Discover the New Features in iOS 26.2 for Your iPhone

The latest iOS update, version 26.2, is now rolling out to all compatible iPhones, bringing a suite of enhancements that refine the user experience across several core apps and introduce new customization options. This release follows an extensive beta period and delivers meaningful improvements to productivity, entertainment, and system-wide design elements.

A significant addition arrives in the Reminders app with an “Urgent” task option. When selected, this setting triggers an alarm on your iPhone at the task’s due time, providing a hard alert to ensure critical items aren’t overlooked.

Apple Music subscribers gain a useful offline capability. You can now view full song lyrics, including translations and real-time sync, for any downloaded music without needing an internet connection. The update also streamlines access to your Favorites playlist and improves the availability of new releases.

The Podcasts app receives three notable upgrades. First, AI-generated chapters are automatically created for episodes, offering easier navigation, though producer-supplied chapters will take precedence. Second, a new Podcast Mentions feature detects when hosts reference other shows and provides direct links within the player and transcript. This makes discovering related content seamless.

For Apple Watch users, the Sleep Score feature has been recalibrated. Responding to feedback that previous scoring was too lenient, Apple has adjusted the point thresholds for each classification, making it more challenging to achieve higher scores. The new ranges are: Very Low (0-40), Low (41-60), OK (61-80), High (81-95), and Very High (96-100).

The Apple News app undergoes a design refresh to better organize its expanding content. The Today view now features four dedicated shortcut buttons for Sports, Puzzles, Politics, and Food. A new “Following” tab consolidates favorites, saved stories, and history, while the Search tab is simplified to emphasize content discovery.

European Union users see a mixed bag of changes. The positive news is the arrival of Live Translation with AirPods, a feature previously delayed due to Digital Markets Act considerations. On the downside, due to interoperability rules, Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch is being removed. Users will need to manually enter Wi-Fi passwords on their watch for each network.

The Liquid Glass design language receives further customization. On the Lock Screen, a new slider allows you to adjust the transparency of the clock for all font styles. The Measure app’s Level tool gets a playful Liquid Glass makeover, and subtle new animations have been added to popup menus and controls throughout the system.

CarPlay users benefit from two tweaks. You can now disable Pinned Conversations in the Messages app directly from CarPlay Settings. Additionally, some vehicle interfaces may support an additional widget stack, though availability varies.

Several smaller enhancements are included:

• A new Enhanced Safety Alerts menu in Settings for managing earthquake and threat notifications, with an option to share approximate location to improve alert accuracy.
• Support for adding tables within the Freeform app.
• An “Excluded Websites” list in the Passwords app.
• A new Accessibility option to flash the screen for alerts.
• The Games app adds library filtering, improved controller navigation, and real-time score update banners.

Apple’s official notes confirm these features and highlight additional bug fixes, such as resolving an issue where pre-release albums in Apple Music weren’t immediately playable. The update also includes important security patches, making it advisable to install promptly. To update, navigate to Settings > General > Software Update on your iPhone.

(Source: 9to5Mac)