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Major iPhone updates like iOS 26 typically come with hundreds of new features and changes, but a much smaller subset that become daily go-tos. Here are four new iOS 26 features I\u2019ve found myself using just about every day.<\/p>\n
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I love Apple Notes and use it in a wide variety of ways\u2014as evidenced by my 2,600+ note library.<\/p>\n
Among the new features for Notes in iOS 26, my favorite is the Adaptive Toolbar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Notes has steadily added new features every year for a while now. But for many apps, constant additions can create an issue with feature bloat, or simply the inability to discover everything the app can do.<\/p>\n The Adaptive Toolbar does a great job of mitigating those problems.<\/p>\n When writing or editing text in a note, the toolbar just above the keyboard now automatically changes to show you the most relevant tools at any given time. For example:<\/p>\n When editing standard text, you\u2019ll see bold, italics, underline, and highlight tools<\/p>\n If you have multiple text lines selected, you\u2019ll see list options, indent, outdent, block quote tools, and more<\/p>\n You can still get to the full tool list with a swipe, but you shouldn\u2019t have to switch too often.<\/p>\n #2: Preview app<\/p>\n Preview has existed on the Mac for years, but in my view it never seemed necessary in iOS. When I needed to access a PDF or image on my iPhone, using Quick Look inside the Files app was totally fine.<\/p>\n But now that Preview for iOS has arrived, I\u2019ve been surprisingly glad<\/a> to have it.<\/p>\n Lots of Preview\u2019s functionality is simply an export of previous Files features. However, there are some new additions, and I\u2019ve especially enjoyed being able to view a document in Preview while navigating my file system in the separate Files app. Especially when juggling several PDFs at once, Preview and Files make a great combo.<\/p>\n Have you ever viewed a lengthy PDF then needed to cross-reference something in a separate document? On a Mac, that\u2019s no problem as you can open different PDFs in separate windows, and have Finder as a separate window too. Now in iOS 26, using Preview and Files in tandem makes the iPhone experience closer to what you can get on a Mac.<\/p>\n #3: Sleep Score in Health<\/p>\n Sleep tracking isn\u2019t a new feature in iOS 26, but the Health app\u2019s Sleep Score<\/a> is.<\/p>\n Sleep Score takes all your existing sleep data and turns it into something that, in my view at least, is far more useful.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never been a fan of the way sleep data has been visualized in the Health app. But having a daily Sleep Score is a great way to, at a glance, understand how well I slept the night before.<\/p>\n The three metrics of Duration, Bedtime, and Interruptions also make a lot of sense to me. And when my score is especially low or high on a given day, it\u2019s easy to see which factors contributed.<\/p>\n Similar to how Apple Watch\u2019s Activity rings made it simple to track key movement metrics, Sleep Score has similarly motivated me to keep a close eye on my sleep data every day.<\/p>\n #4: AI Search in Maps<\/p>\n One of the most important features in Apple Maps is search. And in iOS 26, it got a big upgrade<\/a>.<\/p>\n Search is now powered by Apple Intelligence on AI-compatible iPhones. This means results are more relevant, intelligent, and you can also use natural language.<\/p>\n AI has slowly been improving search in a variety of Apple apps, starting with Photos<\/a> in iOS 18.1. And Maps has the potential to be one of the most impactful.<\/p>\n I use Maps every day, frequently performing both simple and complex searches. And in my experience, it\u2019s been significantly improved by Apple Intelligence.<\/p>\n It\u2019s now easier to find places that I already know exist, especially when there are multiple locations available. But Maps\u2019 search is also now better for discovery, with AI able to understand queries that include several parameters.<\/p>\n Search may not be a flashy AI feature, but it sure is useful.<\/p>\n Which new iOS 26 features are you using the most often? Let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n Best iPhone accessories<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773354369_533_preview-ios-26-icon.jpg\"){kind=icon}
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