Apple Will Tell You When Your iPhone Camera Lens Needs Cleaning in iOS 26

A new feature on Apple’s iOS 26 will let users know when the camera lens on their iPhone or iPad needs cleaning.

Apple unveiled several updates on iOS 26 at WWDC 2025 on Monday. During the event, Apple briefly showed a slide containing all 36 new features on the next version of iOS and one of the capabilities is the “Lens Cleaning Hint.”

The quietly introduced Lens Cleaning Hint is a highly useful feature in iOS 26 that detects dirt or smudges on the camera lens of an iPad or iPhone and notifies the user to wipe it before taking a photo.

Although the exact method behind this feature is not yet confirmed, Aaron Perris, a researcher for MacRumors, posted a screenshot of what the Lens Cleaning Hint looks like in the settings app for iOS 26. When an iPhone or iPad user selects to turn this feature on, Apple says it: “Displays a suggestion when the camera lens should be cleaned to improve image quality.”

Presumably, the Lens Cleaning Hint identifies lens grime automatically just before a picture is taken. This reminder can help prevent blurry or low-quality photos caused by fingerprints, dust, or other debris on the lens. While a small detail, it can make a noticeable difference in image quality and could become a highly practical iOS 26 feature for iPhone and iPad photographers.

Other new features that Apple briefly showed in a slide at WWDC 2025 on Monday include “Events in Photos,” which presumably means iOS 26 will add support for events in the Photos app. There are also “Photo previews,” indicating that Messages will gain the ability to show image previews on the iPhone. Apple also unveiled “Relevant video thumbnails in search results.” Based on this description, search results in Photos may now include specific parts of a video that are relevant to the search term.

At WWDC, Apple also unveiled a new “liquid glass” design for its Camera and Photos app at WWDC 2025. The redesign is part of Apple’s liquid glass aesthetic that is overhauling the look of every one of Apple’s operating systems (OS).

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.