When did an OS update come to mean changing mostly the skin and not the functionality?

[cardwel1]

Alight, I'm not a frequent poster or anything, so I apologize if this just comes across like an old guy shaking his fist at the clouds, but...

... am I alone in thinking updating the OS should primarily mean expanding or improving the functionality of the software rather than just cosmetic updates? Whether you like or hate the liquid glass stuff, it's fundamentally a coat of paint on the existing OS, not new functionality.

Maybe Apple should employ more software engineers and fewer graphic artists?

 

[walterpaisley]

What are you even talking about. https://www.macrumors.com/2025/06/10/ios-26-includes-these-100-changes/

 

[cardwel1]

What are you even talking about. https://www.macrumors.com/2025/06/10/ios-26-includes-these-100-changes/

Well, I'm talking about

1. A new Liquid Glass design with shimmery app icons and a translucent interface that reflects and refracts the surrounding colors (Just a cosmetic change)
2. There is a redesigned tab bar in apps (Just a cosmetic change, really just a piece of #1)
3. A new "Clear" option for Home Screen app icons and widgets, alongside the existing "Light" and "Dark" options (Again, just a cosmetic change, really just a piece of #1)
4. On the Lock Screen, the clock dynamically adapts to fill empty space (Again, just a cosmetic change, really just a piece of #1)
5. On the Lock Screen, there is an option to view full-screen album artwork (A cosmetic change but will grant this is not just part of #1)
6. Polls in group chats in the Messages app (OK, this is new functionality)
7. Add a custom background to any conversation in the Messages app (Cosmetic change)
8. You can now send and receive Apple Cash in group chats in the Messages app (New functionality. Trivial new functionality but ok)
9. Typing indicators are now visible in group chats in the Messages app (Cosmetic)
10. There is a new "Add Contact" button in group chats in the Messages app (Functionality already exists, just adding a button to go straight to it)

I'm not going to go through all hundred, but my points are that even looking at the top 10 changes, what we really get is

• 1 big cosmetic change,
• 3 trivial cosmetic changes,
• 1 minor functional improvement (polls)
• 1 trivial functional improvement (group payment)
• 1 nothingburger

Extrapolating out, out of 100 changes, there were actually only about 60. Of those 60, about 67% are purely cosmetic. About 10-20 might offer modest functionality improvements.

Basically: Polls, Hold Assist, Call Screening, Live Translation, Preview, CarPlay, Journal, AI updates, music app updates. About 10. Maybe I've missed a couple, but mostly this is it, and it's modest extensions of what's already there.

 

[Paddle1]

Well, I'm talking about

1. A new Liquid Glass design with shimmery app icons and a translucent interface that reflects and refracts the surrounding colors (Just a cosmetic change)
2. There is a redesigned tab bar in apps (Just a cosmetic change, really just a piece of #1)
3. A new "Clear" option for Home Screen app icons and widgets, alongside the existing "Light" and "Dark" options (Again, just a cosmetic change, really just a piece of #1)
4. On the Lock Screen, the clock dynamically adapts to fill empty space (Again, just a cosmetic change, really just a piece of #1)
5. On the Lock Screen, there is an option to view full-screen album artwork (A cosmetic change but will grant this is not just part of #1)
6. Polls in group chats in the Messages app (OK, this is new functionality)
7. Add a custom background to any conversation in the Messages app (Cosmetic change)
8. You can now send and receive Apple Cash in group chats in the Messages app (New functionality. Trivial new functionality but ok)
9. Typing indicators are now visible in group chats in the Messages app (Cosmetic)
10. There is a new "Add Contact" button in group chats in the Messages app (Functionality already exists, just adding a button to go straight to it)

I'm not going to go through all hundred, but my points are that even looking at the top 10 changes, what we really get is

• 1 big cosmetic change,
• 3 trivial cosmetic changes,
• 1 minor functional improvement (polls)
• 1 trivial functional improvement (group payment)
• 1 nothingburger

Extrapolating out, out of 100 changes, there were actually only about 60. Of those 60, about 67% are purely cosmetic. About 10-20 might offer modest functionality improvements.

Basically: Polls, Hold Assist, Call Screening, Live Translation, Preview, CarPlay, Journal, AI updates, music app updates. About 10. Maybe I've missed a couple, but mostly this is it, and it's modest extensions of what's already there.

There are several new features they're just not big flashy ones. iOS 18 was a big feature update and they generally don't do those back-to-back. (Also typing indicators is not really cosmetic but an actual function.)

Here are just some of them:
-Visual intelligence in any app
-AI shortcuts
-Automatic call screening/holding
-Live translation on calls
-Preview app
-Adaptive Power/estimated charge time/battery-usage analysis

And there are people who think the opposite "If it looks the same then it's a small update" which certainly isn't the case.

 

[walterpaisley]

I linked to that article as an example – it's not every new feature, just what's been discovered so far, and you don't have look further than this site to find more details on what's new. The dev build has been out for barely 24 hours at this point, so there will continue to be small and not so small changes found.

This really sounds less about a perceived lack of new features and more like "why are there no new features I care about?" Let's be real as well – both major mobile OSes have reached a point of maturity where all of the big impact, major features are done. Especially given Apple's yearly cadence, it's not like we're going to get massive new features that define the OS like we used to.

As @Paddle1 noted, there _are_ a bunch of major changes. But we're far beyond the point where either Google or Apple would drop marquee new features in OS updates. It's all evolution and iteration.