WWDC happens every year, and for iOS developers, it’s like an early Christmas, it’s when we get a first look at all the exciting new features coming to the next iOS versions.

But there’s a catch: most of these features will only be available on iOS 26 and up. So if your app supports much older versions, it might be worth holding off before jumping in with the latest and greatest.

Now, let’s dive into the most important highlights from this year’s WWDC from Platform's State of The Union.

Version Uniformization

Starting this year, Apple is syncing version numbers across iOS, macOS, visionOS, and more, all starting at version 26.

It’s much easier to follow now, no more mapping or guessing which version belongs to which platform.

System Redesign: Liquid Glass

For the first time since 2007, Apple has completely redesigned the software across its platforms.

They took inspiration from how visionOS works, bringing a fresh new look focused on clarity, fluidity, and dynamism.

There’s now a distinct functional layer that floats above your app, adding depth and helping users stay focused. Elements that were once designed with rectangular screens in mind should now embrace the rounded corners of the hardware, this helps free up space and makes content feel more natural.

UI components that used to take over the entire screen, like tabs or menus, should now be rethought as lightweight tools, rather than full-screen takeovers.

If you want your apps to align with Apple’s new system design, it’s a good time to revisit your app’s UI and think about how to adapt to the updated guidelines.

Elements are now more rounded, a design choice influenced by the natural geometry of the fingers.

If your app uses native components, there’s good news, you won’t need to manually update your design. These changes will be applied automatically when running on iOS 26.

Even though the overall design approach isn’t entirely new, some concerns have been raised.

The glass-like visuals might make icons harder to distinguish, potentially affecting usability and clarity for some users.

There's already some buzz on the internet about this and you're already seeing memes:

Artificial Intelligence

Last year was a big year for AI, and this year is no different: Apple is doubling down on AI.

You can now add extra AI features to your app, like image sticker generation or enhanced writing experiences, using the new Foundation Models framework. These capabilities run on-device, giving you powerful AI without relying on the cloud.

You can also integrate LLM prompts directly into your code through the foundation model API, making it easier to bring intelligent features into your app.

@generable

The LLM can generate from your prompt using the data structures that your app has. To do this you can add @generable to each data structure so the model knows what to generate.

You can also offer additional guides for each property so it can be generated better using @Guide(description:"") so the model uses the values you are expecting.

Xcode 26

With the new version of Xcode, we will get integration of other models right on Xcode, for example ChatGPT. Xcode applies the suggestion automatically, similar to what already exists with Cursor.

You can also ask for help now when you have errors when compiling the code.

Xcode now gives developers more flexibility with AI integration, you can plug in other models of your choice, even ones that run locally on your Mac or within your local network.

It’s fully customizable and gives you more control over how AI fits into your workflow.

There’s also a new #playground macro. With it, you no longer need to create a separate playground project just to test ideas. You get access to all your project’s source code and can experiment freely without running the entire app.

Swift 6.2

There are many exciting updates coming to Swift 6.2, especially on performance. Let's take a look at the best features coming.

Inline Arrays

Fixed size arrays that can be stored on the stack or directly inside other types without using heap memory. This improves memory management on your app.

Concurrency

You can now configure specific modules or individual files to run on the main thread by default, giving you finer control over execution.

There’s also a new @concurrent attribute for CPU-intensive tasks. It automatically offloads the work to a background thread, helping keep your app responsive without extra setup.

Conclusion

WWDC had a lot to offer this year. It’s clear Apple is doubling down on artificial intelligence and working to make the developer experience even easier. While some are hesitant about the new design approach, Liquid Glass brings a fresh, clearer look that’s hard to ignore.

There’s still so much more to explore from the sessions throughout the week, and that’s why I’m preparing more blog posts to dive deeper into those topics soon.

Thank you for reading!