Apple’s major iOS 26 update is on the horizon, promising the most significant design overhaul since iOS 7 with the introduction of “Liquid Glass.” While the big announcements at WWDC showcase headline features like extensive Messages app upgrades (including group chat polls, unknown sender filtering, and customizable backgrounds), revamped native apps like Phone and Camera, and platform-wide enhancements like Visual Intelligence, there’s always more under the surface.
As developers and early adopters spend time with the iOS 26 beta software, they are continually uncovering smaller, yet incredibly useful, “hidden” features that weren’t explicitly highlighted by Apple. These gems often focus on improving everyday quality-of-life on your iPhone.
Keep in mind that this is based on the developer beta, and features could potentially change before the final public release later this year. But based on what’s been found so far, here are 11 notable hidden features in iOS 26 worth knowing about:
Unlock Useful Tweaks in iOS 26
1. Make Liquid Glass Less Transparent
The new Liquid Glass design brings beautiful transparent and blurring effects, aiming for a layered look across iOS 26. However, this transparency can sometimes make elements like the Control Center harder to distinguish against a busy wallpaper or app screen. If you find the see-through effects distracting, especially when accessing overlays, iOS 26 offers a solution. You can increase the opacity of these elements by going to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and enabling the Reduce Transparency option. This keeps the overall glassy aesthetic but provides better visual separation for UI elements.
2. Customize Alarm Snooze Duration
Tired of the standard 9-minute snooze? iOS 26 finally gives you more control over your wake-up routine. For each individual alarm you set, you can now specify a custom snooze duration. Tap on an alarm, and you’ll find a setting allowing you to adjust the snooze time anywhere from 1 to 15 minutes. This is perfect whether you want a slightly longer lie-in or are trying to train yourself to wake up faster with shorter snoozes.
3. Get Battery Drain Warnings
Battery life is crucial, and some apps can silently be power hogs in the background. iOS 26 includes a revamped battery settings section with improved graphics and more detailed information. Crucially, the system can now proactively warn you when your battery is draining unusually fast and identify the specific app causing the issue. This helps you quickly pinpoint and manage apps consuming excessive power, preventing unexpected battery depletion before it’s too late.
4. Keep Audio in Your Headphones
It’s frustrating when your audio stream unexpectedly jumps to a newly connected Bluetooth device, like your car stereo, mid-call or while listening to music. iOS 26 offers a setting to prevent this audio hijacking. Navigate to Settings > General > AirPlay & Continuity and toggle on Keep Audio in Headphones. This ensures your sound stays directed to your headphones and won’t automatically switch to other devices unless you manually connect to them, avoiding awkward interruptions.
5. Easy Safari Bookmarking Gesture
Saving web pages in Safari is streamlined with a new, quicker method in iOS 26. Instead of navigating through multiple menus, you can simply double-tap the three-dot menu icon located at the bottom of the Safari browser. This gesture instantly brings up the bookmarking options, allowing you to save or manage pages faster than before.
6. Link Focus Modes to Specific SIMs
For users managing multiple phone numbers on one iPhone, perhaps for work and personal use, separating your digital life just got easier. iOS 26 enhances Focus modes by allowing you to associate them with specific SIM cards or eSIMs. This means you can set a “Work” Focus mode that only receives notifications from your work number, or a “Personal” mode that silences your work line when you’re off the clock, providing clearer boundaries and reducing distractions.
7. Adaptive Power Management
When your iPhone is performing power-intensive tasks, the new Adaptive Power feature can help conserve energy and extend battery life. It intelligently tweaks various system settings and app performance in real-time. This might involve slightly reducing screen brightness or slowing down certain background processes. While tasks might take marginally longer to complete in some cases, the trade-off is potentially significant battery savings when you need it most.
8. See Remaining Charging Time
A practical feature long available on Android phones finally arrives on iOS 26: estimated charging time. When you plug in your iPhone, you’ll now see an estimate of how long it will take to reach a full charge (100%) or reach your pre-set charging limit. This simple addition provides valuable information, allowing you to gauge charging speed and better plan when your phone will be ready to go.
9. Get Dirty Lens Warnings
A smudged camera lens can ruin an otherwise perfect photo. iOS 26 introduces a helpful prompt within the Camera app itself. If the software detects that your iPhone’s camera lens is dirty or obstructed, a small on-screen warning will appear. While you can dismiss the warning, it serves as a timely reminder to wipe down your lens before capturing that important shot, ensuring sharper, clearer pictures.
10. Search Your Apple Wallet
As Apple Wallet becomes home to an increasing number of credit cards, transit passes, tickets, digital keys, and IDs, finding a specific item can become cumbersome. iOS 26 addresses this by adding a search bar within the Wallet app. You can now quickly search for any card, pass, or digital item stored in your Wallet, making it much faster to access what you need, especially when you’re in a hurry.
11. Capture HDR Screenshots
For those who want to capture the full dynamic range of their iPhone’s display, iOS 26 allows for HDR screenshots and screen recordings. Enabling this feature means screenshots will be saved in the HEIF image format and screen recordings in the HEVC video codec – the same formats used by the native Camera app for photos and videos. You can activate this by heading to Settings > General > Screen Capture and toggling on the HDR option.
These 11 features, though perhaps not headline-grabbing, demonstrate Apple’s continued effort to refine the iOS experience and add practical tools that users can benefit from daily. As the iOS 26 beta progresses towards its public release, it’s likely even more hidden gems will be discovered.
