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Apple Music: AutoMix and lyrics tranlations.

Maps: I like the new UI better.

CarPlay: incoming phone calls no longer taking over the whole screen and live activity display are very handy.
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.
 
Something I forgot to mention in my earlier reply - I love the big clock. The way it shrinks down when there's notifications perfect, the way it can be partially obscured by objects in the photo, 10/10 execution on the Lock Screen.
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.
 
If More Personal Siri and RCS UP 3.x never comes to iOS 18, I will update eventually. But until then, the only real features in iOS 26 are call screening and visual intelligence in screenshots. Most everything else is a cosmetic change.
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.
 
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What do you like in iOS26 better than iOS 18?​


The photos app - that's it!

[edit] The photos app from iOS 17 is still waaayyy better!
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)
IMG_2989.jpeg


IMG_0050.jpeg
 
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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.
 
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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.
 
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!

View attachment 2536092
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.
 
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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.
 
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