The application of the camera has received some of the most notable design updates in iOS 26, Apple simplifying the interface to facilitate access to various controls. Most of what is new focuses on design, but there are some other notable changes.
Liquid glass design
Like all ios 26 applications, the application of the camera has adopted the liquid glass look. The buttons are more rounded and “float” on the background of the application thanks to a new depth effect.
The area behind the shutter and the camera control buttons is a more transparent touch than before, you can therefore see the areas outside your image more clearly. There is also no bar behind the tips to change the focal distance, so the interface seems a little cleaner.
Two -paved arrangement
The navigation bar at the bottom of the camera application has been revised in ios 26. Rather than the option of sliding between all photo and video modes, there are only two main options you see: photo and video.
Although it is only the photo and video buttons that are visible, you can actually slide in the same way to get to other options such as portrait, panorama, slo-mo, cinema and more.
For multi-objective cameras, small buttons to change the focal distance are always in the same position, and the buttons to display the photo you have just taken or move to the front camera have not changed your location. The button to display the photos is now round instead of square, online with the update of liquid glass, and Apple has moved the controls on the screen.
The photo and video buttons are below the trigger, when they were above. The trigger itself no longer has a shiny white ring around it, with Apple opting rather for a more subtle liquid glass ring. The size of the telescope for the upper and lower bars has not changed.
Some of the commands that were previously located at the top of the camera application are now hidden inside the spell menus. When you select a photo like a mode, you can then press the photo button to get more options.
The menu has a liquid glass design and it offers large buttons to access flash, live photo settings, timer, exposure, styles, aspect and night mode. TAPPING ONE offers you other options for this parameter. So if you press the exhibition, you will get a cursor where you can quickly adjust the exposure setting before taking a photo.
In video mode, you can press to access the flash, exposure and action. Most other modes also have at least one option accessible via this new menu. These menu options are also accessible by pressing the menu icon at the top right of the screen.
There are still quick access buttons at the top of the Photos application, so that you can exchange in raw mode, press the styles or adjust the flash and night Mode settings without having to open the menu. Parameters specific to the context such as the drop in macro mode also appear in the same way as before if necessary.
There are tips to see the flash, photo and mode of action indicators in the section of the Camera of the Settings application.
Distant airpod shutter
The AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 can be used as a camera shutter in ios 26, so you can take a photo by pressing the airpods rod. To run this, connect your airpods to your iPhone, open the camera application, then press and hold the airpods upper.
You can take a photo using this method or continue to keep a video. When you have finished saving, press again and keep yourself to stop the video.
The use of this functionality requires ios 26 and the new AirPods firmware which accompanies ios 26. Using airpods as a remote shutter button works with the camera application and with third -party photo applications.
Cleaning
If your camera goal is dirty, your IPhone can detect that it should be cleaned and send you a notification allowing you to know that you should clean it.
Developer API
Developers have access to a new API in cinematographic mode in ios 26 which allows third -party applications to capture video in cinematographic mode, as is the application of integrated camera.
The cinematographic mode supports the recording of the video with a deep depth of field and changes in automatic focus between the subjects. Apple uses rack concentration to quickly exchange the focusing from one subject to another, for a film type recording experience.
Apple also provides developers with an audio mixture to adjust the sound after capturing a video. Third -fashioned video recording applications can offer the same audio mix commands that are available in the camera application. The options include the frame to reduce sounds and votes of sources outside the frame, the studio to reduce sounds and background reverberation, and cinematographic to put voices in a frontal track while leaving environmental sounds in surround, similar to film audio.
Mac accessibility
With MacOS 26 and ios 26, your Mac can connect to your iPhone to use the camera application of your iphone as a magnifying glass. Mac’s mac functionality uses the iphone zoom capabilities, with the video flow of iPhone appearing on a mac connected via a continuity camera.
Apple showed a student with vision problems using a iphone to zoom in on a blackboard in a university class, with the flow coming to its Mac so that it could see what was going on while taking notes.
Learn more
We have a Complete iOS 26 Roundup which covers all the new features available in the update.
