iOS 26.2 Adds New Features to Reminders, Music, Podcasts, and More

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Apple has released iOS 26.2, and unlike some system updates that focus on under-the-hood changes, this one delivers visible improvements across several built-in iPhone apps. Six apps in particular receive new features that users are likely to notice immediately in daily use.



Reminders gain a long-requested capability. Tasks with a specific due time can now be marked as Urgent, triggering an alarm when the reminder is due. The alert behaves like a standard alarm, including a 9-minute snooze option, and also appears as a Live Activity. This turns time-sensitive reminders into something closer to calendar alarms, closing a long-standing gap in the app.

Apple Podcasts receives multiple enhancements aimed at discovery and navigation. The most notable is automatic chapter generation. Apple uses podcast transcripts combined with its on-device AI models to generate chapters even for shows that do not provide them. This makes skipping and revisiting segments easier, especially for longer episodes. Podcasts also surfaces links to episodes, shows, and media mentioned during playback.

Freeform adds support for tables. The app's open-canvas design already allowed text, images, links, and files, but structured data was missing. Tables bring Freeform closer to Notes in flexibility, particularly for planning, comparison, and collaborative workspaces.

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