Don't want to update your iPhone to iOS 26? These 4 reasons changed my mind immediately

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.

ZDNET's key takeaways

• iOS 26.1 lets you control the Liquid Glass design.
• iOS 26.2 offers better security for AirDrop.
• Most of all, iOS 26 patches several nasty security bugs.

My wife and I both own iPhones. But differences exist between our respective ownerships. I quickly install each new OS update, both for personal and professional reasons. My wife, however, balks at this onerous task, complaining that the update will mess up her phone, change familiar things, and force her to learn new stuff.

Other iPhone users seem to feel the same way as my wife, though reports differ over how many people have jumped to the new version since its debut last October. Analytics service StatCounter says that iOS 26 has only a 16% adoption rate, while TelemetryDeck pegs the rate at around 60 ...