iOS 26 available now to install on your newer iPhone, be sure to have 6.2GB free space.

iOS 26 available now

After the Apple launch party last week, Apple released iOS 26 today. Depending on the age of your phone and/model you can get a whole range of new options and improvements.

I’m going to focus on changes that will interest small business owners.

Adaptive Battery Mode

If you have an iPhone 15 Pro and higher, iOS 26 offers a new adaptive battery mode. Apple Intelligence decides to manage the battery for you, lowing power resources to background apps. Think of it as a less aggressive version of low battery mode.

To enable adaptive battery mode, go to Settings, Battery, Power Mode. You need to enable Apple Intelligence first.

Photos

Take a lot of photos for your business? I always have lots of screenshots and finally, Apple has made it easier to sort through your pictures.

I took a lot of screenshots as prep for this blog. Much easier to find and sort.

Camera Options simplified

Apple simplified the camera options screen. As you can see from screenshot above there are now two simple buttons at bottom to switch from Video to Photo. If you need more than point and shoot, the basic options are in the upper right hand corner and the more technical options are available from that six dot menu icon.

Call History simplified

Do you bill your clients for time spent on phone calls? The new Call History features rock for tracking.

There is also more detail available on the caller. Apple and Microsoft still aren’t playing nicely when sharing Contact info but it all shows up under details when you click on their name in the list of calls.

Go on a new Safari

Apple introduces some Safari layout changes. View bookmarks, open tabs and share menu from the three tiny dots in the bottom right hand corner.

You can also change where how compact the address bar is and where it is located from Settings, Apps, Safari, scroll down to Tabs settings.

Does your kid use your iPhone?

Apple released a whole new set of protections for child accounts on both iOS 26 and the mac OS Tahoe. These include setting time limits, monitoring contacts and age appropriate apps. There’s also a different set of options teenagers.

9to5Mac has details on the new child account options.

Complete Transparency

Yes, you can make lots of visual changes in the new iOS 26. I did try out all the new glass, transparency settings on my iPhone 15. Not sure if it is my model but not impressed with the glass look. Also not sure why you would want to make all your icons transparent or tinted. I find most users find the app they need by the icon colours.

To break the glass, I mean, to change all the icon colours, hold on to your home screen until the icons dance and you get an edit button in the upper left hand corner and then click customize.

If your phone does not support Apple Intelligence, some of the other visual effects won’t be available such as Image Playground.

Full list of iPhones compatible with iOS 26 here.

Not ready yet?

Yes, you will need at least 6.2GB free space on your phone to upgrade. If you’re not ready to update yet, grab the latest iOS 18 security update this week.