iPadOS 26 is the newest version of iPadOS, the operating system that runs on the iPad. If you were expecting iPadOS 19, you might be a little surprised to see Apple jump to iPadOS 26, but the new number reflects the 2025–2026 release season for the software update. It lets Apple use the same number across all of its updates, so there's no more confusion since you're no longer downloading iOS, macOS, visionOS, and watchOS all with different numbers.

iPadOS 26 brings the first new major design change that Apple has brought to iOS since iOS 7. Liquid Glass reflects and refracts its surroundings, while putting more focus on content. Many interface elements are almost entirely translucent, and the design extends to controls, navigation, app icons, menus, buttons, and widgets.

Liquid Glass transforms depending on content or context, and it behaves like glass in the real world, so color bleeds through from the background, and it is able to adapt well between light and dark elements. Liquid Glass uses real-time rendering and can dynamically react to movement to change the way that light reflects off of buttons, switches, sliders, side bars, tab bars, and more.

You'll see Liquid Glass throughout iPadOS 26, in all of Apple's apps, in notifications, on the Lock Screen, in Control Center, and on the Home Screen. Apple is also providing developers with tools to bring the new material to their own apps for a cohesive look. Liquid Glass extends to iOS 26, macOS Tahoe, visionOS 26, tvOS 26, and watchOS 26.

The Liquid Glass design overhaul isn't just a glossy finish, it also brings updates to the design of controls, toolbars, and navigation throughout iPadOS 26. App windows, menu bars, and other interface elements have more rounded corners, and controls feature a distinct functional layer designed to sit above apps. These kinds of menus can dynamically morph to provide users with more options in an app.

The Lock Screen features a spatial scene option for photo wallpapers, giving them a 3D look and a sense of movement. The Home Screen might look different with an option for translucent icons and widgets, but it is functionally the same.

Apple streamlined the Camera app layout with simpler navigation. It has Photo and Video toggles, with other options tucked away behind menus that expand out with a tap. You can swipe to get to more photo and video options. Apple also updated the Photos app to re-add separate tabs for the Library and Collections views. In Photos, you can also activate Spatial Scene for any image, getting a unique 3D view of the image.

Safari has a new look, and Apple has updated navigation. By default, Safari adopts the more rounded Liquid Glass buttons and nixes the settings at the bottom of the app, but there's an option to bring them back with a floating tab bar if you prefer a more feature rich menu. Apple Music, News, and Podcasts all have a new tab bar that floats above the content in the app and dynamically shrinks when users are browsing, so the interface options take up less space on the display.

Apple has introduced a whole new multitasking and windowing system. The iPad is more like the Mac than ever, with the option to open multiple app windows and place and resize them as needed much like on the Mac. iPad apps now have menu bars and Mac-style window controls for closing, minimizing, resizing, and tiling windows.

Exposé is available on the iPad, so users can see all of the apps they have open with a tap. Apple removed Slide Over and Split View, but Stage Manager is still available for those who want to group their different windows together. External displays are supported for using even more apps at once. The iPad's cursor is now like the Mac cursor, and with the Magic Keyboard, the trackpad feels more like the Mac trackpad too.

Along with a new design and updated multitasking features, Apple is expanding the Apple Intelligence features that are available on the iPad. Messages, FaceTime, and a new Phone app for the iPad all support Live Translation for automatically translating conversations when you're conversing with someone who speaks another language.

Image Playground supports ChatGPT image generation so you can create images in more styles. Genmoji has a new feature for mixing multiple emoji characters to make a new one, and adding descriptions to create an all-new emoji character.

The Shortcuts app supports intelligent actions that can summarize text, create images, or tap into Apple Intelligence models, making it easier than ever to create automations. Reminders is able to suggest tasks, grocery items and follow-ups based on emails, and it can automatically categorize related reminders into sections.

For developers, Apple is debuting a new Foundation Models framework that allows developers to tap into the AI model that's at the core of Apple Intelligence, so developers can add new AI features to their apps.

Apple brought the Phone app to the iPad for the first time, and it works through a connected iPhone with Wi-Fi calling. The Phone app has a whole slew of features that are new on both the iPhone and the iPad. There's a unified layout that combines Favorites, Recents, and Voicemails. A new Call Screening feature asks unknown callers for their name and reason for calling before sending the call to you, stopping unwanted calls. When you're stuck on hold, there's a Hold Assist option that stays on the line for you, so you don't have to listen to irritating hold music. It lets you know when a live agent is available.

Messages can screen texts from unknown senders, sending them silently to a dedicated folder where users can ask for more information or delete them. Group texts now have typing indicators and support for sending and receiving Apple Cash, plus Messages adds customizable backgrounds for each conversation and polls.

In Apple Music, there's a Lyrics Translation feature that translates lyrics that aren't in your language, and Lyrics Pronunciation helps you pronounce those lyrics. A new AutoMix feature uses intelligence to transition from one song to another, using time stretching and beat matching for a seamless shift between songs.

Apple added a new Apple Games app that's an all-in-one destination for discovering and playing games. It supports recommendations, leaderboards, competitions with friends, and more.

Note: See an error in this roundup or want to offer feedback? Send us an email here.

The current version of iPadOS 26 is iPadOS 26.0.1, released in late September. iPadOS 26.0.1 fixed a VoiceOver issue, and addressed a bug that could cause the floating keyboard to change positions unexpectedly.

Apple is also testing an iPadOS 26.1 update that reintroduces Slide Over multitasking and adds new features for external microphones.

If you're wondering why Apple went from iPadOS 18 to iPadOS 26, it was to streamline operating system naming. Apple is numbering all of its operating systems with the year going forward, so the "26" in iPadOS 26 represents the release season between September 2025 and September 2026.

Everything released this year uses the same number, so iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and so on. It's meant to help keep numbering more straightforward in the future, even if it seems strange to skip iPadOS 19 and go right to iPadOS 26.

The biggest single change in iPadOS 26 is the design overhaul. Apple is using a new Liquid Glass material throughout iOS and iPadOS, and it has transformed the look of the iPad's software.

Liquid Glass is translucent, and like real glass, it allows light and color to shine through to put the focus on the content that's on your iPad's display. Apple designed Liquid Glass to behave like it does in the real world, so it can subtly reflect light when you move your iPad. It uses real-time rendering to dynamically react to movement with reflective highlights.

App icons are meant to look like several layers of glass, which gives them a subtle depth. Liquid Glass works well for the standard color icons, but Apple also added a translucent app icon option that makes your iPad look even more like a sheet of glass.

Pop Out Menus

In several places, Apple streamlined navigation and moved extra settings into pop out menus. In the Camera app, for example, Apple shows just the two main modes: photo and video. But if you tap on one of the buttons, you'll see a pop out menu with a range of quick access photo settings that you can activate.

Apple says it wanted controls, toolbars, and navigation to have a distinct functional layer that sits above apps, morphing and dynamically changing as users need to access more options.

Disappearing Navigation

In several places, navigation elements disappear when they're not needed, and appear when they are. An example of this is in Safari at smaller window sizes. When you scroll down, the navigation bar with controls collapse down into a smaller bar to reveal more of the content on the page. Scrolling back up brings back the full Safari bar so you can use the interface buttons that you need.

Corners and Spacing

In areas with a long list of options or categories, such as the Settings app, Apple has increased spacing and padding for a less cluttered look. You need to scroll longer to get through settings now, but there's more space to tap and it can be more readable with the additional spacing.

Apple shrunk navigation bars at the bottom of apps, so they take up less display space. A good example of this is in the Photos app, where the editing options have been condensed down into a smaller bar.

Navigation bars, side bars, card-style menus, notifications, buttons, toggles, search bars, and other interface elements have a more rounded look. Single buttons are entirely circular, such as those in Control Center, while navigation bars are pill-shaped with distinctly round corners. Toggles and notifications have an elongated pill-shape too, and cards are also more rounded in appearance at the corners. The keyboard has round edges at the top.

Cross-Platform Cohesiveness

Liquid Glass is not exclusive to iPadOS 26. The new design extends to all of Apple's operating systems, including iOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, and of course, visionOS 26, which is the OS that inspired the overhaul.

With the same design available across all of Apple's operating systems, everything feels more cohesive, which was one of Apple's main goals with Liquid Glass.

Design Summary

• Everything looks different in iPadOS 26.
• There's an emphasis on content, with Apple aiming to make everything else fade away.
• Interface elements are made from Liquid Glass, which is translucent and designed to work like glass in the real world. Colors and content shine through, and everything has a more liquid feel.
• Almost all interface elements are rounder.
• Navigation elements and settings are meant to hide away when you don't need them. If you're missing a setting, it's likely you'll find it in a pop out menu when you tap on a single icon.
• Liquid Glass is system wide. Apple's apps have been redesigned with it to varying degrees, and third-party apps have also adopted the design language.

Apple overhauled how multitasking and windowing work on the iPad, so now it offers a much more Mac-like experience.

Windows

You can open multiple app windows at one time, and drag them anywhere on the display. They can overlap and move slightly offscreen, just like on the Mac. On some older iPads, you're limited to four open app windows, but on newer Apple silicon models, you can have far more.

There are multiple tiling options for open windows. You can arrange windows with a quick flick, and split your screen for two apps, three apps, or four apps. Tiling options can also be accessed from the menu bar.

External displays increase the visual space for your open windows, and using an iPad with an external display makes much more sense with the updated organizational system.

The iPad remembers the sizing and placement of apps, so if you close an app and then open it again, it reappears in the same size and position.

With the new multitasking features, Apple eliminated the previous Split View and Slide Over options for window tiling and viewing multiple apps, but Stage Manager still exists for those who want to group their windows together.

Stage Manager

With iPadOS 26, Stage Manager is expanding to a larger number of iPad Models. All iPads that are compatible with iPadOS 26 have access to Stage Manager, so the feature is now available on the third-generation iPad Air and later, 5th-generation iPad mini and later, and 8th-generation iPad and later.

Stage Manager supports arranging multiple app windows in groups to improve multitasking. Stage Manager continues to be an opt-in feature, and it pairs with the iPadOS 26 multitasking features.

Menu Bars

iPad apps now have Mac-style menu bars at the top of them, so you can get quick access to settings. There are Mac-style traffic light buttons for resizing, closing, and expanding iPad windows. Menu bars can be accessed with a swipe down from the top of the iPad's display.

Third-party developers can also create custom menu bars for their iPad apps.

Exposé

The Mac's Exposé feature for showing you everything you have open is now available on the iPad. You can swipe up to see all of your windows spread out, and then tap on one to bring it to the front.

Dock

Folders can go in the dock, which makes them quicker to access when you need something.

Files App

The Files app supports a new list view with resizable columns and collapsible folders for the first time, so you can better see what's in a folder without having to open the entire thing.

You can set default apps for opening different file types, and folders can be customized with colors and emoji to make them easier to find.

Background Tasks

iPadOS 26 supports background tasks, so you can download or export large files or run other system intensive tasks while using your iPad like normal. When a background task is in progress, it can be tracked with Live Activities.

On the Lock Screen, there are two key changes beyond design updates. The time can auto adjust to be larger when your wallpaper allows for more space, and there is an option to enable a 2D to 3D spatial photo effect that adds depth to your wallpaper images.

The size of the time adjusts automatically in some cases, but you can also drag the bar at the corner to resize it to make it bigger. Note that you need to use the first font in the font list, because it's the only one that can be resized.

When choosing a photo for a wallpaper, there is an option to use a 2D image to generate a 3D "Spatial Scene" that uses depth information to separate the subject from the background. The Spatial Scene wallpaper features a little bit of motion when you move your iPad, enhancing the 3D effect.

Most of the Home Screen is the same, aside from the Liquid Glass design changes. You can tap into Edit > Customize to select a new "Clear" option that gives all of your app icons a translucent, Liquid Glass look.

The Messages app features customized backgrounds, an option to create polls, live translation, and enhanced spam filtering and blocking features.

• Customizable backgrounds - In an individual or group conversation, you can tap on the name at the top and then choose the "Backgrounds" option to set a custom background for each conversation. There are options like sky, water, and aurora, or you can choose a color. You can also select photos or generate a background with Image Playground. Backgrounds that you set are changed for every participant in the conversation, unless they toggle off the feature in Messages settings.
• Polls - Tap on the "+" button to get to a new option to create a poll in any chat. You can add up to 12 different options, then send it to allow people to vote. Others can also add options to the list. On devices with Apple Intelligence, polls may come up as a suggestion.
• Group chats - Group chats support typing indicators and sending and receiving Apple Cash. There's also an option to add someone in a group chat who isn't in your contacts to your Contacts app with a tap.
• Natural language search - Messages supports natural language search.
• Copy/paste - You can now select just part of a text message to copy. Long press and tap on the new "Select" option to do so.
• Spam messages - Spam messages and Unknown Senders are two separate categories in iPadOS 26. There's a new Filter box at the top right of the Messages app, and Unknown Senders go in one category, while Spam goes in another. A badge lets you know if you have messages in these categories, but you won't get notifications for them.
• Unknown Senders - Messages from Unknown Senders won't send notifications if the option to filter them is on, but you still get alerts if it is a time sensitive notification, such as a notification from a ride share app or a delivery person.
• Live Translation - Messages that aren't in your language can be automatically translated as you receive them in iPadOS 26. Apple Intelligence is required for this feature.

The Phone app is new to the iPad, and it is designed to work through Wi-Fi calling. Calls are routed through your iPhone and can be answered and managed on your iPad. The Phone app includes multiple new features that are designed to cut down on unwanted calls and reduce the amount of time that you need to spend on the phone.

Call Screening

Call Screening is an extension of Live Voicemail. When you receive a call from an unknown number that is not in your list of contacts, your device asks the caller for their name and reason for calling. The information is relayed to you so you can decide if you want to accept the call or ignore it.

Call Screening can be enabled in the Phone section of the Settings app.

Hold Assist

If you make a phone call and you're stuck on hold waiting to speak to a person, you can activate Hold Assist. Your iPad can wait for you while you do other things, and then let you know when a live agent is on the line. The agent is informed that you'll be on the call in just a moment.

To use Hold Assist, tap on the "Hold" button after placing a call.

Live Translation

When talking to someone who speaks another language, there is an option to turn on Live Translation to have the call automatically translated for each person on the line. Live Translation is an Apple Intelligence feature and requires an Apple silicon iPad or the A17 Pro iPad mini.

Other Features

• Contact Posters - Incoming calls feature large contact posters for improved personalization.
• Unified Layout - The Phone app has an optional unified layout that combines Favorites, Recents, and Voicemails in one spot.
• Spam calls - Calls identified as spam can be silenced and sent directly to voicemail.
• Call History - Tapping on the info button next to a call in the recents list or on a name or number in the unified view shows a call history that lists every time you've spoken with someone.
• Flag spam voicemails - If you tap into a voicemail from a person not in your contact list, you'll see an option to report the voicemail as spam.
• Screen sharing - The Phone app supports screen sharing and SharePlay during phone calls.

There are several new Apple Music features, ranging from translation to new options for transitioning between songs.

AutoMix

Apple Music includes AutoMix, a feature that transitions from one song to another as the song that's playing ends. It uses time stretching and beat mixing for a seamless shift, and Apple says that it's meant to work like a DJ.

Songs transition at the "perfect moment" based on an analysis of the key and tempo of the music, with AutoMix serving as an alternative to Crossfade.

Other New Features

• Lyrics Translation - Songs that are in another language can be translated automatically with Lyrics Translation.
• Lyrics Pronunciation - Lyrics Pronunciation helps you pronounce lyrics that are in another language.
• Pinned playlists - Apple Music playlists can now be pinned to the top of the Music app, with pinned playlists accessible in a new Home Screen widget as well.
• Playlist folders - Playlists can be organized into folders.
• Lock Screen - On the Lock Screen, the Now Playing widget now provides full screen album artwork. Album art animates based on what you're listening to.

The Shortcuts app now features Apple Intelligence, and the option to use Apple's AI models when creating shortcuts. Apple Intelligence models can be used for summarizing PDFs, generating recipes, answering questions, and more. Writing Tools and Image Playground are available for spellchecking, image generation, rewriting, tone changes, and more.

Apple offers several pre-programmed Shortcuts in the Gallery that use Apple Intelligence, such as options for getting a morning summary of the coming day, generating a haiku, or summarizing a PDF.

When creating a shortcut, there is an Apple Intelligence section that includes options for an on-device model, a cloud model that uses Private Cloud Compute, or ChatGPT. Some pre-set options are available, such as generating an image with Image Playground or using Writing Tools, along with the option to use a model.

Selecting one of the AI models provides an open-ended prompt where you can write in what you want it to do. You need to work in the confines of the model that Apple provides, pairing it with other functionality in Shortcuts.

Safari

• Tabs - Safari has a new look for the tab bar, with more rounded edges between the active tab and the tab next to it.
• Liquid Glass - There is an option to hide the tab bar when scrolling.
• Tracking Prevention - Advanced fingerprinting protection extends to all browsing by default. Advanced fingerprinting protection prevents websites from tracking your device usage across websites. Previously, this was limited to private browsing unless explicitly enabled.
• Web apps - Every website added to the Home Screen through Safari opens a web app, even if it is not configured that way. In earlier versions of iOS, websites added to the Home Screen that were not properly configured would open in Safari.
• HDR images - Safari supports HDR images in iPadOS 26.
• SVG icons - Safari supports the SVG file format for icons in the bookmark bar and start page.

Camera

• Design - The Camera app has a simplified design with just Photo and Video tabs. Swiping up or down expands to other photo modes, and tapping on one of the buttons expands the available settings.
• Lens - If the Camera lens is dirty, your iPad lets you know that it needs to be cleaned.
• AirPods - The AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro 2 can be used to take a photo or start a video recording by pressing and holding on the stem.

Photos

• Search - Video thumbnails show up in search results.
• Spatial Scenes - You can use a new 3D feature to turn 2D photos into 3D images, adding subtle depth and motion that separates the subject from the background.

Notes

• Markdown - The Notes app supports exporting in Markdown.
• Math Notes - Three variable equations can be used to create 3D graphs.
• Call Recordings - Conversations from the Phone app can be saved as audio recordings with transcriptions in the Notes app. Transcriptions require Apple Intelligence.

Reminders

• Categorization - Apple Intelligence can categorize reminders into different sections.
• Suggestions - Apple Intelligence can suggest adding tasks, grocery items, and more to Reminders based on what's on your iPad.

FaceTime

• Live Translation - FaceTime supports Live Translation, displaying captions if you're talking to someone who speaks another language.
• Call Screening - FaceTime has new screening features for unknown numbers. Calls from unknown numbers can be asked for more information like name and reason for calling, or they can be sent directly to voicemail. Missed calls from unknown numbers can be silenced and sent to an Unknown Callers list.

Podcasts

• Enhance Dialogue - An Enhance Dialogue option mutes background sounds to enhance speech.
• Playback speed - There are more options for playback speeds, ranging from 0.5x to 3x.

Games

iPadOS 26 includes a Games app that comes pre-installed on the iPad. It has all of the games from the App Store, along with Apple Arcade titles.

Games you have installed are shown in a Library section. A Play Together section lets you invite friends to "Challenges," where you compete to win in a game-specific task like getting the highest score during a given week.

A Game Overlay feature allows users to see new events, adjust settings, and contact friends without interrupting their gameplay.

Preview

The Mac Preview app is now available on the iPad. It can be used for creating, viewing, and editing PDFs. There are also tools for cropping, flipping, rotating, resizing, and editing images.

The Preview app on the iPad is compatible with the Apple Pencil, so you can mark up PDFs and images with Apple's stylus.

Journal

Apple brought the Journal app to the iPad in iPadOS 26, and added new features.

• Handwriting support - The Journal app on iPad supports handwriting with the Apple Pencil, as well as drawings.
• Multiple Journals - You can now create more than one journal if you want to separate your entries by topic.
• Maps - Journal entries can be viewed on a map.
• Images - There's support for adding images inline with text.

Apple updated the Battery section of the Settings app to provide a more in-depth look at how iPad usage impacts battery life, and how much battery apps are draining.

The Battery section now displays a weekly view of battery usage along with a comparison of how much battery you're currently using compared to your typical average. You can see if you're using more, the same, or less battery life than you do on most days, with a readout of which apps are using the most battery, and by how much.

App battery usage includes specific details, such as letting you know if an app ran in the background longer, was on your screen longer, or sent more notifications than normal. You'll also see how much battery you've used since your last charge.

On the Lock Screen and in the Battery section, you'll see information on how long it's going to take your iPad to charge up to full when it's plugged in.

There are new Apple Intelligence features throughout iPadOS 26, such as the Live Translation options in Phone, Messages, and FaceTime, and the suggestions and sorting options in the Reminders app. Some existing Apple Intelligence features have also been updated.

Genmoji

Genmoji supports combining two or more emoji together to create a new character. You can also combine existing emoji with text-based descriptions to tweak them, which is a more convenient starting point for generating something new.

Image Playground

Apple added support for ChatGPT image generation capabilities, which means you can use several ChatGPT image styles when generating images. Options include Anime, Oil Painting, Watercolor, Vector, and Print.

There's also an open-ended option where you can tell ChatGPT what style you want, and you can make realistic images with this option. The new ChatGPT styles join the existing Animation, Sketch, and Illustration styles.

Note that generating images with ChatGPT is limited if you do not have a ChatGPT subscription, so you cannot freely use the ChatGPT styles.

• iOS 26: All the Apple Intelligence Features

ChatGPT

With iPadOS 26, the ChatGPT Siri integration uses OpenAI's new GPT-5 model rather than GPT-4.

GPT-5 brings enhanced reasoning capabilities and coding tools, along with better voice interaction and video perception.

iPadOS 26 adds several new features to the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4 through an accompanying AirPods firmware update.

Improved Audio Quality

The studio-quality recording feature with Voice Isolation brings more natural vocal texture and clarity to iPad calls, FaceTime calls, and all CallKit-enabled apps like Zoom.

Both studio-quality audio recording and improved call quality are available across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and support the Camera app, Voice Memos, Messages dictation, third-party camera apps, and video conferencing apps.

iPad users can choose different microphones for each app, and for different websites, too.

Software Updates

With the latest software updates, Apple is finally adding a way to manually update the firmware on your AirPods. When your AirPods are connected, you can go to the Settings app to get to a new software update interface.

Pause for Sleep

If you're listening to music, a podcast, or a book while you're in bed and you're wearing AirPods, the AirPods can pause your audio when you fall asleep.

There are dozens if not hundreds of smaller changes in iPadOS 26, and we've highlighted some of the more notable ones below.

• Local Capture - Local capture lets users produce high-quality recordings from the iPad using any video conferencing app, with audio and video files able to be shared when a call is over. Each person can use local capture to record their own audio to prevent echo and other issues.
• Contacts - The Contacts app has new Monogram styles that you can set for people.
• Apple Pencil - The Apple Pencil has a new reed pen option that enables traditional calligraphy.
• Blocked Contacts - When you block someone, Apple now suggests Safety Check as an option. You can also see a list of Blocked Contacts in the Settings app.
• Passwords - The Passwords app supports password history so you can see your prior passwords.
• Alarms - In the Clock app, you can set a custom snooze duration of 1 to 15 minutes, so you are no longer limited to the nine minute snooze time.
• Keep Audio in Headphones - Prevents audio from automatically switching to newly connected devices like Bluetooth speakers or car speakers when you're already listening to music through headphones.
• Apple News - There's a new Emoji Game for Apple News+ subscribers.
• Apple Fitness+ - Custom Plans in Apple Fitness+ automatically generate a personalized schedule based on your workout habits and meditation preferences. Top activities, durations, trainers, and music are included.
• Parental Controls - Apple improved the process for creating a Child Account and app approvals. Apple also requires parental approval for contact requests from kids, and blurring sensitive content in FaceTime calls and Shared Albums.
• Captive Wi-Fi - Captive Wi-Fi portal login information syncs between all Apple devices.
• Dictation - Dictation supports spelling, so you can spell out names if necessary.

iPadOS 26 includes a long list of new Accessibility features.

App Store Labels

App Store product pages feature Accessibility Nutrition Labels that highlight accessibility features in apps and games. The labels let users know if features like VoiceOver, Voice Control, Captions, Reduced Motion, and other accessibility options are supported in apps.

Accessibility Reader

Accessibility Reader is a systemwide reading mode that makes text easier to read for users with a range of disabilities. It includes multiple text customization features with options for adjusting font, color, spacing, and more. Accessibility Reader can be launched from any app and is built into the Magnifier app.

Braille Access

Braille Access turns an iPhone or iPad into a braille note taking device integrated in the Apple ecosystem. Users can open any app with Braille Screen Input or a connected braille device, for quick note taking in braille format. Braille Ready Format files can be opened from Braille Access, and an integrated form of Live Captions is supported.

• Background Sounds - There are new Background Sounds options, including Babble, Steam, Airplane, Boat, Bus, Train, Rain on Roof, and Quiet Night.
• Personal Voice - The Personal Voice feature that lets users preserve their voice is faster, easier, and more powerful. It takes advantage of advances in on-device machine learning to create a smoother, more natural-sounding voice in less than a minute. Apple is also adding support for Spanish.
• Vehicle Motion Cues - Apple is adding new customization options for the animated onscreen dots used by Vehicle Motion Cues.
• Eye Tracking - Eye Tracking lets users choose to use a switch or dwell for making selections. There's also a new keyboard dwell timer for typing and reduced steps when typing with switches.
• Head Tracking - Users can more easily control iPhone and iPad with head movements.
• Brain Computer Interfaces - For users that have Brain Computer Interface devices, Apple is adding a protocol that supports Switch Control, a technology that letsusers control their device without physical movement.
• Assistive Access - This setting is getting a custom Apple TV app with a simplified media player.
• Sound Recognition - Sound Recognition is gaining Name Recognition, so users who are deaf or hard of hearing can be alerted when their name is being called.
• Live Captions - For Live Captions, Apple is adding support for English (India, Australia, UK, Singapore), Mandarin Chinese (Mainland China), Cantonese (Mainland China, Hong Kong), Spanish (Latin America, Spain), French (France, Canada), Japanese, German (Germany), and Korean.
• Sharing - A Share Accessibility Settings option lets users quickly and temporarily share their accessibility settings with another iPhone or iPad, which Apple says is useful for borrowing a friend's device.

Most iPads able to run iPadOS 18 support iPadOS 26, with the exception of the 7th-generation low-cost iPad. A list of iPads compatible with iPadOS 26 is below.

• iPad Pro (M4)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later)
• iPad Air (M2 and later)
• iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
• iPad (A16)
• iPad (8th generation and later)
• iPad mini (A17 Pro)
• iPad mini (5th generation and later)

While these iPads support iPadOS 26, advanced features may be limited to newer iPads with faster processors, including the A17 Pro and the M1 and later.