Tech
Apple’s iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 Are Available Now. Here’s What’s New on Your iPhone and iPad
At the moment, Live Translation in Phone and FaceTime only works with one-on-one calls in English (UK and US), French (France), German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain). Live Translation in Messages has slightly broader language support, including Chinese (simplified) and Japanese. Since there’s now a Phone app on iPadOS and MacOS, you can still take advantage of these features if you answer on those platforms.
Visual Intelligence and the iPhone Screen
Visual Intelligence debuted with Apple Intelligence as a way to have Siri understand the world around you through the iPhone’s camera. It’s now expanding to understand the context of your iPhone’s screen. Very much like Google’s Gemini, Visual Intelligence can identify what’s on your screen and suggest specific actions.
Unlike triggering Visual Intelligence and Siri with the Camera Control or Action Button, to trigger the onscreen contextual mode, you have to take a screenshot (these don’t have to be saved if you tap the X icon on the top left). If you take a screenshot of an invitation someone sent you, for example, you’ll see a suggestion to add it to your calendar with one tap. If you’re looking at a PDF, a screenshot might suggest a summarization so you can get the highlights.
There’s even a feature very similar to Google Lens or Google’s Circle to Search, where you can take a screenshot and then highlight a specific thing on the page you want to search via Google, or through another app that’s installed on your phone that supports the feature, like Etsy. So you can highlight a vase, for example, and then find similar results via Google or similar shoppable vases on Etsy.
New Group Message and Emoji Features
Group chats are finally getting typing indicators and polls (though the latter is exclusive to iMessage group chats). There’s also the ability to add new background designs for messages to make them more personalized. If you’re big on emoji, you might like the new ability to mix two emojis via Genmoji in the keyboard or in Apple’s Image Playground app. (It’s somewhat similar to Google’s Emoji Kitchen.)
A New Games App
There’s a new app in iOS 26! The Games app is now your one-stop shop to see all the games you’ve ever bought on the App Store, and you can launch them right from this app. (There’s even controller support so you can use a mobile controller to move through the user interface.) The app lets you discover new games, see what your friends are playing, and a Challenges tab lets you compete even with single-player games via a leaderboard.
Other Noteworthy Features
There are several other features not mentioned here, but here are a few other highlights.
- Photos: Apple heard your complaints about the Photos app and brought back the Library and Collections tabs on the main page of the app.
- Camera: The Camera app has a new look, with a simplified Photo and Video layout that expands when you move through modes.
- Reminders: You’ll now see suggested tasks, shopping items, or follow-ups based on your emails and texts on your iPhone, powered by Apple Intelligence. There’s also an option to auto-categorize related reminders in a list.
- AirPods Audio and Video Recording: If you have AirPods or AirPods Pro with the H2 chip, you can start recording a video in the iPhone’s camera app by pressing and holding the stem. You can also record audio in high definition in the camera app with those AirPods.
- Maps: Maps will learn the routes you travel regularly and will give you a heads up about delays before you leave the house. Also, there’s now a Visited Places section in the app (you have to opt in, and you can choose how long Maps stores this data, from 3 months to forever).
- Apple Music: In the Music app, there’s now an AutoMix feature that will seamlessly mix one song to the next like a DJ using tools like time stretching and beat matching. Also, if you’re looking at music lyrics, you can now see translations.
- Wallet: Apple’s Wallet app can create Digital IDs with your US passport, which can be used at TSA checkpoints, in apps, and in person. Also, your boarding pass will now feature airport maps, luggage tracking with Find My, and shareable Live Activities so your loved ones can easily receive and see your flight info.
- Image Playground: There are new ChatGPT styles to choose from when generating images in Apple’s image generation app.
- CarPlay: Live Activities are now available in CarPlay, so you can see the status of a friend’s flight as you’re on your way to the airport to pick them up. You can also now react in Messages with Tapback.
The Top New iPadOS 26 Features
iPadOS 26 gets many of the same features as iOS 26, so I won’t repeat things in this section, but let’s take a look at specific new capabilities coming to iPads this fall. As always, you can get a deeper dive from Apple here.
Multitasking Improvements
iPads have become incredibly powerful over the past few years, but multitasking has been lackluster, making them feel inadequate as laptop replacements. That’s changing now with the multitasking changes in iPadOS 26. Now apps support windowing, so you can have multiple apps on the screen in different sizes. Just resize them by dragging a corner of the app and arrange them wherever.
There are native window tiling options—a flick to the left or right will tile apps to the sides for easier split-screen, and you can even split apps into thirds or quarters. The familiar traffic light buttons from macOS are also available now on apps, and if you press and hold them, you’ll see more options to arrange apps with a tap. Swipe up and hold, and your apps will spread out in Exposé mode, and you’ll be able to revisit your grouped apps later, even if you switch to a full-screen app. There’s now also a menu bar you can pull down from the top in any app, though the available options will depend on the app.
Best of all, iPadOS now lets you handle more tasks in the background. Previously, if you were rendering a file in Final Cut, you’d have to keep it open for the render to complete. Now, that task can be done in the background, allowing you to switch to other apps for a true multitasking desktop experience.
A Better Files App
The Files app has a new design that offers more info at a glance. There are resizable columns, collapsible folders, and you can set default apps for opening specific file types. You can also customize folders with different colors and emojis to make them visually distinct. Speaking of, you can put folders in the dock for speedier access.
Preview App Comes to iPad
Apple’s Preview app from macOS is now available on iPadOS, allowing you to open, edit, and mark up PDFs or images. It works with the Apple Pencil, making it great for filling out text fields and signing documents.
Other Noteworthy Features
- Phone: There’s now a dedicated Phone app on iPad. Calls made to your iPhone can be routed so you can answer from the iPad, and you’ll be able to take advantage of new features like live translation and call screening, too.
- Journal: The Journal app, originally an iPhone-exclusive app, is now on iPadOS. It now supports the Apple Pencil, so you can make your journal feel even more personal with your own handwriting.
- Audio recording: There’s a new input chooser that lets you pick the right microphone for each app, handy if you’re connecting external mics to the iPad.
- Notes: You can capture conversations from the Phone app as audio recordings with transcriptions.
More Family Board Games
Photograph: Simon Hill
There are so many family board games. Here are a few more we liked.
Dorfromantik: The Duel for $25: Based on the video game Dorfromantik, which spawned a cooperative board game, this spin-off pits you against another player as you draw tiles to build a landscape and try to complete tasks along the way. With identical sets in red and blue, it’s all about who builds a better environment to satisfy their villagers and score the most points. Play time is under an hour. You could play with two teams, but it works best as a two-player game.
Hey Hey Relay for $15: This super silly dice game is a race between two teams with challenge cards prompting silly voices and physical actions before you can proceed. It’s fast and chaotic to play, but probably best for younger kids (the makers suggest 6 years and up). My kids didn’t like it much, but this could be a fun party game.
Ship Show for $29: This cooperative game casts players as stockers and shippers and challenges them to correctly ship orders by guessing the correct tiles based on clues provided by the way they have been grouped. The time limit adds pressure, and this can be fun for the right group (you need to be on the same wavelength), but we found the wait for the stockers to set up was dull for shippers, and the scoring was laborious.
Flip 7 for $21: The thrill of pushing your luck is the draw for this hybrid card game, as you hit or stick Blackjack-style, trying to get seven different face-up cards. Special action cards and modifiers mix things up, allowing for some tactical play. Suitable for three or more players aged 8 and up, it only takes 20 minutes to play.
Tension: The Top 10 Naming Game for $43: Topic cards have 10 items within a category, and the opposing team has 60 seconds to guess as many as they can. Cards are divided into two colors (easy and harder), making it easy to play with kids or adjust the difficulty on the fly. This works well with any age or team size, but be prepared for lots of shouting and laughing.
You Gotta Be Kitten Me! for $13: A simple twist on liar’s dice that focuses on bluffing and calling bluffs; I am of two minds about this game. On the one hand, the game is nothing special, but on the other, cute cats! My moggy-obsessed daughter immediately wanted to play, and we had a few laughs with outrageous bluffs on the number of glasses, hats, and bow ties on these felines.
Poetry for Neanderthals for $18: Every card has a word, and your seemingly simple task is to get your team to correctly guess it within the time limit by speaking in single syllables only. If you break the rules, the opposition can hit you with the inflatable “No” stick. Suitable for two to eight players aged 7 and up, it’s loud, silly, and usually makes everyone laugh.
Danger Danger for $10: Fast and frenetic, this simple card game for two teams is about trying to have high-scoring cards showing at the end of each round. There are no turns, you can cover the other team’s cards, and rounds are timed, but you must guess when the round will end. Super simple and very quick to play, this game can get chaotic.
That Escalated Quickly for $12: This game is quick, easy, and fun for up to eight players. Featuring scenarios such as “I have invented a new sport, what is it?” players must provide suggestions from least dangerous (1) to most dangerous (10) based on their assigned number for each round. The leader of the round has to try to get them in the correct order. It works best with witty players who know each other well.
Sounds Fishy for $20: Another fun group game from Big Potato, the challenge in Sounds Fishy is to spot fake answers. Each card poses a question, but only one of the answers you get is correct. It’s for four to 10 players, and we found it more fun but tougher with more people.
Cards Against Humanity: Family Edition for $29: You can play this party game with up to 30 players, and it will produce a fair bit of juvenile giggling and chortling. Like the adult version, there isn’t much strategy here, but finding the perfect combination to crack everyone up is satisfying.
Don’t Bother
We were not so keen on these games.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Zilence: As a group of zombie apocalypse survivors atop a skyscraper, you must choose the correct flight path to snag the resources you need, determined by cards. A tight time limit makes it tricky to pick the right routes from the tangled mess on the game board, and it can be assembled differently for replay value. But the backdrop feels incongruous, and we all agreed it wasn’t much fun to play.
Connecto: Connect different symbols on your board with a dry-erase marker based on a randomly drawn challenge card to make a picture of something (like connect the dots). The first one to guess what it’s supposed to be wins the round (some are only vaguely like what they’re meant to be). Longevity takes a hit, as there’s no fun in replaying solved puzzles.
A Game of Cat & Mouth: Incredibly simple, this dexterity game challenges you to fire rubber balls through a cat’s mouth with magnetic paws, but they end up everywhere. Games tend to be very one-sided, and my kids got bored almost immediately. It is also impossible to play with actual cats in the vicinity.
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This story originally appeared on Inside Climate News and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Fueled by unusually warm waters, Hurricane Melissa this week turned into one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded. Now a new rapid attribution study suggests human-induced climate change made the deadly tropical cyclone four times more likely.
Hurricane Melissa collided with Jamaica on Tuesday, wreaking havoc across the island before tearing through nearby Haiti and Cuba. The storm, which reached Category 5, reserved for the hurricanes with the most powerful winds, has killed at least 40 people across the Caribbean so far. Now weakened to a Category 2, it continues its path toward Bermuda, where landfall is likely on Thursday night, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Early reports of the damage are cataclysmic, particularly in hardest-hit western Jamaica. Winds reaching speeds of 185 miles per hour and torrential rain flattened entire neighborhoods, decimated large swaths of agricultural lands and forced more than 25,000 people—locals and tourists alike—to seek cover in shelters or hotel ballrooms. According to the new attribution study from Imperial College London, climate change ramped up Melissa’s wind speeds by 7 percent, which increased damages by 12 percent.
Losses could add up to tens of billions of dollars, experts say.
The findings echo similar reports released earlier this week on how global warming contributed to the likelihood and severity of Hurricane Melissa. Each of the analyses add to a growing body of research showing how ocean warming from climate change is fueling the conditions necessary for stronger tropical storms.
Hurricane Melissa is “kind of a textbook example of what we expect in terms of how hurricanes respond to a warming climate,” said Brian Soden, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Miami, who was not involved in the recent analyses. “We know that the warming ocean temperatures [are] being driven almost exclusively by increasing greenhouse gases.”
The storm has disrupted every aspect of life in this part of the Caribbean.
“There’s been massive dislocation of services. We have people living in shelters across the country,” Dennis Zulu, United Nations resident coordinator in Jamaica, said in a press conference on Wednesday. “What we are seeing in preliminary assessments is a country that’s been devastated to levels never seen before.”
The Climate Connection
For the rapid attribution study, researchers at Imperial College used the peer-reviewed Imperial College Storm Model, known as IRIS, which has created a database of millions of synthetic tropical cyclone tracks that can help fill in gaps on how storms operate in the real world.
The model essentially runs simulations on the likelihood of a given storm’s wind speed—often the most damaging factor—in a pre-industrial climate versus the current climate. Applying IRIS to Hurricane Melissa is how the researchers determined that human-induced warming supercharged the cyclone’s wind speed by 7 percent.
Step Away From Screens With the Best Family Board Games
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