On Monday, Apple launched its second developer beta for iOS 26. Whereas the replace is generally right here to repair bugs and glitches discovered within the first beta, Apple did take the chance to incorporate some new options and adjustments that weren’t prepared for beta 1—at the least eight, in reality.
To be clear, iOS 26 is currently in beta testing, and isn’t usually obtainable to the general public but. What’s extra, that is the developer beta, which is supposed for software program builders to check their apps inside Apple’s new OS. Whereas anybody can set up the beta on their iPhones, I don’t advocate it, because it’s nonetheless too unstable. Chances are you’ll discover your iPhone unusable or lose information should you uninstall the beta without a proper backup.
Whether or not you are working the beta otherwise you’re simply interested by what’s new, listed below are eight of my favourite options and adjustments I’ve seen reported from Apple’s second iOS 26 beta.
Management Heart’s Liquid Glass impact
The very first thing you will most likely discover once you set up iOS 26 in your iPhone (or any of Apple’s upcoming updates, actually) is the brand new Liquid Glass design. It is laborious to overlook: All the UI components—together with menu bars, home windows, and buttons—now tackle a “glassy” impact that exhibits the weather behind them, albeit blurred and distorted.
Whereas there are many opinions about this redesign, I feel it is fairly cool, and it is refreshing to see Apple combine up its design in a serious manner for the primary time in over a decade. That mentioned, the preliminary design that rolled out with the primary iOS 26 beta wasn’t excellent. Management Heart, particularly, was a little bit of a large number: As common, it includes a grid of tiles, solely now they’re made from “glass,” letting in an excessive amount of of the background. It is troublesome to see; it is messy; it is simply not very Apple.
The corporate clearly went again to the drafting board for beta 2, because Control Center now looks way different. Apple considerably lowered the transparency impact, to the purpose the place I would not blame you for pondering nothing had modified from iOS 18 in any respect.
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It is objectively simpler to see the tiles now, however I do surprise if Apple may strike a greater stability right here. I admire the necessity for visibility and ease, however I do like the brand new glassy look, and it would be a disgrace if that design was compromised by the necessity to cut back the impact too typically. It is nonetheless early but, so we’ll see the place Liquid Glass finally ends up on the finish of beta testing.
The transparency could be lowered much more
Earlier than Apple toned down Management Heart’s Liquid Glass impact in beta 2, beta testers had been searching for methods to cut back the impact on their very own. Because it occurs, “Scale back Transparency,” an current accessibility characteristic, gets the job done, reducing down on the clear results all through iOS.
With the newest beta, Apple has boosted Reduce Transparency’s effects much more. It looks as if that is going to be the official workaround for limiting Apple’s new design, at the least at this level.
A brand new ringtone
Apple final up to date its ringtone choice with iOS 17 back in 2023. Earlier than that, its tones had stayed the identical since iOS 7, save for “Reflection,” the ringtone Apple shipped with the iPhone X in 2017.
Reflection is now the default ringtone on all iPhones, and when you can change it to any of Apple’s different tones (or even one of your own), the corporate would favor you’ve another version of Reflection to work with. With beta 2, Apple added Alt 1 as an possibility below Reflection, with the unique ringtone now labeled as “Default.” Because it occurs, the brand new ringtone was noticed within the IPSW file of the primary beta, however Apple solely added it to the ringtone settings with this newest replace.
You’ll be able to hear the brand new ringtone beneath. I feel it is fairly nice, although I am unsure why Apple was dead-set on calling this an alternate model of Reflection. It sounds completely different sufficient to me that it may have been its personal ringtone.
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Apple Music has a brand new Residence Display screen widget: Live Radio. Should you continuously hearken to Apple Music’s varied radio stations, you’ll be able to add this widget to your iPhone’s Residence Display screen to pick a station with no need to open Apple Music first.
What do you assume up to now?
Safari’s tab choices are again
With the primary iOS 26 beta, Apple’s redesigned Safari additionally moved the location of the tab buttons. Should you’re utilizing an iPhone with iOS 18, you are seemingly used to those choices being on the underside of the display. That is not the case with iOS 26, as Apple moved them to the highest.
Maybe Apple acquired one too many complaints from beta testers whose muscle reminiscences failed them whereas searching the net, as a result of these buttons are now back on the bottom.
We now know what Low Energy Mode actually does
You may use Low Energy Mode to eke out as a lot time as doable when your iPhone’s battery begins to die—however do you actually know what the characteristic is doing?
We have solely been capable of speculate up till this level, as the present description in iOS 18 says: “Low Energy Mode briefly reduces background exercise like downloads and mail fetch till you’ll be able to absolutely cost your iPhone.” But it surely clearly does greater than this, as anybody with a high-refresh price iPhone can attest that Low Energy Mode cuts the refresh price of 120Hz to 60Hz.
iOS 26 beta 2 provides us a lot extra element, per MacRumors. The outline now reads: “iPhone will briefly cut back some background actions, processing velocity, show refresh price and brightness, and restrict sure options akin to 5G, iCloud syncing, mail fetch, and extra.”
Whereas this nonetheless won’t cowl all bases, Apple is now confirming that Low Energy Mode not solely stops apps from working within the background, but additionally does issues like cut back processing velocity and restrict demanding mobile connections.
Order monitoring in Apple Pockets is now reside
Apple initially introduced the flexibility to trace your orders in Apple Pockets during WWDC, however as of beta 2, the feature is now live. Once you replace, you will see an choice to scan the Mail app for orders from firms, which is able to then seem in Pockets. You’ll be able to see which orders have been positioned, which have shipped, and that are out for supply.
Apple confirms you’ll be able to restore your iPhone with no Mac or PC
As MacRumors reports, the preliminary iOS 26 beta contained the flexibility to revive your iPhone with no separate pc—a primary for Apple. However with beta 2, Apple confirmed the change in its launch notes, saying: “Restoration Assistant is a brand new option to recuperate your system if it would not begin up usually. It could possibly search for issues and try and resolve them if discovered.”
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