WWDC 2025: Apple reveals new iOS design and more

After several attempts, has Apple finally cracked multitasking on iPad? The new windowing system in iPadOS 26 certainly looks more intuitive and, dare we say, Mac-like.

Uh oh... judging by the response on Twitter, sorry, X, it looks like iOS 26's Liquid Glass is giving people major Windows Vista vibes. It's 2007 all over again!

Is it weird that the most exciting new feature I've seen so far is Hold Assist, which lets you silence annoying hold music during a call?

As well as Light Mode and Dark Mode, there's a new translucent mode that makes icons, er, translucent.

As ever, the rumours were true – Apple has rebranded its entire operating system suite, naming them all after the coming year. iOS 19 is dead, long live iOS 26.

App icons now feature "multiple layers" – farewell, flat design! You had a good run.

Here it is, iOS's new look, featuring Apple's brand new 'Liquid Glass' design language, which "brings a new level of vitality" to the software.

Apple honours its new F1 movie by turning the top of its circular HQ into a race track. Not a bad idea.

WWDC 2025 — June 9 | Apple - YouTube

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It's time! You can watch Apple's live stream right here - the above video is also embedded at the top of this page.

With only 30 minutes to go, let's take a look back at one of the best fan-made iOS 19 concepts we've seen, complete with those rumoured VisionOS-inspired rounded icons.

Here’s your very first look at iOS 19 - YouTube

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Now here's a simple but effective concept we'd love to see become a reality in iOS. With all that AI under the hood, couldn't Apple show us how long it'll take for the iPhone to fully charge? Actually, judging by the current state of Apple Intelligence, possibly not.

This being a software-focussed event, we're not expecting to see much, if anything, in the way of hardware. The iPhone 17 line up, for example, probably won't materialise until September. That said, with rumours that Apple is planning to shake up its release cycle, and the iPhone 16e debuting in February, it seems the company might be a little more open to shaking up its usually rigid calendar. Maybe we could get a glimpse at one of the rumoured models, like the polarising iPhone 17 Air?

With a brand new design language rumoured to be launching today, we're wondering if the next generation of iOS could be the biggest visual refresh since 2013. That was when iOS 7, which heralded Apple's wholehearted embrace of flat design, hit the iPhone. But with liquid and glassy textures rumoured to be arriving today, perhaps things are finally coming full circle – all the way back to skeuomorphism.

The former Apple QuickTime dev Maynard Handley has some strong words for Apple in response to Ming-Chi Kuo's predictions, and reminds us what WWDC is supposed to be about.

"This is a DEVELOPER conference! The single most important thing that matters is an AI assistant in XCode that can analyze and write Swift. If they have that, other things can wait a year, they’re at least in the game. If they don’t have that, it’s time to conclude that they just don’t understand the stakes. And expect big drama at the next board meeting."

Over on X, regular Apple tipster Ming-Chi Kuo is suggesting that despite the criticised roll our, Apple’s AI strategy is going to take centre stage at WWDC today, with UI and OS updates playing only a secondary role.

He suggest that there won't be big new announcements in this area but that Apple will focus on clearly explaining how its AI features work and clarifying its development timeline. And he suggests that this might include rebranding Apple Intelligence and Siri and integrating AI at the OS level to improve the user experience.

Severance fans are hoping that WWDC might tease something about what's next for what's become Apple TV's biggest draw. It's too early to expect a Severance season 3 teaser but I wouldn't be surprised if we get some kind of confirmation that filming has started or will start soon.

There are just three hours to go until the keynote. As in recent years, we expect it will be a mix of pre-recorded segments rather than an all-live event. You'll be able to watch in the video above from 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm in the UK. We'll be posting on context and responses throughout.

For iPadOS 26, one intriguing feature that we're hoping to hear about at WWDC is Apple Pencil reed calligraphy.

A galam, or reed pen, is a traditional Arabic writing tool used in calligraphy to create flowing strokes that vary in thickness. It's rumoured that Apple will introduce new software that takes advantage of Apple Pencil Pro hardware features, such as its squeeze gestures, barrel roll detection and haptic feedback, to create a digital equivalent.

Apple's main aim would be to support expansion in countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, but it sounds like something that could be popular with calligraphy artists everywhere.

We've mentioned the rumours about an expected iOS design inspired by VisionOS. We'll surely also see some news about VisionOS itself at WWDC.

It's been suggested that visionOS 3, or visionOS 26, will add a new eye-scrolling feature for Vision Pro, which will use the built-in eye tracking features. That sounds like a logical extension of the existing mechanism that allows navigation by looking at something on the display and then gesturing with your hand to tap it.

Going back to gaming, we recently learned that Apple's Vision Pro team is working on a VisionOS plugin for Godot Engine in a bid to lower the barrier to XR game development for the device.

One rumour that was doing the rounds last month is that WWDC 2025 will see the announcement of a new Apple gaming app. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the app would work across the Apple ecosystem – so iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV – replacing the dated Game Center (above) as a central hub for gaming with a storefront, highlights, leaderboards, achievements and multiplayer options and integration of the Apple Arcade subscription service.

It sounds like it would be inspired by Microsoft's approach with Xbox, and Apple's also reportedly looking at connecting the app with FaceTime and iMessage. While the app wouldn't be released in September, it's been noted how close the timing would be to Nintendo's launch of the new Switch (see our Switch 2 review just in).

Of course, we can probably expect another California-inspired name for the next iteration of macOS. Previous names have included Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma, and Sequoia, and this year, Apple is rumoured to be calling the new macOS "Tahoe", after Lake Tahoe of course.

We can probably expect some software updates to AirPods, with new camera controls rumoured to be hitting Apple's earbuds. But what I really to know is if we're ever going to see those rumoured teeth controls.

Fans have been searching for hints of the future of Apple's iOS design language in beta updates over the last year, but this might be one of the most legitimate examples we've seen....

As for what iOS 26 might look like, rumour has it we're in store for a VisionOS-inspired redesign. Think transparent object and glassy textures, and perhaps even circular icons.

What comes after iOS 18? Possibly not iOS 19. If rumours are to be believed, Apple could be switching to a year-based naming convention this year. But is that enough to make the iPhone feel exciting again after last year's underwhelming iOS 16 launch?

While Apple Intelligence was launched to great fanfare last year, the whole thing has proven rather embarrassing for the company, with headline features including long overdue Siri upgrades long delayed. The situation is apparently so dire that it's causing internal tension at Apple.

Hello and welcome to Creative Bloq's annual WWDC live blog! And what better to kick things off than WWDC bingo, lovingly created as ever by Basic Apple Guy.