Nonetheless on iOS 18? Right here’s why it’s lastly time to improve to iOS 26

iOS 26 has been a controversial launch, primarily as a result of Liquid Glass UI unfold throughout your entire system. Whereas Apple has but to share official figures, third-party experiences recommend adoption is considerably decrease than traditional.

If you happen to’ve been avoiding iOS 26, you might need to rethink. The OS has already acquired a number of updates that handle early bugs, enhance battery life, and provides customers extra management over the Liquid Glass aesthetic. Extra importantly, it consists of important safety fixes that you just in any other case can’t apply.

Versatile Liquid Glass

Folks typically are usually averse to vary, particularly when it impacts their on a regular basis units. Whereas, arguably, there’s nothing basically fallacious with how Liquid Glass appears and behaves, there’s no denying that it may be a jarring expertise at first. Luckily, your eyes ultimately adapt, and it ought to turn out to be your new norm very quickly.

If you happen to discover Liquid Glass too clear, you possibly can modify its opacity by heading to Settings > Show & Brightness > Liquid Glass. You’ve bought the default Clear look that emphasizes the brand new design language and an alternate Tinted possibility that provides extra distinction to enhance readability.

Foundry

Choosing the Tinted possibility received’t fully kill the system’s Liquid Glassiness, nonetheless. To additional improve the opacity and distinction, you possibly can go to Settings > Accessibility > Show & Textual content Measurement, and toggle Improve Distinction. This may give the glassy components a extra stable look that, to an extent, resembles iOS 18.

Steady efficiency and battery life

It’s extensively believed that new iOS variations trigger iPhone battery drain and slowdowns. Whereas that may be true at first, it doesn’t inform the entire story. If you set up a serious launch, your iPhone reindexes knowledge and runs related processes within the background that devour battery energy. Nevertheless, these duties sometimes conclude inside a number of days, after which your battery life will return to regular. So, whilst you could expertise some atypical battery drain proper after updating, it’s not often irreversible.

Foundry

That’s to not point out that sure folks use their iPhones greater than traditional after a function replace to discover the entire recent additions and instruments. This additionally contributes to the facility drain and notion of a shorter battery life.

As for the efficiency, it shouldn’t see a major, long-term hit, both. Apple restricts power-hungry options that require quick processors to newer iPhones. This minimizes lags and ensures that older fashions operating the newest OS model nonetheless carry out fluidly.

Contemporary options

Whereas Liquid Glass is iOS 26’s most outstanding introduction, the OS replace provides loads of different non-cosmetic options that elevate the cellular computing expertise. You’ve bought instruments that choose up the telephone in your behalf, get solutions from callers, translate reside speech, and filter out spam. Messaging has additionally been upgraded with dialog backgrounds, polls, inline translations, and extra.

Past communication, you’ve bought most well-liked routes in Apple Maps, an all-new Video games app that makes discovering new titles and in-app occasions simpler, lyric translations and the AI-powered AutoMix transitions in Apple Music, and rather more. By staying on iOS 18, you’re lacking out on a ton of good options which are solely rising with every new replace.

Foundry

Upcoming AI perks

If these upgrades don’t imply a lot to you, this one would possibly. With the upcoming iOS 26.4 replace, Apple will reportedly lastly introduce Siri 2.0. The digital assistant will make the most of Google Gemini’s superior infrastructure to ship detailed info and carry out duties extra reliably. It’s going to additionally assist you to management supported first- and third-party apps utilizing your voice and effortlessly pull knowledge from outdated conversations. On condition that the current Siri continually struggles to course of primary instructions, you received’t need to skip its most exceptional improve later this 12 months.

Safety patches

Past the user-facing adjustments, iOS updates are likely to patch safety vulnerabilities that forestall hackers from accessing or monitoring your iPhone’s knowledge. Traditionally, Apple would difficulty safety fixes to all customers, together with these sticking to an older OS launch. That’s now not the case, nonetheless.

Foundry

For instance, iOS 18.7.3 launched solely on the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, as they’re the one fashions to help iOS 18 however not iOS 26. Customers with newer iPhone fashions received’t be capable to get their fingers on the essential safety patches except they set up iOS 26.2. Conserving your iPhone on iOS 18 will forestall it from receiving some well timed safety updates, making it extra vulnerable to exploitation.

To replace your iPhone to iOS 26, go to Settings > Common > Software program Replace, and hit the Replace Now button. Comply with the phrases of service after studying them and be sure that your iPhone is related to an influence supply till the set up concludes.