple’s VP of Human Interface Design, the overhaul reimagines the fundamentals of the interface to make even the smallest interactions feel, in his words, “more fun and magical.”
Apple is giving iPad users more room to work, and more control over how they do it. With iPadOS 26, the company is introducing a powerful new windowing system that blends desktop-style multitasking with the intuitive feel iPad users expect. At the heart of the update is a major rethink of how apps behave in a multitasking environment. Users can now freely resize app windows, position them anywhere on the screen, and keep multiple windows open at once. Familiar controls like close, minimise and resize are now built-in, and window tiling tailored specifically for iPad aids users snap apps into place with just a flick. For those who’ve resized an app before, iPadOS remembers their preferences and reopens it in the same size and position. And with the inclusion of the Preview app, the iPad will be as close to a MacBook than before.
Continuity between devices continues to tighten its grip. The iPhone’s Phone app is now available on Mac, and Live Activities from your phone can pop up on your Mac, letting you take action without switching screens, or even lifting your phone. Those who are on Apple’s latest Macbook Air with the M4 chip knows just how well this works, and the new upgrade makes it all even more seamless.
Under the hood, WWDC25 also highlights just how Apple Intelligence also gets smarter. New features like Live Translation break down language barriers on the fly whether you’re chatting, texting, or just trying to make yourself understood. Genmoji and Image Playground receive playful upgrades, while visual intelligence now extends to whatever’s on your screen. Users can search, shop, or get AI-powered insight, via ChatGPT or Google Gemini. based on what they’re viewing in real-time.
Even old apps are getting a glow-up. WWDC25 shows just how the Phone app introduces a cleaner, all-in-one layout that merges Favourites, Recents, and Voicemail. Call Screening, a long-awaited feature, answers unknown numbers on your behalf and summarises the caller’s intent, sparing you awkward guesswork. Messages, too, get more social with custom chat backgrounds, message screening, and quick polls to rally group consensus without any need to switch between apps.
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