Whereas the brand new glass-like design often is the most seen change inside iOS 26, the working system additionally has 5 options that could be notably interesting for enterprise customers.
iOS 26 made its debut on June 9 at WWDC 2025, in a comparatively subdued keynote occasion. Whereas Apple put a powerful emphasis on its cross-platform “Liquid Glass” design language, there’s extra to iOS 26 than meets the attention.
A number of the upgrades and enhancements in iOS 26 assist you to specific your creativity extra simply, like the brand new ChatGPT-powered kinds for Picture Playground. Different options, in the meantime, will make it easier to get work accomplished, and so they could be particularly helpful for these within the enterprise world.
Cellphone screening and voicemail spam reporting
With iOS 26, Apple is stepping up its combat in opposition to spam calls and voice messages by means of enhancements and new choices within the Cellphone app.
iOS 26 has a brand new Name Screening characteristic that helps you filter out spam callers.
The iPhone maker has rolled out a brand new Name Screening characteristic, which saves you the trouble of answering calls from unknown numbers. It makes issues simpler, as you need not manually confirm whether or not or not the individual on the opposite line is somebody you wish to communicate with.
As an alternative, when an unknown quantity calls, your iPhone will immediate the caller to supply a reputation and a purpose for calling. That data is then relayed to the tip person, permitting for fast decision-making with successfully no effort.
Apple’s Name Screening characteristic helps filter interruptions, corresponding to telemarketers and scammers, with out blocking unknown cellphone numbers indiscriminately.
The decision screening characteristic is particularly helpful in case your cellphone quantity is publicly out there and affiliated with a enterprise, group, or different authorized entity.
The Cellphone app in iOS 26 additionally permits you to report spam voicemails on to Apple. If you happen to get a voicemail from an unknown quantity, tapping on the message now reveals a “Report Spam” button.
You now have the choice to report it and preserve the voicemail or report it and delete it. Both means, the message is flagged and despatched to Apple for evaluation.
These reviews do not routinely block the caller. You may nonetheless have to take that additional step manually, similar to earlier than. However the data may very well be used to enhance Apple’s filtering algorithms, particularly if numerous customers flag related messages.
Polls in Messages
Whereas the Messages app additionally has an identical spam-detection characteristic, it isn’t the one enchancment the app obtained with iOS 26.
The Messages app has a brand new ballot characteristic on iOS 26 and iPadOS 26.
There’s now a brand new choice to create polls inside group chats. These in-app polls assist you to suggest choices and solid votes, with out the trouble of downloading a separate app. It is all baked into iMessage.
With the brand new polling characteristic, it is attainable so as to add a number of choices, and all members of the group chat can vote, with outcomes showing in actual time. The in-app ballot functionality is supposed to be fast and intuitive, that means that utilizing it’s pretty easy.
Apple’s polling characteristic additionally leverages Apple Intelligence, the corporate’s on-device AI software program, out there on the iPhone 15 Professional and newer. When Apple Intelligence detects plan-related questions, you will routinely see an choice to create a ballot.
As an illustration, if somebody writes “What film ought to we see tonight?” the Messages app will immediate the person to arrange a ballot with steered titles. This solely works with iMessage, nevertheless, because the in-app ballot characteristic shouldn’t be out there for SMS or cross-platform chats.
Whereas apps like Telegram and WhatsApp have had polling options for years, their presence within the Message app makes issues a lot simpler for end-users, who now not have to take care of third-party apps only for polling choices.
The in-app ballot characteristic will enable for near-instant resolution making, whether or not you are discussing a enterprise technique with coworkers or planning with pals.
Stay Translation is now a system-wide characteristic
Additionally out there in Messages is Apple’s new Stay Translation characteristic, which helps customers break down language obstacles in actual time.
Stay Translation is obtainable in FaceTime, Messages, and the Cellphone app.
The corporate’s Stay Translation characteristic is powered by on-device AI processing fashions. It really works throughout first-party apps like FaceTime, Messages, and Cellphone. There’s even a brand new Name Translation API that builders can use for third-party purposes.
For instance, the Stay Translation characteristic can instantly translate textual content into different languages as you sort out a message in iMessage. As texts in different languages are available, the Apple Intelligence characteristic can immediately translate them for you.
In FaceTime, the characteristic offers reside captions throughout video calls. For audio-only calls, it might probably translate and communicate the dialog aloud.
The characteristic offers real-time, on-device interpretation of conversations with out sending knowledge to the cloud. Nevertheless, you will want an iPhone 15 Professional or newer to make use of Stay Translation, because the characteristic requires an Apple Intelligence-compatible machine.
Assist for languages varies by app, though Stay Translation is obtainable in three first-party purposes.
The supported languages differ by app. In Messages, reside translation works with English (U.S., UK), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Chinese language Simplified.
For Cellphone and FaceTime, help is narrower at launch. It is restricted to English (U.S., UK), French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Apple says extra languages shall be added by the tip of 2025.
Stay Translation is a significant improve for enterprise customers working throughout borders. It is also nice for vacationers or for speaking with members of the family from totally different components of the world.
Not like present standalone apps, Apple’s answer is embedded in on a regular basis communication instruments which are already current in iOS. The corporate’s Stay translation would not depend on cloud-based processing the best way Google and Samsung’s options do, both.
Messages now has typing indicators for group chats
Together with Stay Translation and enhanced spam-detection options, Apple’s Messages app has gained one other long-overdue enchancment — Typing indicators.
The Messages app in iOS 26 now shows typing indicators in group chats.
Whereas communication purposes corresponding to Slack, Discord, Fb Messenger, and WhatsApp have all had typing indicators for years, the characteristic was notably absent from iMessage.
With iOS 26, nevertheless, you will lastly be capable of know who’s typing at any given second. It will make group communication considerably simpler, with interactions being seen in real-time. It additionally works in one-on-one chats.
This characteristic is nice for enterprise customers with a number of iMessage group chats. It makes it simpler to manage the movement of a dialog, and provides perception into who’s actively taking part, or who could be hesitating to supply enter, or an concept.
Shortcuts are actually extra highly effective with Apple Intelligence
iOS 26 brings Shortcuts and Apple Intelligence nearer collectively, permitting you to finish duties with AI way more shortly.
The Shortcuts app in iOS 26 now helps Clever Actions, which leverage Apple Intelligence.
The entire Apple Intelligence instruments to date are actually out there in what Apple calls Clever Actions.
Within the first and second developer betas of iOS 26, the primary actions are:
- Change the tone of textual content
- Make record from textual content
- Make desk from textual content
- Proofread textual content
- Rewrite textual content
- Summarize textual content
- Use mannequin
That final is probably essentially the most important as a result of it lets Shortcuts customers specify which mannequin of AI they wish to use. The choices listed here are:
- Personal Cloud Compute
- On-Gadget
- Extension
- Ask Every Time
Personal Cloud Compute leverages Apple’s privacy-enabled cloud-based processing methods, whereas On-Gadget makes use of the domestically saved Apple Intelligence LLM. Extension presently refers to ChatGPT, but it surely might enable for different AI mannequin choices sooner or later, corresponding to Google Gemini.
Ask Every Time understandably lets customers select a mannequin each time a selected shortcut is used.
Clever Actions can be utilized independently or alongside conventional Shortcut choices, which may significantly simplify workflows. As an alternative of getting to navigate to Writing Instruments every time textual content alteration or summarization is required, as an example, a shortcut may help you make a textual content extra concise in only a few clicks.
Apple’s AI-infused Clever Actions can be found on iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe.
Apple’s instance is a formidable one which has a pupil sharing their notes and an audio recording of a lecture right into a shortcut. The shortcut then makes use of present actions to transcribe the audio, after which the brand new Clever Actions to match that to the notes.
Equally, a shortcut may very well be used so as to add the date and time to textual content, then summarize all of it, and e-mail the abstract to somebody.
The brand new-and-improved Shortcuts app provides infinite potentialities, and Clever Actions are positive to profit college students and enterprise customers alike, provided that conferences may very well be processed like lectures in Apple’s instance.
Total, iOS 26 provides a large number of latest options that may make it easier to get work accomplished extra simply. Whether or not it is the Stay Translation characteristic for speaking with worldwide associates or the Name Screening functionality, which filters out spam callers, there’s one thing for almost everybody.
Apple’s macOS Tahoe and iPadOS 26 share a few of the productiveness options with iOS 26, however the two opearating methods even have platform-specific enhancements which are simply as spectacular.
