I updated the wife's iPhone yesterday. I'm on IOS 26 B4, She's still on 18.6. 18.6 now looks ancient.
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What do you like in iOS26 better than iOS 18?
- Thread starter miamialley
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Yeah, it's interesting how quick that happens - especially as (until I installed iOS/MacOS 26) I really liked iOS 18 and Sequoia!
I would say those are improvements. I've started using Google Maps lately. The satellite view is really useful. Also the perspective is not top down like in Apple Maps when not navigating.
I fully agree. I switched to a photo wallpaper that rotates, and I love it! The dynamic clock changes with the photos and it always brings a little jolt of joy.
umm, maybe the big clock on the lock screen?
Regarding liquid glass, I find pretty ugly and dated, like an Android theme back in the day.
Regarding liquid glass, I find pretty ugly and dated, like an Android theme back in the day.
There is no chance in hell that Siri upgrades or UP 3.0 hits anything but future updates (e.g. 26.x or 27+).
On topic: this might sound crazy but the absolute best thing for me in 26 are the design tweaks to the Messages app (the chat bubble look and the animation for chat bubbles being sent causing the text input box to glow with the bubble forming behind it, like a lightning flash) and the group chat typing indicators. So far I could only see typing indicators in RCS group chats though.
The photos app is better, except there is no avatar at the top to pause, or check icloud sync status. You have to choose Collections to get the avatar (FB left)
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The more lively and whimsical feel to the OS harkening back the early OS X days, the lock screen widgets at the bottom, the quick toggle for adding Reminders, shades of iOS 6 here and there. Looking forward to seeing how this refines itself in the future.
Apple used to develop things that worked like magic straight out of the box. Nowadays, they shamelessly push half-baked software, and it takes a year to run smoothly. iOS 18.6 runs like a magnetic levitation train, but it took them a year.
There’s little I like about iOS 26.
Maybe it’s time to climb over the walled garden and free myself from this dying nightmare of a company.
There’s little I like about iOS 26.
Maybe it’s time to climb over the walled garden and free myself from this dying nightmare of a company.
I absolutely love reading text, with other text half-blurred and stretched right behind it. It helps keep my brain and eyesight in check! It's not a bug, it's a feature!
Imagine sitting in a meeting with all the design nerds, being presented with this, and everyone nodding along, punching the air, and muttering: "Perfection!", "How did we not see this before!", "The users will love it!", "The future is blur!"
It's going to be interesting when this is released to the unsuspecting public. I have a feeling it won't be the air they're punching.
Notice that most every feature mentioned in this thread so far that people like are small cosmetic tweaks. Some small UI changes to Photos and Maps. Whatever. Saying you love a bigger clock is ridiculous. Not one person saying they can’t live without adaptive battery or call screening and would never go back because the old OS doesn’t have this. iOS 26 is such a nothing-burger.
I have 14 Pro Max and am still running iOS 17.7. I use my Photos app a lot, so have been very reluctant to upgrade. Is iOS 26 better than 17.7?
I like the design and the new features. I absolutely hate that the phone only lasts 5 hours instead of 17.
I have two phones, work and personal.. Work phone is on iOS 26 and personal on iOS 18....and iOS 26 looks dated to me, like it came from the era of vista and aqua...I didn't like transparency then, and I don't like it now.
As for what I DO like about iOS 26, the new call features are nice, and the simplified camera app. The RCS updates will be nice as my primary contact (wife) is an Android user.
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No, not really. I think 18.7.1 is great. RCS support and the other improvements to the Messages app, improvements to the Notes app, Calculator history, and Control Center customization were all very welcome updates. Granted, Apple Intelligence and some of the other changes were a dud (remember Safari Highlights?).
And it is funny because the actual cosmetic change is very controversial.
On features, I have my mind pretty made up about that. You probably know I never update. I occasionally see changes for which I say “that is cool, I’d like that”. But while I don’t have that many devices, my iOS versions are varied, as I never update.
I have my Xʀ on iOS 12. A 6s on iOS 10 and another one on iOS 13, etc. I have every version from iOS 10 to iOS 18 barring iOS 11, 16, and 17.
And you know the only feature I notice when I swap between devices? Dark mode, from my Xʀ on iOS 12 to my 16 Plus on iOS 18. That’s all.
Game mode, notes app features, calendar showing reminders, all small QoL updates from iOS 18. Everything from iOS 13 to 17.
I notice nothing. That’s why I’ve never been enticed by features. Because for all intents and purposes, I care more about perfect performance and battery life than 99% of the features Apple releases.
Others may care, of course.
The spam call feature on iOS 26 is cool. Would it be an absolutely massive game-changer? No. I don’t receive a whole lot of calls anyway. It’s cool, but deep down I don’t care about it anywhere near as much to sacrifice 20% of battery life for it.
Oh… and I notice the calculator on my 11th-gen iPad on iPadOS 18 vs my Air 5 on iPadOS 15. That’s all.
I miss the pre-iOS 16 clock.
I have it on my Xʀ on iOS 12 and my Air 5 on iPadOS 15. I miss it on my iOS 18 iPhone-iPad combo (16 Plus and 11th-gen).
"(The) ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea."
To name two updates:
1) the message app to me is better with some enhanced functionality
2) the spam calling feature
3) The outline around the buttons are also a cool visual feature
1) the message app to me is better with some enhanced functionality
2) the spam calling feature
3) The outline around the buttons are also a cool visual feature
