Your iPhone is getting smarter and will soon look completely different

Do you have an iPhone? Then your smartphone will get a complete makeover from September and you will be able to use AI even better.

Apple unveiled iOS 26 during its own developer event WWDC: the new operating system for the iPhone. This system gets a completely new look and also introduces a number of important functions.

This will provide you with even better protection against unsolicited callers and will now filter spam much more effectively.

What immediately stands out is that Apple is giving the iPhone a new look. According to the company, this is the biggest metamorphosis in years. Apple calls the new style Liquid Glass and that name covers it well. Menus become transparent, so that the content you are viewing always remains visible. This should make the system feel more natural.

The new look also makes room for new tabs and buttons, making it easier to navigate your iPhone. On your lock screen, the clock slides below your photo, and notifications slide your image up, so you can always see your photo.

It is already possible to use Apple Intelligence on your iPhone, but you have to set your device to another language, such as English or German. Soon that will no longer be necessary, because Dutch will also be supported from iOS 26. This means that you can simply control Apple's AI in your own language.

You will soon be able to give Apple Intelligence commands, similar to ChatGPT. Apple's own photo AI, Visual Intelligence, will also be significantly improved. This will allow you to take a screenshot and immediately search for information on the image. Think of a lamp or piece of clothing, for example. This works in much the same way as Google's Circle to Search.

Apple Intelligence also brings another interesting feature to your iPhone: Call Screening. Unknown callers first hear a kind of voicemail in which they have to say who they are and why they are calling. Your iPhone converts this message into text on your screen, after which you can decide whether to accept the call. This way you can immediately see whether you are dealing with a scammer, or whether it is, for example, the family doctor calling from an unknown number.

Do you have family or friends abroad, or do you want to call your holiday destination? That will also become a lot easier, because via Apple Intelligence you can have conversations and chats translated live. During a video call, the translation appears at the top of your screen and during a regular phone call, the iPhone can even play a spoken translation. In 'Messages' you can also have chats translated automatically.

All of these features will be part of iOS 26. The public beta will be available for download from July. However, this is still a test version and may contain bugs. You can find the beta by going to Settings > General > Software Update on your iPhone. The final version is expected in September, to coincide with the unveiling of the new iPhones.

iOS 26 is available for iPhone 11 and later, so you don't need a new device. Please note that not all iPhones support Apple Intelligence or AI features. These are only available on iPhone 15 Pro models and all iPhone 16 variants.

Want to know which iPhone charging tricks work and which don't? Read this Metro article .

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