Every time Apple updates iOS, the internet gets a new toy, and marketers get a new playground. The first creatives to figure out how to use these features for fun always win the For You Page.

Breaking through social feeds today is about spotting trends with algorithmic favorability and bringing fresh creativity to them. We tend to think of social trends in terms of what the platform can do and what people are doing on it: content series (e.g., GRWM, reaction videos), evolving platform features (e.g., Reels), timely memes (e.g., “Six-Seven”), or ever-shifting formats that offer new forms of self-expression. (See our recent trend piece on Instagram’s “slim 5120 x 1080” content.)

This past week, however, audiences worldwide welcomed iOS 26: a social upgrade not defined by platform mechanics or user behavior, but by a redesign so significant it opens entirely new creative possibilities based on what the iPhone itself can now do.

As iOS 26 settles into the hands of users everywhere, we’ve rounded up some thought starters for new features with creative potential for your next campaign: 

1. Apple Intelligence Screen Interpretation: Siri can now interpret what’s on your screen, which means marketers can hide Easter eggs in posters, trailers, or digital drops that Siri can “spot."

   
   

2. Custom iMessage Chat Backgrounds: iMessage backgrounds can now be customized, similar to desktop wallpapers. Pair your key art drop with a custom chat background for superfans. Think GIPHY sticker packs, but for group texts, like a Stranger Things “glitching” Upside Down portal with Demogorgon silhouettes.

   
   

3. Ambient Music: We now have the potential to add ambient background music to our daily routines across four need states: sleep, chill, productivity, and wellbeing. Consider a “soundscape drop” tied to your world or IP. Imagine gifting The White Lotus’ fans the upcoming season’s musical score to set as their “wellbeing” ambient music track.

   
   

4. Spatial 3D Scene Wallpapers: Users can now turn images into dynamic wallpapers using AI to create a 3D depth effect that separates foreground and background elements. Encourage audiences to become lock-screen loyal to IP by creating their own spatial 3D wallpapers from an Entertainment property’s world, characters, scenes, or iconography.

   
   

5. AirPods as a Video Mic: While the mini microphone has become a staple of on-the-street interview social content, expect influencers to start using AirPods as mics. For marketers, this means faster, more nimble UGC on the fly.