Apple Is Hiding These iOS 26 Features—for Now

When Apple unveiled iOS 26 at WWDC, it showed off plenty of exciting updates. But it turns out there are still some features in the pipeline that Apple hasn’t talked about yet. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, these hidden features could roll out later this year.

Live Translation via AirPods

With iOS 26, your iPhone is getting a Live Translation feature that can translate your phone calls, FaceTime calls, and even messages. Building on that, Apple is also unveiling Live Translation via AirPods.

Imagine you’re traveling and have to talk to someone who doesn’t know your language. With this, AirPods will pick up their voice, use your iPhone for translation, and then you’ll hear the translation in your ear. Great for travelers, meetings, or casual chats with people who speak different languages. It’s like you can now talk to anyone, even if you don’t understand their language.

While this wasn’t shown at WWDC, Gurman reports it could arrive in iOS 26.1 around October or with iOS 26.2 by December.

Related: iOS 26 Supercharges Your AirPods With These New Features

Captive Wi-Fi Sync Across Devices

Another unannounced feature is called Captive Assist. Normally, Apple already syncs Wi-Fi passwords across your devices via iCloud Keychain. But Captive Assist is different – it works with public networks that require you to log in via a web page, like hotel or airport Wi-Fi. If you’ve ever logged into such Wi-Fi on your iPhone and then needed to do it again on your iPad or Mac, this will make life easier.

With Captive Assist, once you complete that web login on any one Apple device, it will sync to all your other Apple devices automatically – even those captive portals. No more re-entering the same details again and again. This feature was spotted in iOS 26 developer beta code, but Apple hasn’t turned it on yet.

Wi-Fi Aware

A third unannounced feature is Wi-Fi Aware. This is an industry-standard technology that Apple is adding in iOS 26. It allows apps to connect nearby devices directly for tasks such as quick file transfers, media streaming, and screen sharing – even when there is no internet connection or Wi-Fi router involved. Think of it like AirDrop, but instead of using Apple’s own Wireless Direct Link tech, it uses the universal Wi-Fi Aware standard.

This was required by EU regulations under the Digital Markets Act, and Apple is rolling it out globally for iPhone 12 and later models, as well as recent iPads. It will let apps create new ways to share data or stream media directly between devices—seamlessly and without relying on your home Wi-Fi or mobile data.

Why Didn’t Apple Announce Them?

Gurman says Apple wanted to avoid repeating its WWDC 2024 mistake of announcing features months before they were ready. This time, Apple is being cautious and only announcing things close to launch.

These unannounced features suggest Apple is saving some useful updates for later this year. If you’re running iOS 26, keep an eye out for these features in upcoming updates.