With visionOS 26, Apple begins to zero-in on what the Vision Pro is actually used for

Local multi-user experiences and widgets headline Apple’s annual software update.

As part of a wider software rebranding effort, Apple's visionOS is jumping from version 2 to 26 with a new software update announced during the company's developer conference this week.

visionOS 26 will reach Vision Pro users later this year, and it focuses on refining the focus of the device based on how users are actually using it rather than whatever wild ideas the company had during its initial development—including addressing common complaints about how the Vision Pro doesn't support some features of popular competing mixed-reality headsets.

For example, the headset will soon support native playback of 3D video recorded by people other than Apple and downloaded from anywhere on the Internet—something you had to use a few, somewhat janky third-party apps to do until now, but which is an easier-to-access feature of some other mixed-reality headsets.

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KI: Apple Intelligence bekommt neue Funktionen

Entwickler können in ihren Apps zukünftig Apples On-Device-LLM nutzen. Das nötige Framework und andere Features hat Apple auf der WWDC gezeigt. (WWCD 2025, KI)

Entwickler können in ihren Apps zukünftig Apples On-Device-LLM nutzen. Das nötige Framework und andere Features hat Apple auf der WWDC gezeigt. (WWCD 2025, KI)

Apple’s macOS 26 Tahoe has new Liquid Glass look, customizable folders, and more

New OS also makes big additions to Shortcuts and Spotlight search.

Apple unveiled the next version of macOS today during the Worldwide Developers Conference. Codenamed Tahoe, macOS 26 gets a visual refresh with the same "Liquid Glass" look that Apple is introducing across all of its operating systems this year. Apple has also changed the version number, jumping directly from version 14 to version 26 as it shifts to unified year-based version numbering across all of its operating systems.

Liquid Glass goes all-in on translucency and transparency, changing the look of icons and windows across the operating system. Most significantly, the macOS menu bar has become entirely invisible, and the Control Center has adopted a new, glassy, translucent appearance. The same color-tinting customization features available on iOS and iPadOS are coming to the Mac this year, giving users multiple customization options on top of the standard light and dark modes and accent colors.

The invisible menu bar and glassy Control Center in macOS Tahoe. Credit: Apple

The new look will probably define the release in the minds of most users, but it's bringing the standard handful of new features and refinements across the built-in apps. For the Finder, folders can be customized with colors and emoji labels to help them stand out from a big list of folders.

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AMD expands Ryzen Z2 lineup with new chips for low-end and premium handheld gaming PCs

This weekend Microsoft and Asus announced they’re working together on the first Xbox-branded handhelds, which are portable gaming PCs that are expected to ship later this year. But we already knew that was likely to happen. What we didn’t k…

This weekend Microsoft and Asus announced they’re working together on the first Xbox-branded handhelds, which are portable gaming PCs that are expected to ship later this year. But we already knew that was likely to happen. What we didn’t know was that the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X would be powered […]

The post AMD expands Ryzen Z2 lineup with new chips for low-end and premium handheld gaming PCs appeared first on Liliputing.

Apple consolidates iOS gaming features in new Games app

New Challenges feature allows for high score competitions with friends.

At its Worldwide Developer Conference today, Apple unveiled a new iOS Games App that Apple Senior Director of Marketplace Platforms and Technologies Ann Thai promoted as "a new destination to help you get more out of your games."

The most relevant new social feature in the app comes in the "Play Together" tab, which provides a quick look at what your friends are playing on iOS. That tab will also integrate a new Challenges feature, which game developers can use to turn single-player games into score-based competitions between friends. These interpersonal Challenges come on top of the standard game leaderboards already common through iOS's Game Center, allowing for a new way to compete socially.

Other than that, the new Games app seems to consolidate several features that were previously split between Game Center and the App Store. On the Home tab, the Games app will let you see games with new update, time-sensitive in-game events, and recommendations for new games to try. A Library tab will show every iOS game you've ever downloaded in a single place, while the Apple Arcade tab shows subscribers what's available to download. The Games app will work in both portrait and landscape mode and be navigable via controller.

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YouTube will “protect free expression” by pulling back on content moderation

YouTube says it is still committed to preventing harm.

YouTube videos may be getting a bit more pernicious soon. Google's dominant video platform has spent years removing discriminatory and conspiracy content from its platform in accordance with its usage guidelines, but the site is now reportedly adopting a lighter-touch approach to moderation. A higher bar for content removal will allow more potentially inflammatory content to remain up in the "public interest."

YouTube has previously attracted the ire of conservatives for its removal of QAnon and anti-vaccine content. According to The New York Times, YouTube's content moderators have been provided with new guidelines and training on how to handle the deluge of provocative content on the platform. The changes urge reviewers to pull back on removing certain videos, a continuation of a trend not just at YouTube, but on numerous platforms that host user-created content.

Beginning late last year, YouTube began informing moderators they should err on the side of caution when removing videos that are in the public interest. That includes user uploads that discuss issues like elections, race, gender, sexuality, abortion, immigration, and censorship. Previously, YouTube's policy told moderators to remove videos if one-quarter or more of the content violated policies. Now, the exception cutoff has been increased to half. In addition, staff are now told to bring issues to managers if they are uncertain rather than removing the content themselves.

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Apple aims for “more personal and expressive” iOS 26 with new Liquid Glass design

iOS 26 centers on a more fluid, dynamic user interface.

At WWDC today, Apple unveiled iOS 26, its next iPhone operating system (OS), which is centered on Apple's new Liquid Glass design for its software platform.

Available across Apple's other operating systems, like macOS, Liquid Glass aims to make the software look and operate as if it has glass edges. You can see this approach throughout iOS 26 in things like the app icons' appearance, which includes softer edges and the option to be translucent.

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DOGE wins at Supreme Court; conservative majority ends limits on data access

Jackson dissent says majority bends legal standards for Trump administration.

The Supreme Court allowed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access Social Security Administration (SSA) records on Friday, overturning lower-court decisions that imposed some limits on DOGE's data access.

"We conclude that, under the present circumstances, SSA may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work," the Supreme Court order said. The court also sided with the Trump administration in a different DOGE case, finding that a lower court's discovery order requiring DOGE to provide information about its government cost-cutting operations was too broad (more on that ruling later in this article).

The data-access ruling was in a case filed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the Alliance for Retired Americans; and American Federation of Teachers. US District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander previously issued a preliminary injunction, writing that DOGE "is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion." The District of Maryland judge found that plaintiffs are likely to win their case alleging that the government violated the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

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US air traffic control still runs on Windows 95 and floppy disks

Agency seeks contractors to modernize decades-old systems within four years.

On Wednesday, acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau told the House Appropriations Committee that the Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its aging air traffic control systems, which still rely on floppy disks and Windows 95 computers, Tom's Hardware reports. The agency has issued a Request For Information to gather proposals from companies willing to tackle the massive infrastructure overhaul.

"The whole idea is to replace the system. No more floppy disks or paper strips," Rocheleau said during the committee hearing. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the project "the most important infrastructure project that we've had in this country for decades," describing it as a bipartisan priority.

Most air traffic control towers and facilities across the US currently operate with technology that seems frozen in the 20th century, although that isn't necessarily a bad thing—when it works. Some controllers currently use paper strips to track aircraft movements and transfer data between systems using floppy disks, while their computers run Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system, which launched in 1995.

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