Apple’s latest updates to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and the Health app, announced alongside the Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 on September 9, 2025, bring a suite of innovative features that enhance user experience and health monitoring. These updates introduce a visually striking design, advanced Apple Intelligence capabilities, and significant health-focused additions like Hypertension Notifications and Sleep Score. This article provides an in-depth look at the new features across both platforms and the Health app, organized into logical categories, with a special focus on the new health features.

iOS 26: What's New for iPhone Users

Design and Visual Enhancements

iOS 26 introduces Liquid Glass, a dynamic design that refracts and reflects content in real time, creating a visually engaging experience across the system. The Lock Screen now features adaptive time, which resizes to complement photo subjects and adjusts dynamically with notifications or Live Activities. Spatial scenes add a 3D effect to photo wallpapers, animating as the iPhone is tilted. App icons adopt a fresh look with Liquid Glass, offering new customization options like light or dark appearances, color-tinted icons, and a transparent “clear” style. For music enthusiasts, animated album art delivers full-screen, artist-designed animations for supported albums in the Music app.

Apple Intelligence: Smarter Interactions

Apple Intelligence powers a range of new features, enhancing productivity and creativity:

  • Visual Intelligence: By pressing the screenshot buttons, users can analyze on-screen content, highlight elements for search, or access Google results. Integration with third-party apps and ChatGPT enables deeper exploration.
  • Live Translation: Messages now auto-translate incoming texts, including group chats, with responses translated into the recipient’s language. FaceTime offers live translated captions, and the Phone app provides real-time audio translation with transcriptions on speaker mode. AirPods users can hear hands-free translations for nearby conversations.
  • Genmoji & Image Playground: Create custom Genmoji by combining emojis or descriptions, with options to adjust expressions and attributes like hairstyles. Image Playground supports styles like Oil Painting and Anime via ChatGPT or custom style descriptions.
  • Shortcuts: New “intelligent actions” integrate Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools and Image Playground, while a “Use model” action taps into Apple Intelligence or ChatGPT for tailored responses.

Camera and Photos

The Camera app features a streamlined design for quick access to Photo and Video modes, with other modes a swipe away. iPhone 15 and later models get lens cleaning hints for clearer shots, and a new AirPods gesture (on AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 or later) enables photo or video capture via stem presses. The Photos app introduces Library and Collections tabs, customizable layouts, and event recognition for concerts and sports, with Search accessible from any view.

Communication: Phone and Messages

The Phone app offers a unified layout for Favorites, Recents, and Voicemails. Call Screening identifies unknown callers’ details before ringing, and Hold Assist manages wait times for customer service calls. In Messages, screening for unknown senders organizes messages into a separate list, while backgrounds (built-in, personal photos, or Image Playground creations) and polls enhance personalization and group coordination. Typing indicators show who’s responding in group chats.

CarPlay

CarPlay adopts Liquid Glass for a distinct/Dashboard design, with a new tab bar for app navigation. Incoming calls use a compact layout, Tapbacks enable quick reactions, and pinned conversations and widget stacks keep key information accessible. Live Activities display real-time events on the Dashboard.

Maps and Navigation

Maps introduces Visited Places, which detects and saves locations like restaurants for easy access and sharing. Preferred routes learn frequent travel patterns, optimizing commutes.

Music and Entertainment

The Music app adds Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation for singing along in unfamiliar languages, AutoMix for DJ-like song transitions, and the ability to pin songs, albums, or playlists for quick access.

Wallet and Payments

Wallet enhances boarding passes with flight and airport details and offers beta Order Tracking powered by Apple Intelligence to aggregate order information. Installment financing integrates with Apple Pay for in-store purchases.

Gaming: Apple Games

The new Apple Games app centralizes gaming, offering access to App Store and Apple Arcade titles, friend challenges, score tracking, and personalized recommendations.

Child Safety Features

Communication Requests allow kids to request parental approval for new contacts. Parents can convert accounts to Child Accounts for enhanced safety, and age-appropriate experiences tailor third-party app content. Communication Safety blurs nudity in FaceTime and Shared Albums.

Accessibility Improvements

Accessibility Nutrition Labels in the App Store detail support for VoiceOver and Captions. Accessibility Reader customizes text appearance, and Braille Access enhances braille display compatibility.

Additional Features

  • Preview App: A dedicated PDF viewer and editor with AutoFill and scanning.
  • FaceTime: Redesigned with Contact Posters and playable video messages.
  • Reminders: Apple Intelligence suggests tasks from shared content.
  • Local Capture: Records high-quality audio and video during calls.
  • Control Center: Adds an audio input picker.
  • Battery Enhancements: Estimated charge times and Adaptive Power (iPhone 15 Pro and later) optimize battery life.
  • Fitness App: A new Workout tab tracks metrics like pace and distance.
  • Home Automation: Adaptive Temperature adjusts thermostats based on location.
  • Alarms: Custom snooze durations (1–15 minutes).
  • Passwords: Tracks account changes.
  • Notes: Supports Markdown import/export.

Health App Enhancements

The Health app introduces significant updates, particularly for cardiovascular and sleep health:

  • Hypertension Notifications: Available on iPhone via the Health app when paired with Apple Watch Series 9 or later (including Ultra 2 and later), this feature uses the watch’s optical heart sensor to analyze blood vessel responses over 30-day periods. If patterns suggest chronic high blood pressure, users receive a notification. Apple expects to alert over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension in the first year, pending FDA clearance. Users can log blood pressure using a third-party cuff and generate PDF reports for healthcare providers.
  • Sleep Score: Available on iPhone via the Health app when paired with Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Ultra models, or SE 2 and later, this feature rates sleep quality based on duration, bedtime consistency, wake-ups, and time in each sleep stage (Core, REM, Deep). Developed with guidance from the World Sleep Society and tested with over 5 million nights of data, Sleep Score provides a nightly rating and breakdown in the Sleep app, with trends trackable in the Health app.
  • Blood Pressure Logging: Users can log blood pressure measurements from third-party cuffs, with reminders and PDF report generation for medical consultations.

iPadOS 26: Tailored Enhancements for iPad

Design and Multitasking

iPadOS 26 mirrors iOS 26’s Liquid Glass design, with adaptive time and spatial scenes on the Lock Screen. App icon customization is enhanced on the larger display, and Stage Manager improves with fluid window resizing and overlap, accented by Liquid Glass transitions.

Apple Intelligence on iPad

Apple Intelligence features like Visual Intelligence, Live Translation, Genmoji, and Image Playground are optimized for the iPad’s larger screen, enhancing content analysis, translation clarity, and creative outputs. Shortcuts benefit from the same intelligent actions as iOS.

Productivity: Preview and Notes

The Preview app is a standout on iPad, leveraging Apple Pencil for PDF annotations and form-filling. Notes supports Markdown import/export, ideal for professionals and students.

Photos and Camera

The Photos app’s tabbed interface and customizable Collections view shine on the iPad’s larger display. The Camera app supports external camera accessories for enhanced video recording.

Accessibility and Gaming

Accessibility Reader and Braille Access are optimized for the iPad’s screen, improving readability and braille interaction. The Apple Games app offers an immersive gaming hub with enhanced graphics for Apple Arcade.

Health App Enhancements

The Health app on iPadOS 26 supports the same Hypertension Notifications, Sleep Score, and Blood Pressure Logging features as iOS 26, with the larger display providing clearer data visualization and PDF report generation for health tracking.

Additional iPad-Specific Features

  • Fitness App: The Workout tab displays detailed metrics in a spacious layout.
  • Control Center: Supports external microphones for podcasting and video production.
  • Home Automation: Adaptive Temperature integrates with HomeKit via the iPad’s interface.

Conclusion

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, paired with the enhanced Health app, deliver a transformative user experience through stunning design, intelligent features, and robust health monitoring. The introduction of Hypertension Notifications and Sleep Score in the Health app, powered by Apple Watch data, underscores Apple’s commitment to proactive health management. iPadOS 26 leverages the iPad’s capabilities for productivity and creativity, while both platforms benefit from a cohesive design language and Apple Intelligence. Whether you’re tracking your health, personalizing your device, or exploring new apps, these updates make Apple’s ecosystem more intuitive and powerful than ever.