There’s a lot to unpack every year at WWDC so I’ve been scouring the net to find all kinds of small features that didn’t get mentioned during the main keynote presentation.
1. AirPods automatically pause content when you fall asleep
If you listen to audiobooks before bed with AirPods you know the struggle of waking up and having to try and find the last part of the book you remember. With iOS 26 AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 (anything with a H2 chip) can automatically pause your audio when it detects you’ve fallen asleep.
There appears to be a new setting in the iOS battery menu that allows you to turn on an adaptive mode that will learn about your usage and dial back power accordingly throughout the day to make sure you don’t run out earlier than you expect. When you have this enabled it will automatically turn on Low Power Mode when your phone hits 20 per cent.
Now within apps on iOS the Home Bar toggle used for navigation will disappear after a little bit making the app appear with fewer distractions.
4. You can now set AirPlay speakers as your default audio output on an Apple TV
If you have a newer Apple TV 4K model that can run tvOS 26 you’ll be able to set an AirPlay speaker like a Sonos device as your default audio device. Previously this was limited exclusively to HomePods.
5. The iPhone camera tells you to clean your lens
To help combat washed-out photos on the iPhone, iOS 26 will show users a little warning when their lenses are smudged or dirty.
6. You can select partial text in an iMessage bubble
You no longer need to copy/paste a whole chat bubble and can now select part of a sentence when using the Apple Messages app. To do this tap and hold on a bubble and choose the ‘Select’ option.
7. macOS 26 gets a clipboard history
You can now use Spotlight Search on a Mac to see things you’ve previously copy/pasted.
8. You can check the weather via satellite connectivity
When you’re camping somewhere remote without cell service you can now use Apple’s satellite connection feature on the iPhone 14 or newer to send messages, call emergency services or check the weather.
9. The second hand is supported on the always-on display of more watch faces
Apple has been slowly updating its older watch faces with a second hand that will work on your watch’s always-on display. Now the California, Utility, Activity Analog, Colour, GMT, Infograph and more are supported. In total, there are now 19 faces that support the feature and there are 13 with second hands that are still not supported. Perhaps all will come throughout the beta though
10. Five watch faces were removed from the Apple Wach
It’s not all good news for Apple Watch fans. The company has pulled the Fire/Water, Gradient, liquid Metal, Vapour and toy Story faces.
11. There is a new Emoji themed game for Apple News+ subscribers
This game is kind of like a madlibs-styled puzzle game where you’re using emojis to fill in the blank spaces.
12. Slide Over multitasking has been removed from iPadOS
Apple’s first real crack at multitasking was letting two apps side by side while having a third hovering above that could be tucked behind the edge of the screen until needed. With the new Mac-inspired multitasking layout this feature has been axed.
13. You can set custom snooze lengths in the Clock app
If you need a little extra time to sleep in each morning, this one is for you.
14. There are now six different app icon formats
Standard light mode, standard dark, clear, clear dark, tinted, and tinted dark.
15. The Passwords app shows password history
Now the app will also keep track of your older passwords so you don’t reuse them.
16. You can colour folders and add emojis to them on Mac and iPad
Now you can personalize folders to make it easier to see at a glance where your products are.
17. Your iPhone will show you how much longer until it’s charged on the lock screen
When your phone is plugged in it shows how many more minutes it will take for the battery to reach 80 per cent. If you want to dive deeper into the charging stats you need to go into the battery settings.
18. Reminders can get AI suggestions
If you’re reading a recipe online, you can now open up the share menu in Safari and select Reminders. Once you do this it will make a list and use Apple Intelligence to read the webpage and suggest adding all the ingredients to that list. It’s unclear how well this works or what kinds of websites it works well for.
People with Apple’s mixed reality headset can finally move their apps into folder which should help with orginization in the headset.
20. You can snap windows onto walls in visionOS 26
Holding down on the bar you use to move windows will now bring up a lock icon that will snap your window to the nearest wall.
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