Updated Dec. 15 with more details of what’s included in the new release.

Another big-number update has arrived for the iPhone. The iOS 26.2 release introduces new features — usually missing from smaller number updates such as iOS 26.0.1 — as well as bug fixes and security elements. Just as intriguing as the content is the timing. This is the first time a major release of iOS, that is, something like 26.2 rather than a minor update such as 26.0.1, has been released on a Friday. More on what that means that below.

Apple iPhone 17 in five colors

Apple

There had been rumors that it wouldn’t come until next week at the earliest, but those waiting eagerly have had their patience rewarded. Apple was determined not to be late, it seems — a Friday release is almost unprecedented from the company.

Which iPhones Can Run iOS 26.2?

This update is for all iPhones from 2019 onwards. That means the iPhone 11 and all iPhones since, including the iPhone SE in both its second- and third-generation models. And all members of the iPhone 17 series are included.

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How To Get It

Open the iPhone Settings app, then choose General, followed by Software Update. Next, click on Download and Install, and it’ll be on your phone shortly. It’s a large update, as these things go, weighing 1.64GB on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. It downloaded and installed quickly — less than 20 minutes total.

iOS 26.2 — What Does The Timing Mean?

Apple always avoids releasing software on a Friday if it can avoid it, not least because numbers of support staff working over the weekend are usually reduced. This tells you that it thinks this version was urgent. While there have been minor update Friday releases such as iOS 17.0.3 in 2023, but always for an urgent, specific reason. In that case it was to address overheating in iPhone 15 handsets.

Strictly speaking the first versions of software for the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G came out on a Friday, but back then it was called iPhoneOS.

All the other Friday releases were multi-dot versions, such as iOS 16.3.1 rather than single-dots like iOS 26.2. As such, they introduced no new features, only security fixes.

What all that tells us is that the security elements in this update needed urgent attention. There are more than two dozen security updates in iOS 26.2 and seven of these are related to WebKit, the core technology behind Apple’s Safari, responsible for rendering web pages and more. Of the seven, two “may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on versions of iOS before iOS 26,” as Apple described it in its detailing of the new software’s security updates.

iOS 26.2 — What’s In The Release

There are plenty of new features, some major, some more obscure. Let’s start with how it looks. One of the big changes in iOS 26 was the introduction of a design called Liquid Glass. With iOS 26.2, the look is refined again, with a slider for the lock screen so you can adjust the transparency of the clock — handy if it’s only really legible when it’s completely opaque depending on the image you’ve chosen for your lock screen.

Liquid Glass will also come to the Measure app in a redesign. Also seeing a design change are the Apple News app, which gains new shortcuts, and Freeform, which now has options to add tables that can be customized. The Games app has also been updated to how you navigate your way around it.

Podcasts adds new items like an automatic chaptering feature to help you jump to the right part of an episode. Podcast producers can generate their own chapters as before, which will override the AI-created ones.

The Sleep app, which has proved very popular since it was introduced in September, already had a notable overhaul to its score system. Until now, if your Sleep Score was 70-89, that would count as High, but now the OK rating stretches as far as 80, so you’ll need to earn marks of 81-95 to gain the High rating. Note that some users are reporting that their Health app has yet to adjust to the new levels. Excellent scores are now renamed Very High. Don’t be put off. If you’re scoring 96-100, you can still congratulate yourself.

You can now set a reminder as an alarm if it’s urgent. AirDrop gains an all-new capability. Right now, to share a file between two iPhones, say, you need to limit yourself to regular contacts or open AirDrop to all nearby devices. If you don’t fancy the latter but need to share files with someone not in your contact list, iOS 26.2 has another option, to use a PIN code that you can entered on the other device. That PIN works for the next 30 days. If you enjoy reading (or perhaps singing along to) lyrics onscreen with Apple Music, they’re now available even when your phone is offline for tracks in your library. The Favorites playlist is also easier to find and a previous bug has now been squished.

EU users can now enjoy Live Translation for AirPods, something not available before in those countries.

Should You Choose This Or iOS 18.7.3?

If you have an iPhone ranging between iPhone 11 and iPhone 16 (including iPhone 16e and iPhone SE second- and third-generation) and you’re currently still using iOS 18, you have an extra option.

Apple also released iOS 18.7.3 on the same day as iOS 26.2. Those users who don’t yet want to embrace iOS 26 can instead choose a software update which offers none of the new features found in the new version, but still delivers security features and bug fixes.

There’s a caveat here: although it was released on Dec. 12, it still hasn’t become available for many users. It seems like there’s been some kind of delay — though older phones which can’t handle iOS 26 but can run iOS 18 can install iOS 18.7.3 right now. These are the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR.

There are better security features in iOS 26, so if it’s security you want, then iOS 26 could be a better choice.

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Women human rights workers face increasing aggression

getty

Seven in 10 women human rights defenders, activists and journalists have experienced online violence in the course of their work, according to a new UN report.

Produced through the UN Women’s ACT to End Violence against Women program and supported by the European Commission, “Tipping point: The chilling escalation of violence against women in the public sphere” draws on a global survey of women from 119 countries.

Along with online threats and harassment, more than 4 in 10 have experienced offline harm linked to online abuse — more than twice as many as in 2020, the researchers found. This can range from verbal harassment right up to physical assault, stalking and swatting.

“These figures confirm that digital violence is not virtual — it’s real violence with real-world consequences,” said Sarah Hendricks, director of policy, programme and intergovernmental division at UN Women.

“Women who speak up for our human rights, report the news or lead social movements are being targeted with abuse designed to shame, silence and push them out of public debate. Increasingly, those attacks do not stop at the screen — they end at women’s front doors. We cannot allow online spaces to become platforms for intimidation that silence women and undermine democracy.”

And AI is only making things worse, with almost 1 in 4 women human rights defenders, activists and journalists having experienced AI-assisted online violence, such as deepfake imagery and manipulated content. This is most often the case for writers and public communicators who focus on human rights issues, such as social media content creators and influencers, for whom the figure reaches 30%.

“Gender-based online violence is not a new phenomenon, but its scale certainly is,” said report co-author Lea Hellmueller, associate professor in journalism at City St George’s and associate dean for research in the School of Communication and Creativity.

“AI tools enable the production of cheaper and faster abusive content, which is detrimental to women in public life — and beyond,” Hellmueller added.

Tech firms are partly responsible, the researchers said, with the report calling for better tools to identify, monitor, report and fend off AI-assisted online violence. The researchers also want to see more legal and regulatory mechanisms to force tech firms to prevent their technologies being deployed against women in the public sphere.

“Our next steps include publishing data from the survey about the opportunities for, and barriers to, law enforcement and legal redress for survivors of online violence,” said Julie Posetti, chair of the Centre for Journalism and Democracy at City St George’s, University of London, one of the authors of the report. “We will also focus on creative efforts to counter gender-based online violence and policy recommendations to help hold the Big Tech facilitators of this dangerous phenomenon accountable.”