Overview
- The public beta went live July 23, allowing enrolled testers with iPhone 11 or newer to download iOS 26 through the Apple Beta Software Program using their Apple ID.
- Liquid Glass brings new translucent, glass-like UI elements and depth-aware animations that have been tuned for better readability in this build.
- Apple Intelligence adds on-device Live Translation in Messages, FaceTime and Phone plus Visual Intelligence tools like Circle to Search and ChatGPT integration for screenshots.
- Core app overhauls include a streamlined Camera interface, Spatial Scene 3D-style wallpapers in Photos and enhanced call management with Call Screening and Hold For Me.
- While testers report stable performance on supported devices, Apple advises using a secondary iPhone for the beta and plans a public release in September with the iPhone 17 rollout.