Check this list to see if your favorite app will be Sherlocked in iOS 26
It wouldn’t be WWDC if Apple did not fly a little. Apple has such a long habit of introducing new software features that overlap and finally exceeding third -party applications, there is even a term for this. Sherlocking comes from Apple’s Sherlock application, one of the first to usurp a popular third -party alternative called Watson in the 1990s.
This practice was again exposed to WWDC 2025, where Apple introduced several new features in iOS 26 and MacOS Tahoe which seemed terribly similar to those offered by independent applications and developers. Of course, we are not going to complain about new capacities in MacOS, and Apple is far from being the only company to add features that have been done elsewhere before. But if you are a fan of one of these applications, they may not be even longer there.
Alfred
Alfred is a popular productivity application that adds a series of commands that level your Mac. This includes an application and file launcher accessible via a floating text bar, checks in the application that can be activated using your keyboard, your clippick history and text extracts that act as shortcuts for various tasks. Are you starting to seem familiar?
This should, because it closely reflects the radical overhaul that Apple brought to the light of MacOS Tahoe. Instead of a simple search box, Spotlight has now been empowered to a range of new capacities. It can operate in applications to launch menu bar commands, comes with parameters to fill emails and SMS, has a deep integration with shortcuts and even uses text extracts to launch actions with only a few taps.
Apple presented a much more powerful search for WWDC.
Apple
Alfred still has a few tips in its sleeve which have not yet entered light, such as the integration of words of words and the visual theme, but the gulf between him and the spotlights was closed significantly. And Apple is probably just starting.
Itinerary
If you are someone who often has packages delivered to your door, you know how important it is to keep track of everything that is along the way. Most package drug addicts probably already use the third-party application rich in functionality to stay above their packages, but with iOS 26, this can be done natively on your iPhone.
It is made using Apple Intelligence to scan your emails and messages and remove the relevant delivery information, such as tracking numbers and transport companies. This is then gathered in the Wallet application, giving you a centralized place to keep an eye on your packages without the need to download other applications. Even better, everything is done automatically, so everything you have to do is buy something.
Fickle
The iOS 26 update has experienced a major upgrade for virtual passage stored in the Wallet application, with instructions to your terminal door and helps to find lost luggage equipped with an aerat or another Tracker Findmy. So far, no sherlocking there.
But everything changes when you consider the functionality of live activities that has been added to boarding passes. There will now be a widget that displays the current flight status (such as the duration until it is due to the land), the terminal of the aircraft and the luggage complaint number, information on airlines and the flight number, etc. This closely corresponds to live activities offered by the popular Flight Flight Follower Application.
Flighty always has the advantage in some respects, such as its fast delay alerts that can reach you even before the airline notifications. But there is no doubt that Apple has plunged and launched his own solution which covers a lot from the same land as Flighty.
The live activity of follow -up of the integrated flight to iOS 26 is extremely similar to Flighty.
Apple
Bartender
At WWDC, Apple raised the lid on its visual redesign in liquid glass. Inspired by Visionos, this brings transparency and glass type effects to almost all Apple and operating system devices. One aspect of this in MacOS is that the menu bar can now be completely transparent. But there is another adjustment of the menu bar which may not have liked the developers of the Popular Bartender application.
Indeed, in MacOS Tahoe, you can quickly and easily mask the third -party icons of your menu bar. This is a feature that you will also find in Bartender, and easily one of the main reasons why people like longtime utility. It is not known how long Bartender saved users by eliminating the need to bounce between the application parameters.
For power users, the bartender is probably not under the existential threat of Apple for the moment, because it offers many more features which are not native by macOS, with many more customization options and a palette of practical tools which appears under your menu bar. But for occasional users, Bartender has just been hunted.
Bartender always has a few tips, but Apple has made one of its best unrelevant features in MacOS 26.
bartender
Smaller
We were all faced with unwanted spam calls that interrupt our day, ranging from slightly boring to maliciousness. For years, the Truecaller application has helped iPhone users to avoid crooks and telepreneurs by identifying unknown appellants, blocking spammers, eliminating fraudulent text messages and forcing the appellants to identify before going through. It further improved in iOS 18.2 when Apple added a live caller identification API with spam blocking in real time.
Unfortunately to Truecaller, iOS 26 can now do some of these things in itself. The call screening function, for example, asks the appellants to explain why they contact you, then displays text results on your screen, allowing you to ignore the call or recover it when you are ready. For most people, it could be better than identifying spammers.
