I finally installed iOS 26 on my iPhone - it's mostly good, except for the Camera app
Why I'm hoping one rumour comes true for iOS 27
At the end of May, I installed iOS 26.5 on my iPhone. That may be irrelevant to some reading this, but I've refused to install the update on my phone ever since I saw the announcement at WWDC 25 (Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference). It featured illegible icons and baffling design choices in every screenshot I saw, along with a bunch of bugs that many would share via Mastodon in the intervening months. Because of what I'd see, I held back.
However, I installed Beta 1 of iPadOS 26 to track how the update would roll out over the year. I'd come across some strange bugs, such as windows resizing to strange shapes, Safari crashing, and plenty of buttons that looked far too transparent to use. But once 26.5 arrived in early May, I began to see some big improvements on my iPad - such as fewer bugs and faster animations.
Because of this, I decided to install the update on my iPhone, and so far, it's been fine to use, but I have spotted a few things that Apple should hopefully be solving with iOS 27.
Through the Looking Liquid Glass
This won't be a deep dive into 'what I like and don't like' about iOS 26. Essentially, I like what I see. The feedback by users seems to have been taken on board by Apple, and the bugs and illegibilities I've seen since September have mostly gone away. I like the new navigation bar at the bottom of almost every app, with some clean animations, especially the new address bar design in Safari. I even like the pseudo-3D effect for the widgets.
iOS 26 also tells me who's calling from an unknown number, which is incredibly helpful, as these have increased recently. I like the new features in Messages, too, such as customisable backgrounds and the ability to create polls, so I can see which Metal Gear Solid game Matt Birchler truly prefers.
But beyond this, I don't see a massive change compared to the one that happened from iOS 6 to iOS 7. Liquid Glass feels like an evolution of what we've had since 2013, and whilst many apps have been updated to mirror Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for iOS 26, it doesn't feel like a huge leap from what came before, leaving me wondering if this redesign was even needed.
Nevertheless, there are two big things I'd like to see in iOS 27, one of which looks to be fixed if the rumors are true. First, the period between swiping down to reveal your lock screen and covering your iPhone is far too transparent. When you've got a bunch of notifications you want to get to, they blend in too much with whatever you were doing previously. Let's see a more-tinted appearance here.
However, the biggest issue for me is the Camera app, which feels like a regression, more than an improvement. Since becoming a Dad in 2023, I understandably take far more photos than before. I've gotten used to tapping the lens I want, switching between video and portrait modes, as well as swapping between aspect ratios, so I can print out certain shots.
Yet the camera app in iOS 26 adds a few more taps and swipes than required, and it's bizarre. For example, if I want to select the aspect ratio, I need to swipe up from the bottom, which brings up a menu. Then I have to tap 'Aspect Ratio' to select the one I want, instead of swiping. It's slow and frustrating for those quick moments, as I've found myself swiping back to the home screen as the two gestures are too close to one another.
Even swiping between Photo, Portrait, Video, and the rest feels slower. Why do I have to swipe to get the one I want? Everything just feels slower and too simplistic, which is why the rumors of the app in iOS 27 give me hope. Allegedly, you'll be able to place widgets at the top and bottom of the viewfinder, meaning my frustrating swipes will be a thing of the past.
But for a company that has invested so much into the iPhone's camera capabilities, to bring out a simplistic Camera app that adds unnecessary swipes feels over-engineered, and a strange decision for the team.
Apart from these two issues, iOS 26.5 feels like the release that should have been made available last year, which brings me to another thought - enough of the yearly release cycles.
Annual releases are so 2016
I've recently been asking myself - what is the point of a major software release every year? I've covered multiple iOS updates throughout the years - from its announcements to the final release at the end of the year. But the rush towards launch day is always manic - with developers ensuring that their app updates go live in time for Apple's short period of new software and hardware products.
And it's ridiculous. All of us in every industry are seeing the results of these yearly cycles, with longstanding bugs, sections of macOS and iOS feeling underdeveloped, and other features being held back for later updates. Think back to when the iPhone 16 line came out, with its disastrously misleading 'Ready for Apple Intelligence' ad campaign. However, much of what was shown at WWDC 24, we're apparently seeing at WWDC next week, two whole years later.
If you remove Apple Intelligence from iOS 18, it brings a redesigned Control Center, better ways of customising the Home and Lock Screens, and, of course, a redesigned Calculator app. If you count from its September 2024 release date, I've been using iOS 18 for almost two years. I haven't felt like I've been missing out, and iOS 26.5 feels like a good, stable release that should have launched with the iPhone 17 lineup.
In addition, we're still seeing issues with macOS Tahoe - an update that was clearly left behind so other teams could focus on shipping iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 in time. Apple is a multi-trillion-dollar company - Steve Jobs' statement on thinking of it as a start-up is not relevant anymore.
Let's see a two-year gap with major releases. Not only does it give the teams at Apple space to breathe, letting them refine new and existing features, but it also lets developers focus on other things, without spending much of August and September finalising their apps so they can submit them to the App Store.
For now, I'm relatively happy with iOS 26.5, but I'm sure if I had updated my iPhone last September with iOS 26, I wouldn't have said the same.
But some issues need fixing. Illegibility is a big thing, and as I was about to hit publish on this, I've begun to notice some widgets, such as Calendar and Battery, not updating like they used to. Lee Peterson has been documenting his time with iOS 26, and he's right - there needs to be a focus at WWDC on refinements instead of AI features. An acknowledgement from the team that its software needs a slight step back in features and more towards optimisations would go a long way. Overall, I'm happy with what iOS 26 brings to my iPhone - I just want a better camera app that offers fewer swipes to get to certain toggles.
I'm going to Cupertino for WWDC 26. I won't be at Apple Park, but I will be at several events across the week. I'll even have Springboard stickers ready to hand out. If you'd like to chat to me about an app you're working on, or even sponsorship opportunities, get in touch.
