iOS 26 added four new features that I use almost every day

Major iPhone updates like iOS 26 usually come with hundreds of new features and changes, but smaller subsets become everyday ones. Here are four new iOS 26 features that I use almost every day.

I love Apple Notes and use it in a variety of ways – as evidenced by my library of 2,600+ notes.

This is my favorite of the new features for Notes in iOS 26 Adaptive Toolbar.

Notes has been steadily adding new features every year for some time. But for many apps, permanent additions can cause feature bloat or simply the app not being able to discover everything it can do.

The Adaptive Toolbar does a great job of mitigating these issues.

As you type or edit text in a note, the toolbar above the keyboard changes automatically to show you the most relevant tools at any time. For example:

• When editing standard text, you’ll see the bold, italic, underline, and emphasis tools
• If you have multiple lines of text selected, you can use the list options, indent, indent, block quote tools, and more. you will see

You can still access the full tool list with one swipe, but you shouldn’t be switching too often.

#2: Preview the app

Preview has been available on the Mac for years, but in my opinion, it never looked useful on iOS. It was perfectly fine to use Quick Look within the Files app when you needed to access a PDF or image on the iPhone.

But now that Preview for iOS has arrived, I have surprisingly happy to have

Many of the Preview features are simply exports of previous Files features. However, there are some new additions, and I especially enjoyed viewing a document in Preview while navigating my file system in the separate Files app. Preview and Files make a great combination, especially when juggling multiple PDF files at once.

Have you ever looked at a long PDF where you needed to cross-reference something in a separate document? On a Mac, this isn’t a problem, as you can open different PDFs in separate windows and have the Finder as a separate window as well. Now in iOS 26, using Preview and Files in tandem brings the iPhone experience closer to what you can get on a Mac.

#3: Sleep Scores in Health

Sleep tracking isn’t a new feature in iOS 26, the Health app is Sleep Account does.

The Sleep Score takes all of your existing sleep data and turns it into something that’s more useful, at least in my opinion.

I’ve never been a fan of visualizing sleep data in the Health app. But having a daily Sleep Score is a great way to see at a glance how well I slept the night before.

The three indicators of Duration, Sleep Time, and Breaks also make a lot of sense to me. When my score is particularly low or high on a given day, it’s easy to see what factors are contributing.

Just as the Apple Watch’s Activity rings make it easy to track key movement metrics, the Sleep Score has motivated me to keep a close eye on my sleep data every day.

#4: AI Search on Maps

One of the most important features of Apple Maps is search. And in iOS 26 received a major update.

Search is now powered by Apple Intelligence on AI-compatible iPhones. This means the results are more relevant, intelligent and you can use natural language too.

AI is slowly improving search in various Apple apps, Starting with pictures In iOS 18.1. Maps have the potential to be one of the most effective.

I use Maps every day, often performing both simple and complex searches. And in my experience, it’s significantly improved by Apple Intelligence.

It’s now easier to find places that I know exist, especially when there are multiple places available. But since AI can understand queries that contain multiple parameters, Maps’ search is now better for discovery.

Search may not be a flashy AI feature, but it’s useful.

Which new iOS 26 features are you using the most? Let us know in the comments.

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