iOS 26.3 Now Available With 6 New Features

 

That’s right—iOS 26.3 officially started rolling out yesterday (February 11, 2026), marking a shift in Apple's updates for the year. It appears Apple has fully leaned into the "year-based" versioning (matching the year 2026) rather than the old sequential numbers.

Here are the 6 new features and changes included in this update:

1. "Tap to Switch" (iPhone to Android Migration)

In a surprising move likely driven by EU regulations, Apple has added a native tool to make leaving the ecosystem easier. You can now place your iPhone next to an Android device (similar to NameDrop) to wirelessly transfer photos, videos, contacts, and even paid apps (if the developer supports cross-platform licenses) without needing a cable.

2. Notification Forwarding to 3rd-Party Watches

You can finally forward iPhone notifications to non-Apple watches (like Pixel Watch 4 or Galaxy Watch 8) strictly via Bluetooth. Previously, this was limited or required messy workarounds. The catch? It currently only supports forwarding to one third-party device at a time.

3. New "Live Weather" Wallpapers

The wallpaper gallery has been updated with a dedicated Weather section. These aren't just static images; they use the same engine as the Weather app to show live precipitation, cloud cover, and sun position directly on your Lock Screen in a more photorealistic style than the old "Weather" dynamic wallpaper.

4. Encrypted RCS Support

While RCS was added back in iOS 18, iOS 26.3 upgrades it to support Encryption (E2EE) standards that align with Google's latest protocol. This means green-bubble chats with Android users are now as secure as iMessage for most conversations.

5. Carrier Location Limiting

A new privacy toggle allows you to strictly limit how much precise location data your carrier can pull from the device. This is currently limited to iPhones with the new C1 / C1X modems (iPhone 16 series and newer).

6. Critical Security Patch (The "Dyld" Fix)

While not a "fun" feature, this is the main reason for the update. It fixes a zero-day vulnerability in the dynamic link editor that was actively being exploited to inject malicious code via iMessage.

What’s Missing? The major "Siri + Gemini" deep integration (where Siri can read your screen and act on it using the new LLMs) was pushed back. It is now expected to launch with iOS 26.4 in March/April.

Next Step: Would you like to know if your specific iPhone model supports the new Carrier Location Limiting feature?