
These 3 iOS Updates Are a Bigger Deal than Liquid Glass
But if you can see past the clear icons, there are other updates coming to iOS 26 that matter more to our day-to-day lives. Taking a screenshot of a party invite can instantly put it in your calendar. Maps can suggest route changes without you asking for driving directions. And robots can intercept phone calls -- or jump into the conversation as a live language translator.
In this week's episode of One More Thing, which you can watch in the video embedded above, I take an early poke at some of these new features and share questions I have about how it will perform when released to the public. Apple is still months away from finalizing the software, but perhaps I'm most curious about how folks will embrace the assistive tools (and if they will be accurate).
Or maybe we'll just be too distracted by clear bouncy buttons to notice.
If you're looking for more One More Thing, subscribe to our YouTube page to catch Bridget Carey breaking down the latest Apple news and issues every week.

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iOS 26 Image Playground vs Android 16 Pixel Studio: I found the best AI image generator, and it's not even close
Late last fall, I put Apple's just released Image Playground with iOS 18.2 to the test against Pixel Studio to see which AI image generator was better. Let's just say that it was a one-sided win for Google that proved its AI-assisted image generator on its Pixel 9 phones is way better, both in how they look and their accuracy. With the iOS 26 beta, I've been testing out the updated version of Image Playground to see all the new changes — but more importantly — if the upgrades are enough to make it better than Pixel Studio. Using an iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro XL for this test, running iOS 26 and Android 16 respectively, I provided both image generators with the same prompts as before to see what they produce this time around. In this iOS 26 Image Playground vs. Android 16 Pixel Studio face-off, I'll be grading them in each of the categories below to make it clear which one is better. Here are the results. For this first test, I gave both image generators the following prompt: a cat wearing a crown, sitting on a throne made of yarn. In iOS 26, there are a total of four style options to choose from when — so I ended up choosing Sketch because it's also one of the options available with Pixel Studio. I have to say, Apple definitely delivers a much better result this time because there's more detail and realism to the image it generated. Everything I gave in the prompt is generated accurately, including the throne made out of yarn, which it didn't do at all with my previous testing. I'm also drawn to the cat's face, which has way more detail as well. Meanwhile, Pixel Studio continues to accurately produce my descriptions. I would even argue that there's a smidge more detail with the cat overall and how it really makes it so that the throne is completely made up out of yarn. The only thing missing here is just some color, but the sketch option in Pixel Studio doesn't apply any unless I explicitly say it. I'm really torn about this one, so I'm calling it a tie. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Winner: tie Next up, I asked Image Playground and Pixel Studio to generate 'a majestic lion with a flowing mane, perched atop a towering rock overlooking a vast savanna.' Compared to what it did previously under iOS 18.2, this updated version of Image Playground adds more realism to the shot — and I really like it. I opted to go with the animation style, which makes it way more convincing. But despite the improvement, the models that Google is using with Pixel Studio are still better. I chose the freestyle option again because the depiction is more realistic. I really love the glow produced by the setting sub behind the lion, as well as how it generates the better landscape. Winner: Pixel Studio Image Playground had trouble with this prompt the last time, but it's no problem with this upgraded iOS 26 version. I gave them the prompt for 'a city floating in the clouds, connected by bridges made of rainbows.' Apple gets it right with a city floating in the clouds, but I don't see the bridges made of rainbows. There's a rainbow for sure, but it's not exactly what I requested with the prompt. Pixel Studio again produces a very realistic shot of the cloud city, including what appears to be bridges made up of rainbows. The only thing it doesn't represent well is an actual city floating in the clouds. It looks more like it's surrounded by clouds. Still, I'm giving this one to Pixel Studio. Winner: Pixel Studio For my next test I tried the following prompt: "a robot made of flowers, watering other flowers in a garden." With iOS 26, Apple adds new style options with Image Playground that generate images with ChatGPT instead of Apple Intelligence. 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True, it's supposed to be a mutant, but it's terrifying. Plus, it looks more like it's buddying up with the rat rather than fighting it — and the rat has a normal pair of eyes. So yeah, it's not accurate at all. What's interesting about them is that I stuck with the sketch style option with both image generators. Pixel Studio is simply amazing and accurate with its photo. Not only does it get the teenage mutant ninja turtle correctly, but there's a ton of detail. While the rat technically has three eyes instead of one, at least it looks like they're about to brawl. Winner: Pixel Studio For my last prompt, I asked them to generate a 'sporty red car at the beach with a volleyball net in the background.' I went with the sketch style again because it's one of the few identical options available with Pixel Studio and Image Playground. Apple got this prompt right the last time and it does it again here. 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Android Authority
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