This week, Apple released iOS 26.3. It is mostly just a security update, but there are a few new features, as noted by Juli Clover of MacRumors. However, I was most interested in iOS 26.3 moving into the rear view mirror because, as Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports, the rumors have been that the next release, iOS 26.4, will include Apple’s major AI updates to Siri. My enthusiasm waned when I saw Mark Gurman of Bloomberg report that the major Siri improvements could be delayed even more, and as John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, Gurman’s prior reporting on Siri delays has been accurate. On the other hand, Jennifer Elias of CNBC reports that (perhaps in response to the Gurman report), Apple told CNBC that the company is still on track to launch the new Siri in 2026. Suffice it to say that I don’t recommend placing any bets on exactly when the new Siri will be released. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Juli Clover of MacRumors shares 10 iPhone tips. For example, she shared a shortcut that lets you search the Messages app for messages with text within a specific date range, which is something that I did not know was possible.
- If you are heading to a protest—and we are certainly seeing more and more of those these days—Philip Michaels explains in a post for Six Colors why you might want to turn off Face ID.
- There have been lots of rumors about how Apple might improve its Health app on the iPhone, such as using AI and/or introducing a Health+ product. Wesley Hilliard discussed what he would like to see Apple unveil in the future in this post on his HilliTech blog.
- Hilliard also reviews Apple’s new Pixelmator Pro app on the iPad.
- Last week, I reviewed the new second-generation AirTag. This week, Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors notes that this new AirTag only works with newer iPhone models.
- Brett Burney and I are teaching a two-hour online CLE for myLawCLE on February 18, 2026, on the topic of using an iPad in a law practice. It is not designed for power users—for example, we start with advice on how to select the right iPad and then cover the best apps to get—but if you or someone that you know wants an introduction to using an iPad as a lawyer, this might be right up your alley.
- If you are like Joel McHale—or, at least, the character he plays on TV—you may not know that you can recover a photo after you delete it in the Photos app. In a post for Six Colors, Philip Michaels explains how.
- According to Joe Rossignol of MacRumors, the next seven states to gain support for storing a digital driver’s license in Apple’s Wallet app will be Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia—although the timing for those states is not yet announced.
- As reported by Devindra Hardawar of Engadget, YouTube has finally released an app for the Vision Pro. Until now, I have been watching YouTube videos in the Safari web browser, and while Apple used some tricks to make that as pleasant as possible, I’m glad there is now a dedicated app, especially since it supports 360, 3D, and VR 180 content. I tried this new app out last night, and I like it.
- Nellie Andreeva of Deadline has an extensive report on the Apple TV show Severance. The big news in this report is that Apple has now acquired all rights and will produce the show in-house. However, I especially enjoyed the article because it shares tons of behind-the-scenes details of how shows like this are made, including how even a successful show can lose money for a studio. I recommend the article, but note that show creator Ben Stiller posted on X: “Do not believe everything you read. Please. That article is all [hearsay] and [has] no sources attributed.” So some of the details certainly could be wrong.
- And finally, here is a new video from Apple that shows off the new selfie feature of the iPhone 17 Pro (and also the iPhone 17, although that isn’t mentioned in this video) that automatically shifts between portrait and landscape mode depending upon who is in a selfie picture: