Public Beta of iOS 26 Is Now Live

The wait for accessing all the new Apple iOS 26 features is still a couple months away. However, Apple users can now download and install the public beta if they are itching to see what's coming this fall.

Dubbed Liquid Glass, the new look and feel will extend across all of Apple's upcoming operating systems. The overhaul was one of several big changes coming to iOS, macOS, iPadOS and the rest of Apple's software suite, all of which were showcased during the company's WWDC keynote on 9 June.

After overpromising on AI plans last year, Apple kept its iOS roadmap focused more on basic quality of life improvements this year. There are multiple useful additions coming to the Phone and Messages apps on the iPhone, for instance: Apple execs outlined the ability to weed out spam texts or other unknown senders and an option to hold spot on a phone call when users have been waiting for a representative to pick up. Plus, a treasured feature that many took for granted is coming back (hint: it's in the Photos app).

Siri, meanwhile, is in a holding pattern. Apple has previously specified that its smarter voice assistant — first promised at WWDC 2024 — is delayed until some point "in the coming year," so users shouldn't expect any major changes in the current betas. But there are reports that Apple is aiming to give Siri a bigger brain transplant by basing it on third-party artificial intelligence models like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude, which could make 2026 a pivotal year.

With each beta, it seems like additional new improvements are popping up, like a newly discovered FaceTime feature that'll freeze the video if it detects nudity. Most newer iPhone models are eligible to download iOS 26 (both the betas and final version).

While the current iPhone operating system is iOS 18, Apple is skipping the numbering ahead to iOS 26 later this year. The company has decided to line up its iOS version numbers with a year-based system, similar to car model years. So while iOS and its sibling operating systems will be released in late 2025, they're all designated "26" to reflect the year ahead. (Meanwhile, iOS 18 is still getting new versions this summer, too.)

So what exactly is Liquid Glass? Apple calls it a "new translucent material" since, well, the apps and widgets are clear. However, the screen can still adapt to dark and light modes, depending on surroundings. Users will also notice buttons with a new floating design in several apps, like Phone and Maps. They're designed to be less distracting than the current buttons, but are still easy to see.

While the design overhaul has proven to be controversial since its announcement, some — including Engadget's own Devindra Hardawar — like the new direction, even if it's somewhat reminiscent of Microsoft's translucent Windows Vista Aero designs from nearly twenty years ago.

That said, as of the release of the iOS 26 beta 2, Apple has already incorporated some user feedback into the design, dialing back the transparency in at least some places. And while it will continue to evolve, Apple users won't be able to escape it: Liquid Glass was designed to make all of Apple's OSes more cohesive.