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Apple is teasing something about its show from Breaking Bad's creator.

Apple is teasing something about its show from Breaking Bad's creator.

The Verge2 days ago
Posted Jul 22, 2025 at 7:17 PM UTC Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Jay Peters Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Jay Peters
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iOS 26 public beta LIVE — Liquid Glass, new iPhone features and latest updates
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Your iPhone's about to look a little big different — if you're ready to try out Apple's latest software update. The iOS 26 public beta is now available for anyone to download, offering an introduction to the Liquid Glass interface Apple is rolling out across its different devices. Apple first showed off Liquid Glass and iOS 26 at WWDC 2025 in June. The interface is designed to provide a more unified experience across different Apple products, as it's also a part of the iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26 updates arriving this year. At WWDC 2025, Apple released an iOS 26 developer beta, and after four updates to that release, it's now ready to share the iOS 26 update with the public at large. We've been using the developer beta, and we can help guide you through what's new with Apple's iPhone software. After all, Liquid Glass may take up much of the focus with iOS 26, but it's not the only new addition. There are updates to existing apps, new capabilities like call screening, and — if you have a compatible iPhone — new Apple Intelligence features that further advance Apple's push into AI. You can read my iOS 26 public beta first look for an extensive look at the major changes in this update. And throughout the day, we'll be updating this blog with tips, tricks and any new details we uncover about iOS 26.

macOS 26 preview: Spotlight's time to shine
macOS 26 preview: Spotlight's time to shine

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macOS 26 preview: Spotlight's time to shine

I've learned not to expect much from macOS updates — not through sheer cynicism, but from the obvious reality that Apple pays far more attention to iOS and iPadOS than its desktop platform. I get it. macOS is a thing of the past, while smartphones and tablets are Apple's profitable present and future. But still, I think Mac users deserve more than just widgets, or the ability to merely mirror their iPhones (a feature that's not only genuinely useful, but also cements how crucial iPhones are to Apple and its users today). Now with macOS 26, Apple is finally showing a bit more love to its laptops and desktops. After testing the macOS Tahoe 26 developer beta for a few weeks, it definitely feels like a more substantial update than the last few versions. The revamped Spotlight alone will likely delight Mac diehards, since it makes it easier to find apps and perform all manner of tasks without requiring your fingers leave the keyboard. Add in a lovely visual refresh thanks to Apple's Liquid Glass design, as well as enhanced iPhone continuity features, and you have an operating system that feels like a genuine step forward for the Mac faithful. I've never been a heavy Spotlight user, aside from the few times I've needed to quickly look for an app or file. But in macOS Tahoe 26, it's suddenly a lot more useful. Now Spotlight can also help you find specific files; search cloud file services and websites; run Apple shortcuts and automations; and even run basic commands, like looking up your recent screenshots when you type "/screenshot." Spotlight has become more than just a search engine for your Mac, it's practically a super-powered command line. (And notably, it has no real equivalent on Windows. So once again, Mac power users will be able to gloat about the supremacy of macOS.) Over the course of my testing, tapping the command key and space bar to trigger Spotlight practically became second nature. I'd bring it up to find files, as usual, but I noticed that it was better at unearthing what I was looking for than before. Spotlight also replaced my usual practice of typing in search strings in Safari or Chrome's address bar. It takes just a few seconds to bring up Spotlight, type "YouTube," hit tab to trigger the search box and type in the video I'm looking for. This intelligent site searching also works for Amazon and IMDB — hopefully, Apple will add more commonly used sites over time (or perhaps just the ability to map a site's internal search engine to Spotlight). If you're often buried by tons of tabs in your web browser, Spotlight can also quickly search through them. That helped me avoid getting distracted by social media and Slack conversations. I could just stay in my productivity flow, since I didn't have to sift through multiple app windows and tabs. The ability to trigger actions from Spotlight was similarly useful — it's a cinch to pop it up, start typing "Send Message" and jot out a quick text to my wife. Spotlight also learns your most common commands over time, so now I just have to type "se" for the Send Message action to pop up. I'm sure for a certain type of Mac power user, Spotlight will give them far fewer reasons to ever touch their mouse or trackpad. While Spotlight is the most powerful upgrade in macOS Tahoe 26, you'll notice the spiffier Liquid Glass interface first. As with iOS 26, it basically amounts to more transparencies and visual flourishes spread throughout the OS. The menu bar at the top of the screen is now fully transparent, instead of looking foggy like before. It's not much, but it does make your Mac's screen seem a little bigger (or perhaps that may have just been extra noticeable on the cramped 13-inch MacBook Air I've been testing on). Similarly, widgets and the Control Center dropdown have more glass-like visual elements that make them look a bit more modern. There's no real practical advantage, but to paraphrase a classic Marge Simpson quote, I just think it's neat. Apple Silicon-equipped hardware has more than enough graphics power to spare, so these visual upgrades also don't hinder performance at all. I didn't notice any slowdown during my testing, and according to Activity Monitor, there didn't seem to be a big hit to CPU or GPU usage. Even though you've been able to make phone calls on Macs for a while now through FaceTime, it's taken until macOS Tahoe 26 for Apple to debut a dedicated Phone app. The app itself is nothing special — it gives you a quick glance at your contacts and recent calls, all in a compact Liquid Glass window — but at least it's a more logical place for phone calls. Even better than the standalone app, though, is the addition of iPhone Live Activities appearing in the macOS Tahoe 26 menu bar. That makes it easier to keep track of an inbound Uber or Doordash order, without whipping out your phone. And if you need to tap into a specific activity, macOS will also automatically launch the app from your phone via iPhone mirroring. It's the sort of usability feature you'd expect from Apple, and notably it's also not easily replicable on Windows. (And sure, you can also view it as a way to keep iPhone users from straying to the dark side too.) The more I dug into macOS Tahoe 26, the more intriguing it became. Here are a few other updates worth highlighting: The Shortcuts app seems a lot more powerful now, especially with the addition of custom automations and Apple Intelligence-powered actions. You can have an automation trigger writing tools or Image Playgrounds, and there's also a new "Use Model" command that can tap into on-device AI models and ChatGPT. I'm still trying to wrap my head around building a complex automation, but conceivably it could let you do something like compare an audio transcript to text notes, according to Apple. Safari has received a Liquid Glass redesign that looks pretty polished. It's not nearly as transformative as the Safari iOS upgrade, which makes it easier to read websites on a small phone screen, but at least it looks nice. The Notes app now has Apple Intelligence-powered reminders whenever you share content to it. That could help you unearth some key tasks from a large email. The Photos app has also received the Liquid Glass treatment, and you can finally use Pinned Collections on Macs to keep your favorite photo groups handy. The Apple Music app can now use AutoMix to intelligently blend songs together, similar to a DJ. 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Apple's iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26 and watchOS 26 public betas are ready to download
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Apple's iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26 and watchOS 26 public betas are ready to download

You can now take Apple's 2026 software for a spin. The first public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26 are now available. The two most obvious changes serve to unify Apple's platforms. First, we have Apple's biggest cosmetic overhaul to date. Liquid Glass is the company's name for the shiny, translucent redesign that will be heading to its software this fall. The other significant change is in the numbering. Apple traded its old chronological system for a year-based one. Since 2026 is when the software will spend the bulk of its time in the spotlight, "26" it is. iOS 26 brings new personalized backgrounds and polls to Messages. Live Translation is another new arrival, making it easier to communicate in Messages, FaceTime and Phone. In addition, Visual Intelligence inches forward: It now lets you interact with content on your iPhone's screen. There are also new screening tools to decide whether a conversation is worth your time. The Phone app even includes Hold Assist, which listens to the Muzak so you don't have to. Arguably, Apple's most significant update this year is iPadOS 26. The new software makes Apple's tablet more of a workhorse. The iPad finally has desktop-like window management and Menu Bar dropdown entries. It even includes the Preview app and Exposé, both familiar to Mac users. The update should do a lot to calm the fury over the iPad Pro's wasted productivity potential. Meanwhile, Apple's Mac software adopts the "26" branding without ditching California landmarks. macOS Tahoe 26 adds the Phone app and Live Activities from the iPhone. The update also introduces a more advanced Spotlight that allows you to take actions directly from the launcher. Finally, watchOS 26 adds Workout Buddy, a virtual fitness coach. The AI-powered feature learns from your fitness history to "identify meaningful insights in real time." A text-to-speech model then communicates those to you verbally. "You're crushing it — closing that move ring for six straight days!" Although the public betas are less risky than installing a developer beta on day one, remember that this is still pre-release software. Only go this route if you're comfortable with the inherent risks, which could include buggy apps and unpredictable battery life. It also can't hurt to make a local backup of your device before taking the plunge.

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