iOS 26.2 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.2

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Apple released iOS 26.2 connected December 12, introducing the latest mentation of iOS 26. iOS 26.2 isn't the biggest update, but it brings rather a fewer adjuvant caller features to your iPhone.

We've rounded up each of the caller features your ‌iPhone‌ is getting successful iOS 26.2.

Alarms for Reminders

The Reminders app has a caller enactment to person an alarm spell disconnected erstwhile a reminder is due. Setting up an alarm tin beryllium done by toggling connected the "Urgent" enactment erstwhile creating a reminder.

When a Reminder alarm activates, it displays a snooze enactment oregon a descent to halt option. If you snooze it, it volition amusement a Live Activity countdown connected the Lock Screen that includes an enactment to implicit the reminder oregon reschedule it. Apple distinguishes Reminders alarms from modular alarms with a caller bluish color.

Apple provides a splash surface letting users cognize astir the feature, positive a tiny banner that shows up erstwhile you spell to adhd a caller introduction successful the Reminders app aft updating to iOS 26.2.

Lock Screen

The Lock Screen has a caller Liquid Glass slider that lets you customize the quality of the time. When utilizing the "Glass" option, you tin usage the slider to marque the clip look astir wholly clear, oregon springiness it a much frosted look.

There's inactive a abstracted Solid toggle that turns disconnected the Liquid Glass quality for the timepiece wholly if you privation to opt for a overmuch much opaque design, and you tin besides inactive usage the colour options for the time.

Liquid Glass Settings

When utilizing the Liquid Glass "Tinted" enactment that reduces transparency, there's a informing that the Tinted enactment cannot beryllium utilized successful tandem with the Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast Accessibility settings.

Turning connected Tinted mode is capable to crook disconnected Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast automatically. In the anterior update, determination was nary enactment to crook connected Tinted mode without turning disconnected these features manually.

AirDrop

iOS 26.2 increases the information of AirDrop. The update adds an other furniture of verification erstwhile utilizing AirDrop with chartless contacts.

There is an enactment to make an AirDrop codification connected the receiver's device, which tin past beryllium entered connected the sender's instrumentality to implicit the transfer. Codes let AirDrop to enactment for a 30-day period.

People you person shared a codification with tin beryllium managed by opening up the Settings app, selecting the General section, choosing AirDrop, and tapping connected "Manage Known AirDrop Contacts."

Apple Music

Apple Music supports offline lyrics, truthful you tin spot a song's lyrics erstwhile not connected to Wi-Fi oregon cellular.

Your Favorite Songs playlist besides present shows up successful Top Picks connected the location tab.

Sleep Score

With iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2, Apple has adjusted the ranges for the Sleep Score diagnostic that it introduced earlier this year. The caller Sleep Score numbers amended lucifer however radical mightiness beryllium feeling aft a nighttime of sleep.

These are the caller scores:

Very Low - 0-40 (previously 0-29)

Low - 41-60 (previously 30-49)

OK - 61-80 (previously 50-69)

High - 81-95 (previously 70-89)

Very High - 96-100 (previously 90-100)

The "Very High" fertile utilized to beryllium "Excellent," but Apple changed the sanction to beryllium much successful enactment with the different labels.

Sleep Scores are disposable connected each Apple Watch models compatible with watchOS 26.2 and tin beryllium recovered successful the Health app connected the ‌iPhone‌. Apple designed Sleep Score to supply an wide consciousness of slumber patterns, truthful users tin place habits that mightiness interaction their sleep.

Sleep Score takes into relationship slumber duration, bedtime, and interruptions to delegate a nightly people that represents slumber quality. Duration is worthy 50 points, bedtime is worthy 30, and interruptions (times woken up successful the night) are worthy 20, for a full of 100 imaginable points each night.

Podcasts

The Podcasts app has 3 caller features, including automatically generated chapters, options to spot mentions of different podcasts from the transcript and the player, and entree to links mentioned successful a podcast connected the occurrence page.

Passwords

In the Settings conception of the Passwords app, there's an enactment to negociate websites wherever passwords are not saved erstwhile signing in.

Freeform

The Freeform app present supports tables that tin clasp text, images, documents, and drawings. Cells intelligently resize to acceptable content, providing structure.

Apple News

Apple updated the plan of Apple News, adding speedy entree apical buttons for categories similar sports, puzzles, politics, business, and food.

There's besides a dedicated tab for Following, which has been decoupled from the hunt interface.

Home App

The Home app present supports multipack accessory pairing. You tin usage the aforesaid setup codification to enroll aggregate accessories that are sold together.

Flash for Alerts

The Flash for Alerts enactment successful the Accessibility conception of the Settings app allows users to person the surface flash erstwhile there's an incoming notification. Previously, this mounting was constricted to the LED connected the backmost of the ‌iPhone‌.

Users tin swap to the surface flash oregon person some flash astatine the aforesaid clip erstwhile notifications travel in.

Enhanced Safety Alerts

In the Notifications conception of the Settings app, there's an Enhanced Safety Alerts conception for managing earthquake alerts, imminent menace alerts, and activating improved alert delivery, a diagnostic that uses determination to amended the reliability of alerts.

Apple says that Enhanced Safety Alerts supply affluent accusation similar a representation of affected areas and links to further information guidance.

Enhanced Safety Alerts is constricted to the United States.

Measure App

Apple's Measure app present features a Liquid Glass plan for the level, with 2 Liquid Glass bubbles alternatively of achromatic circles.

Games App

There's an enactment to benignant games successful the Games app Library by size, successful summation to Name and Recent. In-game situation people banners supply real-time updates erstwhile idiosyncratic caller has taken the pb successful a crippled you're playing.

The Games app besides supports navigation with a controller and real-time updates to situation scores during gameplay, positive there's enhanced enactment for controllers similar the Backbone and Razer.

CarPlay

The CarPlay app supports disabling pinned messages successful the Messages app for drivers who similar the classical Messages presumption that was disposable earlier iOS 26.2.

Menu Animations

For pop-out menus that grow from a country button, iOS 26.2 adds a quicker, bouncier animation that looks similar the animation that Apple showed disconnected astatine WWDC.

Privacy

When you entree your Apple Account for the archetypal clip aft installing iOS 26.2, you'll spot an alert letting you cognize that Apple's privateness accusation for Apple Accounts has been updated to amended explicate however idiosyncratic accusation is collected and utilized by Apple.

AirPods Live Translation for EU

iOS 26.2 expands AirPods Live Translation to the European Union. Apple had to hold the diagnostic successful the EU to implicit the engineering enactment needed to comply with the requirements of the Digital Markets Act.

AirPods Live Translation works with the AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2, and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is disposable successful English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional Mandarin), Japanese, and Korean astatine the existent time.

iPhone Changes successful Japan

Siri Replacement

Apple is laying the groundwork for a caller enactment that volition fto ‌iPhone‌ users successful Japan take a antithetic default dependable assistant. A property and clasp motion connected the Side Button lone activates ‌Siri‌ successful earlier versions of iOS.

‌iPhone‌ users successful Japan volition beryllium capable to prime a caller voice-based speech app to activate with the Side Button, allowing alternate assistants similar Gemini oregon Alexa to beryllium utilized connected the ‌iPhone‌. Developer documentation confirms that it volition lone beryllium disposable for Japanese Apple Accounts owned by radical surviving successful Japan.

Search Engine Choice

After installing iOS 26.2, ‌iPhone‌ users successful Japan will beryllium prompted to prime a preferred hunt engine. Options see Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo Japan, oregon Ecosia, the aforesaid options disposable globally successful the Safari settings. In astir different countries, Google is the default hunt motor and determination is nary punctual to take a antithetic enactment erstwhile the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ archetypal starts up.

While ‌‌iPhone‌‌ users extracurricular of Japan tin take 1 of the different options, doing truthful requires going into the Safari conception of the Settings app to marque a change.

Third Party App Stores

iOS 26.2 volition let ‌iPhone‌ users successful Japan to install alternate app marketplaces, akin to the European Union.

Texas App Store Changes

With iOS 26.2, Apple is adding tools for developers that volition assistance them comply with the App Store Accountability Act that goes into effect successful Texas successful 2026. Apple users successful Texas volition request to corroborate whether they are 18 years oregon older erstwhile creating an Apple Account, and parents volition request to supply consent for their children's ‌App Store‌ downloads and in-app transactions.

Apple volition stock idiosyncratic property scope accusation with developers, and developers volition request to instrumentality systems for notifying parents astir important app changes and allowing parents to revoke a child's entree to an app astatine immoderate time.

Bonus: iPadOS 26.2 Multitasking

In iPadOS 26.2, Apple is expanding connected the updated multitasking that it introduced successful iPadOS 26.1. There's an enactment to resistance and driblet apps from the App Library, Dock, and Spotlight into Slide Over and tiled views, restoring immoderate functionality that was removed successful the iPadOS 18 to iPadOS 26 transition.

Bug Fixes

There are 2 notable bug fixes successful iOS 26.2. Apple addressed an contented that could origin pre-release albums successful the ‌Apple Music‌ Library not to beryllium playable astatine merchandise time, and it addressed an contented wherever a Privacy and Security mounting could beryllium incorrectly marked arsenic managed by an endeavor organization.

Security Updates

iOS 26.2 addresses implicit 20 vulnerabilities, including 2 bugs that are known to person been actively exploited.

There are a brace of WebKit vulnerabilities that could let maliciously crafted web contented to execute codification oregon origin representation corruption. Apple says that the bugs mightiness person been exploited successful an onslaught against targeted individuals connected versions of iOS earlier ‌iOS 26‌.

One of the WebKit bugs was fixed with improved representation management, portion the different was addressed with improved validation.

There are respective different vulnerabilities that were fixed too, crossed apps and services. An ‌App Store‌ bug could let users to entree delicate outgo tokens, processing a malicious representation record could pb to representation corruption, photos successful the Hidden Album could beryllium viewed without authentication, and passwords could beryllium unintentionally removed erstwhile remotely controlling a instrumentality with FaceTime.

Now that these vulnerabilities person been publicized by Apple, adjacent those that were not exploited earlier mightiness beryllium taken vantage of now. Apple recommends each users update their devices to iOS 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, and macOS Tahoe 26.2 arsenic soon arsenic possible.