🔥 WWDC 2025: What You Need to Know

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Hey there!

Apple kicked off WWDC, its annual developer conference, with a loaded keynote on Monday. I have the highlights for you, including:

• Liquid Glass, Apple's new design language for all of its devices

• A massive update for iPadOS steals the show

• Live Translation is coming

• The end is near for Intel-based Macs

• Basic AF WWDC recap show

Plus, I have a favor to ask. And there's a new word scramble puzzle and plenty more news you should know about!

Let's get it!

🔥 WWDC Keynote

Liquid Glass

Apple announced Liquid Glass, the most significant design update in years. This is Apple's new design language that will be available across all of its platforms.

• The new design is inspired by visionOS

• Liquid Glass uses real-time rendering and dynamically reacts to movement

• Translucent and behaves like glass in the real world

• Its color is influenced by its surroundings and adapts intelligently to both light and dark environments

• Used in the smallest elements users interact with every day to larger elements, including tab bars and sidebars for navigating apps

• Stands out with the Lock Screen, Home Screen, notifications, Control Center, and more

Some concerns have been raised online about accessibility, but given Apple's record in that area, I expect it to be fine by the time the first production versions ship this fall. There have also been screenshots shared online showing some areas in the system that are hard to read or messy. Keep in mind it's the very first developer beta. Apple should have most, if not all, of these things dialed in by the fall and I expect it to look great.

iPadOS Steals the Show

It's a massive update for iPadOS, and this stole the show! Many of the complaints we've had over the years of Apple intentionally limiting the capabilities of iPadOS have been addressed. Here's a look at some of what's coming:

• A new windowing system that allows you to put windows anywhere you'd like in any size

• Window controls like on macOS, along with Expose

• A Mac-like menu bar at the top of the screen that appears and disappears as needed

• Preview, the excellent Mac app for working with images and PDFs, is coming to iPad!

• Improved background processes

• Improvements to the Files app and folders in the Dock

• Ability to select audio inputs and record video and audio to a local file on the iPad (great for content creators)

• Last but not least, a proper pointer instead of the puck! 🙏 

Additional Items of Note

As rumored, Apple has simplified the version numbering for its operating systems, and everything is getting bumped to 26. I like this move a lot. Apple has a lot of operating systems, and having different version numbers can be confusing. This will simplify things.

Here's a rundown of highlights across all platforms.

Apple Intelligence

• Apple Intelligence is adding Live Translation in Messages, FaceTime, and the Phone app for real-time communication using on-device processing

• Visual Intelligence is gaining the ability to analyze on-screen content and to search with Google, Etsy, and other apps for items or ask ChatGPT. It will also detect events in the images and can create calendar entries.

• A new Foundation Models framework allows developers to access Apple's on-device AI capabilities for free (and offline) in their apps

Messages

• Support for custom backgrounds and polls

• Send Apple Cash in group chats to a specific person in the chat

• Filters unknown senders and spam out of your main messages list

iOS 26

• New adaptive Lock Screen with spatial images

• The Phone app has a new unified layout that combines Favorites, Recents, and Voicemails in one place

• Call Screening and Hold Assist look like great additions

• CarPlay is adding support for widgets and Live Activities

• Maps learns the routes you travel regularly and can alert you about significant delays

watchOS 26

• Workout Buddy, a new AI-powered coach that delivers custom insights during workouts

• The Notes app is coming

• A redesigned Workout app that makes it quicker to start a workout

• A new Wrist flick gesture for clearing notifications

macOS Tahoe

• Spotlight is getting a significant upgrade in macOS Tahoe with new productivity features, including clipboard history (finally!) and deeper integration with apps and system features

• Customizable Control Center is coming, along with Live Activities

• Tahoe will be the last version for Intel-based Macs

visionOS

• Support for PlayStation VR2 Sense controller should improve gaming

• Widgets are coming, and windows placed in your environment will maintain their location after a reboot (finally)

• Ability to create folders in Home View for organizing apps

tvOS

• Choose your profile when waking Apple TV

• FaceTime redesign

• Sing along with Apple Music using your iPhone’s mic

Be sure to listen to our recap on Basic AF with Joe Moyer for an in-depth discussion of the event (linked below). And I’ll have plenty more coverage as we go through summer and into fall.

Developer betas are now available, and the Public Beta will start next month. The new operating systems will be released in the fall, but many new features won’t be available immediately and will arrive through the fall and winter.

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🧩 Word Scramble Puzzle

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🎙️ Basic AF Show: WWDC 2025 Recap with Joe Moyer

Jeff and I are joined by returning guest Joe Moyer for a breakdown of Apple's WWDC 2025 keynote!

Chapter Listing:

00:00 - Intro
01:04 - Welcome back, Joe Moyer!
03:04 - WWDC Keynote Recap
04:14 - Apple Intelligence
14:01 - New Liquid Glass Design
21:48 - Version 26 of Everything
23:07 - iOS 26
33:44 - watchOS 26
37:24 - tvOS 26
38:43 - macOS Tahoe
48:09 - visionOS 26
54:05 - iPadOS 26
01:07:19 - Close

Episode Transcript

Listen to and follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, all the other podcast apps, as well as on YouTube and YouTube Music.

📣 News to Know About

Here’s a quick rundown of other recent and noteworthy news, hand-selected just for you:

🧩 Word Scramble Answer

Final Cut Pro is Apple’s professional video editing software. It offers advanced tools for color grading, motion graphics, and multi-cam editing.