Apple’s headline iOS 26 features like Apple Intelligence and redesigned apps tend to get all the attention. But some of the most useful changes are easy to miss. These underrated iOS 26 updates quietly improve the iPhone experience in ways that don’t make the keynote but still matter in everyday use.

From smarter AirPods behavior to new journaling tools and better battery estimates, here are 13 updates you might have missed.

Today, Threads announced a new batch of analytics upgrades as part of its push to let creators better understand how their posts are doing on and off the platform. Here’s what’s new.

Infuse, an excellent video player for Apple platforms, has gotten a nice update today. Infuse 8.2 is now available with support for user profiles on Apple TV, the ability to stream content directly from iCloud Drive, and more.

Apple has a new Home product in the works that’s been reported on widely, and which I’ve been calling ‘HomePad.’ But a leak in iOS 26 beta 4 reveals Apple may have a different product name planned for the forthcoming HomePod with a touch screen.

Three years ago, Apple struck a deal with Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, for a new show at Apple TV+. Now, the company is teasing its unveiling with a live countdown timer.

Apple has changed up the wallpaper collection on CarPlay in iOS 26 beta 4. Several new options have been added. The update also removes many of the existing wallpaper options that were still hanging around from older iOS versions.

If you’re running the developer beta on your iPhone and get a lot of spam or robocalls, you might have noticed that the Silence Unknown Callers feature had gone missing, at least for some users. With today’s beta release, it’s back, now integrated as part of the new Call Screening feature.

iOS 26 beta 4 is available now, and the public beta is expected soon too. Besides adding more liquid back into the Liquid Glass design, the new beta also introduces a new Dynamic wallpaper option. Here are the details.

Alongside new design changes, iOS 26 beta 4 also re-enables Apple Intelligence notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category of apps.

As you may remember, Apple disabled this feature in January after a handful of botched summaries went viral…

iOS 26 beta 4 has just been released, and one of the biggest question on many testers’ minds has been answered. After dialing back its redesign in beta 3, Apple has now infused more ‘liquid’ into the Liquid Glass design once again.

iOS 26 beta 4 is out now for iPhones on the developer beta release cycle. Below we’re collecting all of the iOS 26 beta 4 changes compared to the previous version.

Update 2:29 p.m. ET: After initially launching the beta exclusively on its developer website, Apple has now begun rolling out the OTA version as well.

Apple has released a new batch of developer betas for the systems it announced during WWDC25, including macOS Tahoe 26. Here’s what’s new.

Two weeks after releasing the third batch of developer betas for the operating systems announced during WWDC25, Apple has released the fourth batch, including for visionOS 26. Here’s what’s new.

Apple has released watchOS 26 beta 4 for developers, debuting new software a little more than two weeks after the last beta and ahead of the public beta’s arrival.

tvOS 26 beta 4 is now available for developers on both Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. Here’s what to expect from the latest beta.

Apple changed a few Liquid Glass elements in iOS 26 developer beta 3 and got a lot of online feedback. Now we’re on to iOS 26 beta 4, which will surely be compared under the microscope in as much detail in this season of change.

Apple has just released iPadOS 26 beta 4 to developers. Today’s release will likely also be the build that gets shipped as the public beta soon. Here’s what to expect.

With the last remaining part of the Apple tax windfall paid to the Irish government recently, we are today learning what the country plans to do with the €14.25B ($16.5B).

The country’s prime minister has promised “unprecedented” investment in the country’s ailing infrastructure, with Apple’s money to be spent mostly on electricity and water projects …

Last month, Apple announced another set of major changes to the App Store in the European Union, as part of its ongoing back-and-forth with regulators about the Digital Markets Act.

According to a new report from Reuters, Apple’s latest changes just might be enough to satisfy the European Commission.

Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break deals are starting with a new Amazon all-time low on the 1TB M3 iPad Air – the 11-inch Cell model is now just shy of $250 off to deliver the lowest price we have tracked to date. From there we move over to a couple Mac models that are now even lower than yesterday with the 24GB M4 Pro Mac mini at $152 off the Apple price and the Midnight 15-inch 24GB M4 MacBook Air at $180 off. Head below for even more including a look at the all-new PowerBug. 

Apple TV+ keeps getting even better for comedy lovers, and shows no signs of slowing. The latest: Maya Rudolph’s Loot just got a season 3 release date.

Daily puzzle games are on the rise, including in Apple News+. And another new game just arrived on the App Store that pairs daily puzzles with cuteness and chill vibes: Pokémon Friends is here.

You may have never heard of them, but Apple sends “threat notifications” to users when it believes they’re being targeted by cyber attacks. Earlier this year that happened with several Iranians in the lead-up to the Iran-Israel war, per a new Bloomberg report. Here are the details.

There have been several major reported departures of late from Apple’s AI team. Today, a new report from The Information delves into the internal drama, including the story of Apple almost open-sourcing its AI models and why that didn’t happen.