iOS 26.2 Almost Here: Apple Fixes Liquid Glass Design and Reworks Reminders

Apple will likely push out iOS 26.2 in the next day or two. That would make it the final major update of 2025, wrapping up a year of software changes that started back at WWDC. The release candidate went to developers on December 3, and analysts are betting the public version lands sometime between today and December 16.

What's new with Liquid Glass

The design that arrived in September has taken heat for looking unfinished and being tough to read. This update appears to tackle those complaints directly. You'll now find a slider on the Lock Screen that lets you adjust how see-through the glass-style clock appears, from completely clear to solid. Apple has also sped up the context menu animations—they used to feel sluggish, but the new "bubble-to-rectangle" effect snaps into place much faster. Even the Measure app gets a tweak. The level tool now shows floating bubbles that catch and bend light, a small demo of what the Liquid Glass graphics engine can do.

Reminders gets louder

Notification fatigue is real, and Apple is giving Reminders more bite to help. At the bottom of each reminder card, there's now an "Urgent" toggle. Switch it on, and that reminder becomes a system-wide alarm that won't let you ignore it. These alerts punch through Focus modes, guaranteeing you hear about that critical task. It's a clear move to close the gap between the Clock app and Reminders.

Health scores get stricter

Apple doesn't often admit its algorithms need work, but Sleep Scores were too kind, according to many users. iOS 26.2 completely recalibrates the scoring. The top tier changes from "Excellent" to "Very High" (96-100), and Apple has added new grades from "Very Low" up through "High."

AI comes to Podcasts

The Podcasts app will now build its own chapter lists using on-device AI, no internet connection needed. You can also tap on any transcription to jump straight to URLs or references mentioned in the episode.

Different features for different places

Japan gets a notable change: you can now map the side button to third-party assistants like Gemini or Alexa, ending Siri's lock on that hardware shortcut. In the EU, newer AirPods gain expanded Live Translation support. For everyone, AirDrop now lets you create one-time sharing codes that last 30 days. You can hand these out to people you don't have in your contacts, and there's a new settings panel to manage those temporary connections.

When you can get it

iOS 26.2 runs on iPhone 11 and up, though the fancy Liquid Glass lighting effects work best on iPhone 15 Pro and later.