Our Pick of the Best of WWDC 2025

After last year’s WWDC, where Apple promised a sweeping wave of Apple Intelligence upgrades, some of which are still MIA, this year felt like a reset.

At WWDC 2025, Apple hit pause on the hype machine and shifted gears with a much more grounded focus: design. And not just any design, this year, it’s all about what Apple is calling Liquid Glass UI, a unified redesign that stretches across iPhones, iPads, Macs and even Apple TV. This redesign has been described as the biggest update to iOS since iOS 7 in 2013. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the most interesting announcements and updates from WWDC 2025 from the iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, WatchOS, VisionOS, and tvOS.

iOS 26

Liquid Glass UI

The new look is one of the first things you notice: a translucent, reflective aesthetic that’s now everywhere: app icons, widgets, controls, even the lock screen. It looks polished, sure, but how much it improves usability remains questionable. Some elements now float, shrink, and adapt as you scroll or move your phone, but it can feel more style than substance. Even basic apps like Camera and Photos got redesigned, though it’s mostly about layout tweaks, not new features.

Smarter Call Filtering

The Phone app, a staple of the iPhone experience, also gets a refresh that’s more functional than flashy. Apple added Call Screening, a feature Android users have had for years. It lets unknown callers leave a reason for the call, and Hold Assist keeps your place in a queue until a human picks up. Handy, though not revolutionary. Message screening was also added, it helps filter out unknown senders, but again, it’s long overdue.

iPadOS 26

Next-gen Windowing

Apple’s been promising desktop-level multitasking for a while, and Next-gen Windowing gets them closer, sort of. You can now resize, tile, and move windows freely. It’s useful, but doesn’t fundamentally change how the iPad works.

Smart Menu Bar

Another iPad-first feature is the new Smart Menu Bar. Swipe down from the top of any app or hover your mouse there and you’ll see available commands neatly laid out. If you’re ever unsure what a feature does, you can search directly within the menu for guidance. It could bring a desktop-level control system to the iPad, without sacrificing its simplicity.

MacOS Tahoe 26

Phone app on Mac

Thanks to Continuity, your iPhone’s phone capabilities are now fully live on your Mac. That means you can take calls, check voicemails, and view recents without ever picking up your phone. The interface is identical to what you’d expect on your iPhone, and yes features like Call Screening and Hold Assist are baked in, too.

Spotlight 2.0

Spotlight 2.0 is where things get interesting. It now surfaces files, actions, and shortcuts in one place, and even lets you perform tasks without switching apps. It’s powerful, though how many people will actually use it beyond basic searches remains to be seen.

VisionOS 26

Spatial Widgets (That Actually Live in Your Space Now)

If you’ve used Vision Pro before, you know how weirdly detached widgets have felt, just floating in space like a UI demo. In visionOS 26, that’s changing. Now you can anchor widgets anywhere around your room. Like placing your weather widget hovering near your window.

Even better, you can customise the frame width, color, and even depth. It’s a small shift, but it makes widgets feel less like mini screens and more like part of your environment. This is the kind of update you don’t realise you needed until you try it.

Shared Spatial Experiences with PS VR2 Controller Support

Normally, playing VR and AR games is a bit clunky without proper controllers—it’s either more challenging or less precise.

On this note, Apple’s Vision Pro is getting official support for the PlayStation VR2 Sense controller, which brings finger tracking, haptics, and full 6DoF movement into the mix. This gives gamers and developers more accurate control and opens the door for shared experiences like multi-user workspaces, collaborative games, and co-watching apps.

Compared to the isolated, single-user feel Vision Pro had at launch, this could open things up in a big way.

WatchOS 26

Workout Buddy

Apple Intelligence is starting to show its usefulness here. Workout Buddy in watchOS 26 reads through your old data—pace, distance, heart rate, goals—and gives you contextual feedback before, during, and after your workouts.

Start a run, and you’ll get a short motivation boost based on your past sessions. End it, and you get a personalised recap. Compared to the old setup where your watch mostly tracked data without much follow-up, this feels like a smart layer of coaching.

It’s not as detailed as something from WHOOP or Garmin yet, but it’s a solid first step from Apple in that direction.

Notes App Finally Comes to the Wrist

This has been a long time coming. With watchOS 26, you can now open and dictate Notes directly on your Apple Watch.

Before this, if you had a quick thought mid-run or during a commute, you’d either forget it or fumble for your phone. Now? Just tap and talk.

tvOS 26

FaceTime on Apple TV Gets an Upgrade

For most of us who love communicating through calls, if you’ve ever FaceTimed on both iPhone and Mac, you can tell the difference instantly. The phone feels personal. The Mac feels productive. But on Apple TV? It used to feel like an awkward in-between, a blown-up iPhone call stretched across your living room.

That’s changing with tvOS 26. FaceTime on Apple TV finally feels like it belongs there. Camera framing is sharper, transitions are smoother, and the layout adapts better to a big screen. Group calls from your couch no longer feel like a workaround—they actually feel intentional. Like FaceTime was designed for this setting, not just ported to it.

Automatic Profile Switching

This one’s all about reducing friction. When you power on your Apple TV, it now boots directly into your profile without clicks.

Your Up Next queue, watch history, playlists, and apps are all ready to go the moment you sit down. For anyone sharing their TV with roommates or family, this little change makes a big difference. It finally respects the idea that a “smart TV” should be smart enough to know who’s using it.

Conclusion

While this year’s event isn’t anything like last year, where it was all innovation, AI, and hype, WWDC 2025 takes a more subtle, almost introspective turn. Less about moonshots, more about the stuff that changes how you use your devices day to day.

From Liquid Glass UI to smarter multitasking, anchored spatial widgets, and actual coaching on your wrist, it feels like Apple isn’t just building for the future and finally tightening the screws on the present.

With most of these features rolling out in beta by next month, you can’t help but wonder: are they starting to listen to what people want? Maybe.

Or maybe this is Apple doing what Apple does best, taking its time, polishing the basics, and letting the hype catch up later.

WWDC25: The 10 biggest changes coming to your iPhone with iOS 26

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TechloyKelechi Edeh