iOS 26 may be primarily recognized for its Liquid Glass makeover, but this update will also introduce two completely new applications to the Home Screen of your iPhone. Here’s what to expect.
#1: Apple Games app
Gaming on the iPhone is set to receive a new central location in iOS 26.
’Apple Games’ is a fresh app that becomes part of the collection of other media-oriented iPhone applications such as:
– Apple TV
– Apple Music
– Apple Podcasts
– Apple Books
The new Games app features a Home section where you’ll spend a considerable amount of your time. Here’s Apple’s overview:
>The Home tab keeps you linked to the games you enjoy, suggests new games, and simplifies returning to all your favorites. Discover essential events from your games, and receive tailored recommendations for what to play next.
Accompanying Home are tabs for Arcade, Play Together, and Library.
– **Arcade** primarily mirrors the kind of content you would find in the App Store’s Arcade section.
– **Play Together** displays challenges, multiplayer capabilities, and Game Center data from your peers.
– **Library** houses all the games installed on your iPhone, along with your achievements and more.
Apple Games is not just launching on iPhone, but also on iPad and Mac this autumn.
#2: Preview app
Preview may ring a bell—it’s the title of Apple’s longstanding Mac utility for viewing and editing PDFs and images.
In iOS 26, Preview is making its debut on the iPhone (and iPad).
Preview provides a dedicated application for viewing PDFs and images stored in iCloud, on your device, or from various Files app sources.
Features comprise:
– Viewing PDFs and images in a specialized app
– Editing PDFs and images with tools like resize, rotate, and additional functions
– Document scanning
– PDF AutoFill
– Creating new images, whether from scratch or via the clipboard
As the Mac’s Finder automatically opens PDFs and images in the Preview app, your iPhone and iPad’s Files app will also launch those document types within Preview as well.
Preview employs the new document browser UI first seen in iPadOS 18 and also found in applications like Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. While it won’t appear exactly like the Mac app does, the functionality remains quite similar.
New apps in iOS 26: summary
With Apple Games and Preview, Apple is once again increasing the number of built-in apps available on an iPhone.
Games aims to leverage the iPhone’s status as a widely used gaming platform, whereas Preview appears to be a useful additional tool. Both apps replicate much of the functionality previously located elsewhere while introducing new features and seem to be suitable choices for new standalone applications.
Are you excited about the new Games or Preview apps in iOS 26? Share your thoughts in the comments.
