- Apple’s iOS 26 update introduced a new Liquid Glass design
- There are also lots of little changes to be found in the software upgrade
- Here are five of the most useful smaller iOS 26 changes
If you watched Apple’s WWDC 2025 event earlier this week, the Liquid Glass redesign is probably the thing that leapt out the most to you. But despite the understandable airtime it got, it’s far from the most significant change to Apple’s iPhone operating system.
The iOS 26 update is packed with useful tweaks and changes that do far more than a visual overhaul ever could. We’ve covered the big ones in our iOS 26 roundup, but with the developer beta now out in the wild, some smaller quality-of-life changes have emerged.
Here, we’ve gathered five of those smaller, unheralded features that we think we will impact you much more than the Apple’s Liquid Glass redesign…
1. Banish spam voicemails
Spam is the bane of any phone user, and sometimes it feels like there’s very little you can actually do about it. But Apple is hoping to change that in iOS 26, as it’s giving you the ability to report spam voicemails from your iPhone.
The feature is simple to use. If you get a voicemail left by an unknown number, you just need to tap into the message and you’ll see a “Report Spam” button. Pick that and it’s sent to Apple (likely to help improve its detection, although Apple hasn’t confirmed that yet).
You can then report the voicemail as spam and keep it on your device, or report it and delete it forever. Combined with iOS 26’s Call Screening feature, this will hopefully help you deal with unwanted calls and messages a little more easily.
2. Upgraded boarding passes
Apple’s Wallet app has been able to store boarding passes for a while, and it’s a useful way to quickly present your travel info in an airport without needing to print anything on paper. In iOS 26, though, boarding passes just became a whole lot more capable.
With the update, virtual boarding passes can now give you directions to your terminal and help you find your luggage if it’s been paired with an AirTag or other tracker.
Boarding passes now offer Live Activities, too, and these show flight progress, arrival gate number, baggage claim info, and much more.
3. Custom your snooze timers
Sometimes, you just need a little extra sleep in the mornings. If your iPhone alarm goes off, you’ve long had the option to snooze it in iOS, but that function has always given you exactly nine minutes more to doze – nothing more, nothing less.
In iOS 26, you can customize the snooze duration to your needs, with options ranging from one to 15 minutes. That should give you plenty of flexibility to get a little extra kip on your own terms.
4. Apple Intelligence in Shortcuts
Shortcuts is already one of the smartest apps on your iPhone, and it’s just had another boost in iOS 26 thanks to deep integration with Apple Intelligence, Apple’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
You can now incorporate AI directly into your workflows, with options like comparing two input documents, generating an image, or using Visual Intelligence.
There’s an option to tap into Apple’s on-device processing, use the company’s Private Cloud Compute, or hand off to ChatGPT. And there are a bunch of pre-made shortcuts that showcase some of Apple Intelligence’s abilities, too.
5. Apple Music Lock Screen animations
When you’re playing music from the Apple Music app on your iPhone, iOS 26 will present a new visual treat on your Lock Screen. By default, you’ll see the track’s album art, but if it has an animated version, a quick tap on it will start the animation on your display.
This effect requires the album or single to have an animated cover in the first place, and not all tracks come with this functionality. You’ll also need to do it in Apple Music, as it doesn’t work with Spotify. Still, it’s a neat bit of visual flair to go along with your favorite music.
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