Apple’s iOS 26 public beta is here. These are the 4 biggest changes.
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Apple’s iOS 26 public beta is here. These are the 4 biggest changes.
Apple is in the middle of fine-tuning iOS 26, one of the most significant software overhauls the company has made for its phones in years. Here’s your early guide to four big changes you’ll either have to get used to or may want to embrace from day one. ‘Liquid Glass’ is here; the iOS aesthetic will take on a glossy, glassy sheen that — by the way — there is no way to disable completely. Apple’s new Phone app has some features that might help you avoid scammy phone calls, but it can take a little while for translations to appear. If you find that the redesign makes it harder to do the things you need to, tell Apple in a new Feedback app on your phone to share your perspective.. Apple Intelligence has a handful of new and updated tools powered by Apple Intelligence in this update, though I genuinely wonder how often you’ll use them. The Messages app can also translate Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
There’s no guarantee, after all, that the apps you rely on will work correctly, or that you won’t run into a bit of overheating or faster-than-normal battery drain.
Prefer to play it safe? No problem — we’ve been living with this software for weeks on your behalf. Some (or all) of this is subject to change, but here’s your early guide to four big changes you’ll either have to get used to or may want to embrace from day one.
1. ‘Liquid Glass’ is here
Like it or not, your iPhone is going to look a lot different this year thanks to Liquid Glass.
Advertisement
As the name implies, the iOS aesthetic you’ve seen for ages will take on a glossy, glassy sheen that — by the way — there is no way to disable completely. It’s not just app icons (above) that can turn transparent-ish: Notifications, menu bars, buttons, app controls and loads of other little interface bits that have largely looked the same for years will turn some level of see-through.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
This new visual language is striking, sure, and I’m here to tell you that it does get easier to swallow after awhile. Even now, though, it feels like there’s plenty of fine-tuning to do — there are still situations where certain controls and icons are hard to see because they let so much of what’s behind them shine through.
Apple seems to have been taking a lot of early criticism seriously, because it’s even now trying to dial in exactly how everything should look.
Advertisement
Pro tip: If you install this beta software and you find that the redesign makes it harder to do the things you need to, tell Apple. You’ll find a new Feedback app on your phone to share your perspective.
2. The Phone app got smarter
I hate using my phone for phone calls. You might, too. The latest update has some features that might help.
Consider, for instance, the daily frustration I used to feel when I saw an incoming call from an obviously scammy phone number. That’s evaporated now that I’ve turned on a tool that makes the caller explain what they want before my phone rings.
Advertisement Advertisement
Apple’s new software also comes with a clever tool you can activate when you get put on hold during a phone call. The call then fades into the background and your phone will ring again when it detects a voice so you can get back to business.
Advertisement
So far, it’s been great to use except for one little issue: Apple’s software can’t seem to tell the difference between a live human and a recording — like the ones that will occasionally break up hold music trying to convince you that your call is really important to them — so it’s not uncommon to get multiple buzzes for your attention before a human is actually ready to help you.
3. A mixed bag of Apple Intelligence tools
You’ll find a handful of new and updated tools powered by Apple Intelligence in this update, though I genuinely wonder how often you’ll use them.
You can, for instance, turn on live translated captions on FaceTime calls, though it’s worth noting that it can take a little while for those translations to appear. More impressive is a translation tool for phone calls — you’ll hear a disembodied voice render your chat partner’s comments in English, and vice versa.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
The catch? For those live calls, iOS 26 can turn only French, German, Portuguese and Spanish into English for now. (In conversations unfolding via text message, the Messages app can also translate Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.)
Apple’s Visual Intelligence tool, meanwhile, now does more than just tell you about what’s in front of your camera. Taking a screenshot now opens a full-screen preview where you can ask ChatGPT about what’s in the image, search Google for items in specific parts of the image, or wait for Apple Intelligence to make suggestions — like adding event dates to your calendar.
Pro tip: If you’re like me and you take tons of screenshots to remember things, you can turn off this full-screen preview by going to Settings → General → Screen Capture.
Advertisement
That’s about it for high-profile changes, though. The rest of iOS 26’s Apple Intelligence tweaks are focused on helping you create better Shortcuts, custom emojis and (slightly) more sophisticated images in the company’s Image Playground. Some older features that Apple previously disabled have also returned — like the ability to summarize notifications from news apps.
For its part, iOS makes clear when it presents this option that “summarization may change the meaning of the original headlines,” but the results haven’t been egregiously wrong — yet.
Advertisement Advertisement
4. A cleaner camera
The iPhone’s cameras are great — its Camera app, on the other hand, just got a much-needed makeover.
Advertisement
Now, many of its more exotic recording modes — like Panorama or Spatial capture — are hidden by default. You don’t have to guess at what certain icons mean, either: Most of the camera’s settings are now labeled, and they live behind a menu button that actually looks like a menu button.
Advertisement Advertisement
It’s all a lot easier to read at a distance, and it should help folks fine-tune their photos and videos a little faster. And it’s not just the design that’s cleaner; your iPhone will also now tell you when your lenses are dirty and need a vigorous rubdown.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/07/25/apple-ios-26-public-beta-features-preview/