Apple has dropped the iOS 26.2 update — now in accordance with other industries, it’s time for a big feature refresh. This release comes after significant upheaval in the company’s design leadership. Stephen Lemay took over for Alan Dye, who departed earlier this month for a new position at Meta.
The upcoming iOS 26.2 hardware improves quite a bit. Of these, the Reminders app has added support for alarms, letting users set alarms and get notifications just when they need to complete a task. Apple News has recently updated its layout, so we’re… To help users quickly see what’s new from their favorite sources, they introduced a new Following tab in the bottom navigation bar. For the Apple Music subscribers, lyrics are now available offline. This new feature allows users to sing along around the clock, even when they’re not connected to Wi-Fi! Their Podcasts app just added AI-generated chapters for each episode. This feature greatly improves the user experience by making it easy to navigate through all of this content.
Alan Dye, former design executive responsible for the Liquid Glass makeover, is now gone from Apple. He is now poised to lead a new creative studio at Meta’s Reality Labs. His leaving is a big deal because it represents the first major opening up Apple’s design department.
SEATTLE DESIGN CONFERENCE 2019
Stephen Lemay, a longtime Apple designer with an emphasis in interface and interaction design, has stepped into Dye’s role. This transition represents an effort to keep continuity in Apple’s established design philosophy, even as they begin to respond to new challenges.
Sarah Perez, a long time Transportation reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011, has really done a great job covering all of these developments. Prior to coming on board with TechCrunch, she spent more than three years at ReadWriteWeb. She has a varied I.T. background, having worked in various industries including banking, retail, and software. If you’re interested in following up with her for more information or consulting, you can reach her by email at sarahp@techcrunch.com. Or, contact me at sarahperez on Signal for end-to-end encrypted messages.

