The Vision Pro in 2023. Apple Intelligence in 2024. What’s coming in 2025? At its last two WWDC events, Apple launched itself into new computing territories, jumping into both AR/VR and generative AI. But with both the Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence having faced slow and heavily criticized starts, the big message at this year’s WWDC, happening June 9, doesn’t seem very clear at all. 

The pressure is on Apple to show interesting progress into future categories, but this year it might instead focus on operating system redesigns and gradual improvements to what the company has already been trying to achieve.

WWDC — the company’s developer conference — is usually a showcase for Apple’s future-forward ideas. It’s also where the company discusses its dev tools, as you’d expect. And it’s where previews of all the new OS versions are revealed, giving an early look at what’s coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac and other Apple devices.

It’s possible Apple will get into new product territories once again with the reveal of a new home device — a display-enabled HomePod — but the biggest rumors so far suggest a new cross-OS redesign and renaming that could be Apple’s way of deflecting some attention away from not having big new AI features to show off.

OS by year: Will it be iOS 26?

Recent reports from Bloomberg’s often-correct Mark Gurman say Apple is going to ditch the existing numbered OS convention it’s used for years and instead go with another approach to naming: labeling all annual OSes by year number. Instead of iOS 19, we’ll have iOS 26. And iPadOS 26, and MacOS 26, and WatchOS 26, TVOS 26, VisionOS 26. Samsung made a similar move in 2020, jumping from the Galaxy S10 in 2019 to the Galaxy S20 in 2020.

Apple’s numbering has felt pretty disjointed as the numbers have gone ever-higher across multiple device categories. A yearly number would at least help people know if they’re on the current version. 

Glass as the new look

The WWDC invites, featuring a hazy transparent ring, hint at a reported redesign of all the company’s software to a new «glass» look. Bloomberg’s Gurman reported on a large incoming cross-OS design shift, calling it a dramatic redesign and one of the biggest Apple’s done in years. The design may mirror the Vision Pro’s VisionOS feel, which has lots of frosted glass panes, layers of transparency and circular app icons. Front Page Tech’s Jon Prosser showed a preview of the expected design based on information from his sources, and it definitely looks VisionOS-esque.

Beyond a coat of paint, will the OSes start to feel more similar in function too? I’m particularly curious about how iPadOS and MacOS start to close in on each other even more. Apple’s iPad has slowly inched toward acting like a computer, with features like Stage Manager for multitasking, and it’s felt inevitable that the tablet line would eventually provide a comparable experience to the MacBook.

WatchOS should get Apple Intelligence, and the Health app may be part of it

One of the devices that’s missed out on Apple Intelligence so far has been the Apple Watch, and that should be changing soon. Apple is expected to put more AI on the next Watch OS, which could help with message summaries, translation and maybe even composing messages. It could also bring overdue health and fitness upgrades. Reports say Apple could be working on adding generative AI insights to its Health app data and even using AI as a medical service, with a launch target of 2026. Health could possibly get a paid subscription tier, similar to Fitness and what many of Apple’s current services are adding. This could be like what Google is doing with Wear OS, which has long used Fitbit Premium as a health subscription (a broader Gemini rollout is on the way too). 

I like AI coaching and insights on a watch, but I don’t like subscriptions. We’ll see what happens, and if Apple gets into any of these future plans at this WWDC.

Battery boosts

Another recent report (again, Gurman) says AI will help Apple improve battery life on its devices. How many devices? The iPhone, but hopefully the Apple Watch, too — these are the products in the lineup that I find I need to charge more than I’d like. For me, at least, iPads and Macs are mostly fine on battery life as is, but I’ll never refuse longer battery life for anything.

Apple has made gradual boosts to its battery features over time, but maybe there will be more intelligently applied power modes this time.

Game news?

Apple may be pushing the importance of games again, just as the Nintendo Switch 2 debuts. Bloomberg reports that the company could release a new app to act as a hub for games and game services including Apple Arcade, becoming an overdue overhaul of Game Center.

A number of game controller accessories, like Backbone, already have app hubs that function as game launchers, but Apple has never done much to help organize games on its devices in a way that feels more like what you find on a console. A new app seems like a good fit for those types of controllers, too.

Apple just acquired its first game studio: RAC7, the developers of hit Apple Arcade game Sneaky Sasquatch.

Apple could also have VR gaming news, if older reports come true: PlayStation VR 2 controllers have been expected to work with Vision Pro headsets, in a push to expand gaming on Apple’s VR/AR headset. Maybe that’ll be part of a push to get more developers onboard, as Apple could be readying a less expensive version of the Vision Pro in the next year. Right now the headset can’t compete with Meta’s more affordable Quest headsets in the gaming department.

AI: Live translation, and maybe Vision camera advancements

Apple opened up camera access to enterprise developers last year, and now it’s time for AI tools to emerge for everyone else — tools that could help describe what you’re seeing, or help you remember things too. Apple has already added assistive support for some camera-enabled functions on the Vision Pro and other products, suggesting more to come.

Though Apple’s WWDC keynote presentation isn’t expected to include many announcements of AI strides, the company still needs to compete with Google, Open AI, Perplexity and many others who are making such strides. Reports say live translation will come to some AirPods models, which would mirror what Google and Meta have been doing on glasses and earbuds and on phones.

The biggest VisionOS move I’d expect to see is some introduction of camera-aware AI. Apple Intelligence debuted on Apple’s VR/AR spatial computer headset earlier this year, but none of the AI can take advantage of the system’s cameras to «see» what you’re seeing. At least not yet. Google’s use of Gemini to access the cameras on upcoming headsets and glasses, and Meta’s support of camera access for Quest developers (and its expanding AI tools on Ray-Bans), suggest Apple needs to move this way now to begin paving a way for camera-aware AI to work on future headsets and eventually glasses. 

A new HomePod-slash-iPad?

There could be a new product emerging at WWDC: a look at a long-expected screen-enabled HomePod that may be part of a bigger push into smarter smart home tech. Reports suggest it’ll be something like a HomePod now — speaker-enabled, with an array of mics — but with a touchscreen. Would it be a screen big enough to act as a photo frame, or something more like a control panel? Where would this thing live, exactly? And what would it cost? Originally, reports of this device even suggested a robotic arm that would allow the screen to follow your face, but those plans seem to be off the table for now.

Of all the wild-card product ideas Apple could announce at this show, this seems the most likely.

We’ll know more soon

WWDC is happening June 9, with the keynote video presentation streaming at 10 a.m. Pacific. We’ll be there at Apple Park, too, covering it in person. We’ll know more about how all this software could be hinting at new products, and get a check-in on where exactly Apple is with its AI strategies. And maybe we’ll get a bit of product news, too — you never know.

Battle Nations, a free-to-play turn-based military strategy game for phones developed by studio Z2Live, was taken from us too soon on Sept. 28, 2016. And I’m obviously not the only person who feels like the game didn’t have enough time in the sun, because a new version of the game came back to mobile game stores on May 30, 2025 — nearly a decade after the servers shut down for the last time.

I formed a Battle Nations guild with my friends back in middle school to take on some of the game’s raids, but we were always severely under-leveled and outnumbered by our enemies. Battle Nations was released during the heyday of mobile gaming, completely revolutionizing what I believed the platform could do. Endless runners like Jetpack Joyride and Subway Surfers gave way to Battle Nations afternoons, filled with planning our group conquests, and it was glorious.

The new iteration of the game, called Battle Nations Rewritten, was completely remade by a group of fans who came together to form their own game studio, Madrona Games. This team of developers has spent the last several years ironing out legal proceedings with the game’s original publisher, King, to gain the rights to use the Battle Nations trademark. Madrona’s developers honed their skills with the release of another game, Tank Tactics, while publishing beta builds for their Patreon subscribers.

A tight-knit community of Battle Nations fans approached a major corporation with their own take on an old property and didn’t have their fan project taken down. Z2Live was acquired by King in 2015, which is a company that was acquired by Activision Blizzard in 2016, which itself was later acquired by Microsoft in 2023 — and despite this, Madrona Games was able to make peace with Battle Nations’ parent company regardless of large gaming corporations’ penchant for suing fan projects using their IP.

Now Battle Nations is back in all its former glory, allowing a whole new generation of players to build an outpost and expand their military forces in the name of the emperor.

What is Battle Nations about?

Battle Nations was lampooning fascistic empires before Helldivers 2 made it cool. You’re the captain of the 95th Rifle Company of the Imperial Army, a once-renowned military presence that is starting to crack under siege from a rebel army.

As flames of conflict approach the capital, the teenage emperor sends your unit to a far-flung continent in search of resources to create a new superweapon. It’s your job to grow a budding outpost into a massive military complex, fighting off rebels, vicious local fauna and gas-mask clad warriors that your chauvinistic lieutenant has deemed as «raiders.»

Your allies are all pretty atrocious people, but their ignorance is constantly made the butt of the joke in Battle Nations’ narrative writing. Raiders and rebels are consistently better outfitted and more competent than your team, which forces you to work even harder to stay combat-ready as you advance further into the game.

Part city-building simulator and part grid-based tactical battler, Battle Nations appeals to many different types of strategy gamers. I personally enjoyed crafting zany units and utilizing them to defend my outpost as I grew my city-state’s economy.

Once players reach a high enough level, they’ll be able to learn from raider allies to master mammoths and raptors, conduct medical experiments to turn their basic units into zombies and even hire the Team Fortress 2 mercenaries in a bizarre crossover with Valve. (The launch trailer seems to suggest that the famed mercenaries will return in the fan version.)

These advances are only made possible through economic prosperity and strong supply lines. Players need to create warehouses, expand their borders to resource deposits and build facilities to process raw materials into stronger forms if they want to build the best units. I’ve never been gifted at planning out my builds, but the best urban planners will find a great framework to create efficient (and pretty-looking) army bases.

As your outpost grows strong enough, you’ll start to supplement your foot troops with tanks, helicopters and other heavy vehicles. I remember feeling like I was a true military power by the time Battle Nations shut down.

I can’t wait to dive back into Battle Nations’ take on turn-based combat, even if it means I have to start all over with the bog-standard riflemen.

What’s next for Battle Nations Rewritten?

The new Battle Nations isn’t shipping with every multiplayer feature included in the original game quite yet.

Madrona Games has promised that subsequent updates will restore many of the social elements missing from the launch build.

That means the friends list and guilds will be added soon. One of my favorite features from the original Battle Nations was the ability to let an ally raid resource deposits on your outpost to help them resupply materials they were low on, and it’ll be great to see that collaborative gameplay make a return.

Boss strikes are also on the docket for a swift return, allowing players to combine their military might to chip away at a boss enemy’s health bar (and earning sweet rewards if they’re able to fully defeat it).

Beyond returning features, the developers plan to add «new narrative arcs, seasonal operations, time-limited events and more to keep the world of Battle Nations evolving.»

Madrona Games’ Battle Nations Rewritten is launching on every platform that the original Battle Nations was on. That means you’re able to download the game from the App Store, Google Play Store and Steam for free now.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword has a couple of fun ocean-related clues and answers. It’s the extra-long Saturday version, of course. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: This one and that one
Answer: BOTH

5A clue: Ballet-inspired fitness class
Answer: BARRE

6A clue: Mississippi ___ (rich chocolate dessert)
Answer: MUDPIE

7A clue: Sea creature with the scientific name Monodon monoceros («one tooth, one horn»)
Answer: NARWHAL

8A clue: Like some soccer shots
Answer: ONGOAL

9A clue: Strict in tone
Answer: STERN

10A clue: Place for a «For Sale» sign
Answer: YARD

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: $#!&, e.g.
Answer: BADWORD

2D clue: Harry Potter, Annie or Bruce Wayne
Answer: ORPHAN

3D clue: ___ and error
Answer: TRIAL

4D clue: Dog trainer’s «Walk next to me!»
Answer: HEEL

5D clue: Hot dog alternative
Answer: BURGER

6D clue: Relative of a stingray
Answer: MANTA

7D clue: All up in one’s business
Answer: NOSY

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.