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iOS 26 Diary: Much work remains, but I love the new look and the direction

iOS 26 Diary: Much work remains, but I love the new look and the direction | Screengrab against the London skyline

I’ve been using iOS 26 since the first developer beta, and now that the public beta is out, it seems a good time to share my early views of the biggest shake-up to the look and feel of the iPhone user interface for a great many years.

Of course, betas will beta, and there have been a few glitches along the way, but I have to say that only one of my apps won’t run, so I’ve been able to get a pretty good feel for everyday use ..

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iOS 26’s new Messages feature has political fundraisers freaking out

ios 26 unwanted senders messages

iOS 26 adds a new opt-in filtering system to the Messages app that tucks away messages from “Unknown Senders” into a separate tab.

Punchbowl News (via Daring Fireball and Political Wire) reports that Republicans in Washington, D.C. are already freaking out about the fundraising implications of this new feature, warning that it “could cost them $25 million in fundraising revenue.”

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Messages on iOS 26 will make it harder to fall for phishing scams

While even tech-savvy users can fall for elaborate phishing scams, most attacks are designed to target less technically inclined people.

With that in mind, the new Messages app in iOS 26 introduces (or better yet, removes) two things that could make a pretty big difference in keeping users safe, regardless of how familiar they may be with phishing tactics.

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Apple Watch sleep score looks set to replicate these two smart ring features

Apple Watch sleep score looks set to replicate these two smart ring features | Photo shows a cat sleeping beneath a duvet

Earlier today we saw iOS 26 code suggesting that an Apple Watch sleep score feature is in development, with a percentage score indicating your readiness to tackle the day ahead. The feature also provides a more condensed graphical representation of your sleep stages than is currently available.

What is shown and described looks like a very close match for two features provided by the Oura smart ring, so here’s a look at how those work …

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iOS 26’s Photos app has a helpful new feature for events: Here’s how it works

Apple’s Photos app iOS 26

At WWDC25, Apple introduced a few new capabilities to the Photos app for iOS 26. Most notably, it reintroduces a tab bar layout after last year’s controversial single-page redesign. It also allows you to create spatial scenes from existing photos.

On top of those headlining features, there’s another underlying feature in the Photos app for iOS 26 that a lot of users might appreciate, and thats event details. Let’s explain.

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