Night mode is a mode inside the iOS camera app where the app takes a longer-exposure photo in low-light conditions, but “stabilizes” it programmatically, to achieve something similar to holding a camera on a tripod for the same amount of time.

I noticed a little detail that might be new to iOS 26: the night mode icon will now show you how many seconds it expects you’ll have to hold it, ahead of pressing the shutter button.

This is me turning the light on and off in the hotel room. The icon is in the upper right corner:

It’s hard for me to know how useful this is in practice, but the gesture seems nice. What I like about it, too, is density. By my calculation, this is 10-point type, smaller even than the battery percentage at about 12. (The standard interface elements usually go for 15–17.) Retina displays allow you to add text this small and have it still be legible.