iOS 26 is the next major iPhone update, packing big updates for Apple Wallet, CarPlay, Apple Music, and a variety of new features for the Messages app too. Here’s what’s coming to your iPhone later this year.

iOS 26 upgrades Messages with new design, group chat features, and more

Apple’s Messages app is getting a handful of solid upgrades in iOS 26.

Messages gains the new ‘Liquid Glass’ redesign that impacts the app, of course. Buttons have been updated, UI elements have a fresh look, and overall the app reflects iOS 26’s aesthetic well—familiar, yet new.

Group chats are another big area of focus for Apple this year.

In iOS 26, there are several changes specifically meant to improve the group chat experience, including:

• Typing indicators: Now you’ll be able to see live indicators of who’s typing, not just in one-on-one threads but also group chats.
• Polls: Use polls to get input from a group with ease.
• Apple Cash: Now you can use Apple Cash in groups to send and receive payments.

Background images can be set for different conversations, and you can even generate AI-created backgrounds with a simple Image Playground request.

Live translation is an Apple Intelligence-powered feature for communicating with friends or family members who speak a different language.

Spam prevention via message screening should hopefully reduce spam texts:

• In Messages, users can now screen messages from unknown senders, giving them more control over who appears in their conversation list. Messages from unknown senders will appear in a dedicated folder where users can then mark the number as known, ask for more information, or delete. These messages will remain silenced until a user accepts them.
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It’s a small change, but iOS 26 lets you copy just part of a message, rather than forcing you to copy the whole thing.

And despite no official announcement yet, Apple is also expected to ship RCS enhancements in iOS 26. This should bring support for end-to-end encryption when messaging Android users, for example.

iOS 26’s new Messages features are also coming to Apple’s other platforms, including the Mac, iPad, and more, via companion software updates like macOS Tahoe and iPadOS 26.

Source: 9to5mac