Your IPhone Is Getting an Updated Camera App
During the WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple unveiled a major design update for iOS 26, the successor to iOS 18. The Liquid Glass redesign borrows heavily from visionOS and uses a transparent glass look for key UI elements. Three apps that benefit from this new look are Camera, Photos, and FaceTime.
The Camera app makes it easy to control
The Camera app in particular has been in need of some optimization for a while now, and Apple has tried to address that, with the Photos app, which already got a redesign last year, getting a bit of a facelift in iOS 26, starting with a new icon that looks a lot like the camera lens from Apple’s good old Aperture for the Mac. It’s a big improvement over the rather generic iOS Camera icon that’s been around for years.
Apple has also given the Camera app a simplified design, highlighting just two buttons: one for photos and one for videos. Tapping these buttons reveals more options, making navigation easier. When you’re in the Video tab, you can swipe to access different video modes, and the same goes for the Photos tab. For example, you’ll see the Liquid Glass design when you try to select video recording modes.
The Photos app is built on this controversial redesign
The Photos app also gets some nice changes for iOS 26, building on the changes in the controversial redesign the app received last year. The biggest change, aside from the Liquid Glass UI, is the button layout. Apple has moved the Search button to the bottom-right corner of the display, where you can tap it without having to stretch your finger out like a yogi. The other two buttons, Library and Collections, are in the bottom-left corner, and all three buttons clearly follow the Liquid Glass design.
FaceTime Moves Things
FaceTime also adopted the Liquid Glass design from iOS 26. All the call control buttons have been moved to the bottom-right corner, which is a welcome change considering how big iPhones have gotten over the years. The FaceTime photo button (aka screenshot) has moved to the top-right corner, and the buttons disappear once a call has started, but you can tap the screen to access them again.