Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025 opened on June 9 with a feature-packed keynote that laid out the company’s next-generation software updates. Held at Apple Park in Cupertino in California and streamed live to developers and fans worldwide, the event served as a showcase of Apple’s evolving vision for its ecosystem — combining sleek new designs, smarter interfaces, and more powerful AI capabilities.
Traditionally used to engage the developer community and introduce early software builds, WWDC has become one of Apple’s most anticipated events of the year. This year’s keynote focused on enhancements across Apple’s operating systems — including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS — as well as new developer tools and AI integration.
Here’s a rundown of the most notable announcements from the WWDC 2025 keynote:
Apple is shifting from version numbers to year-based naming for its software platforms. Starting this year, we’ll see iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. This change aims to simplify version tracking and align all platforms under a single naming system.
Developer betas for these systems are already available, with public rollouts scheduled for autumn 2025.
Apple introduced a major visual overhaul across its platforms with the new Liquid Glass aesthetic — a semi-translucent design that adds fluidity and depth to user interfaces. Elements such as buttons, sliders, and media controls now feature layered transparency and smoother animations.
On iOS 26, the lock screen adopts this design with translucent date, time, and notification previews that blend into the wallpaper. The effect is meant to create a more immersive and visually unified experience across devices.
Several default apps received significant updates:
Safari now offers a full-screen browsing experience, maximising content visibility.
Camera features a simplified layout with photo and video as primary options, with swipe gestures revealing additional modes like Cinematic and Slow-Mo.
Phone app gets a unified view that combines favourites, recents, and voicemail into a single scrollable panel, while tabs for keypad, contacts, and calls remain at the bottom.
iPadOS 26 brings more desktop-style features to the iPad. Users can now resize and freely position app windows, making multitasking more flexible. A refined pointer system and a swipe-down menu bar enhance usability, especially for power users.
A version of the Mac’s Preview app is also arriving on iPad, offering tools for viewing and annotating PDFs and images.
The Messages app now supports custom chat backgrounds, typing indicators in group chats, and in-chat polls. A new message screening feature automatically filters texts from unknown senders into a separate folder, helping users reduce spam and distractions.
Apple announced a new Games app — a central hub for browsing, playing, and discovering Apple Arcade titles. The Library tab allows users to manage downloads from the App Store, while the Play Together option helps friends challenge each other in multiplayer games.
macOS 26, codenamed Tahoe, introduces a more powerful Spotlight with personalisation, filtering, and the ability to perform contextual actions like emailing or creating notes.
Other updates include:
Arrival of the new Phone and Games apps.
Support for iPhone Live Activities, allowing dynamic updates on Mac lock screens and widgets.
The Apple Vision Pro headset, which launched earlier this year, is gaining support for PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers, broadening its gaming compatibility.
The new features include:
Scroll navigation using gaze detection (look up or down).
Persistent spatial widgets that reappear when the user dons the headset.
A new AI capability called Apple Intelligence allows users to interact with on-screen content. Triggered via the screenshot shortcut, it lets users ask questions about what’s on display or search for related items using services like ChatGPT, Google, or Etsy.
Apple also announced that its on-device large language model will be opened to developers, enabling third-party apps to tap into the same AI capabilities while maintaining Apple’s privacy-first approach.
The Apple Watch now supports a `wrist flick' gesture to dismiss notifications. An AI-powered Workout Buddy offers real-time, personalised advice based on activity data, aiming to make workouts more adaptive and motivating.
Apple is integrating live translation into FaceTime, Messages, and Phone apps:
In FaceTime: real-time subtitles.
In Messages: automatic text translation.
In Phone: live voice translation of speech during calls.
New features coming to select AirPods models (AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4, and AirPods 4 with ANC) include:
Camera control: Take a photo on iPhone or iPad by tapping the AirPods’ stem.
Studio-quality voice recording: AI-driven noise isolation for clearer vocal capture in loud environments.
While AI featured prominently, Apple also reaffirmed its commitment to developers. The company is making the on-device Apple Intelligence model accessible via new APIs, enabling developers to build smarter, faster apps without compromising user privacy.
With WWDC 2025, Apple signalled a new phase where design, AI, and cross-device synergy are central to its software future. The event underscored Apple’s continued strategy of iterative hardware evolution, underpinned by meaningful software innovations that keep users deeply embedded in its ecosystem.
