I Tried iOS 26 for a Month. These 3 Options Stand Out Most

Apple launched the primary public beta of iOS 26 on July 24, greater than a month after the corporate introduced the subsequent iOS model at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. That means builders and public beta testers can strive the upcoming iPhone options earlier than others get them this fall. 

And this is a vital iOS model for Apple. According to Bloomberg, some Apple traders are pissed off with the corporate’s delay in synthetic intelligence options. Apple can be going through an antitrust lawsuit from the Department of Justice that alleges the corporate leveraged the iPhone’s dominance to complement itself whereas smothering competitors. So to be able to bolster confidence within the firm and shore up investor funding, Apple actually wants iOS 26 to be a slam dunk.

I’ve lived with the developer betas of iOS 26 for greater than a month — trying out new options, together with the customizable snooze timer. Here are my ideas on the replace to date.

Before we go any additional, keep in mind that this can be a beta model of iOS 26. Because this is not the ultimate model of iOS 26, the replace is perhaps buggy for you, and your gadget’s battery life could also be affected, so it is best to maintain these troubles off your major gadget. If you need to strive the beta out, I like to recommend downloading it on a secondary gadget. 

Plus, being a beta model, it is also attainable that Apple might add extra options to the replace earlier than the ultimate model of iOS 26 is launched this fall.

Liquid Glass design is spectacular — principally

When Apple first launched iOS 26’s Liquid Glass at WWDC, folks on-line have been torn in regards to the design. Some have been enthusiastic about it, however others have been involved about readability with the brand new design — myself included. 

But after Apple tweaked iOS 26’s Liquid Glass design through the beta course of, it is now a reasonably good show scheme. The method colour and pictures refract by way of the glass-like panels on my house display screen is spectacular, reminding me of glass block designs. It’s form of like when a film renders CGI liquid very well. You know it isn’t actual, however it may be onerous to inform the distinction between the digital and actual factor. 

In early beta variations of the software program, I had a tough time studying some menus once they have been in entrance of different textual content. The glass was too glass-like, making all of the phrases appeared mixed in. At the time, I toggled on each Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast to uninteresting the glass impact. But now, the glass design appears good with out turning on extra settings to make issues legible. The “glass” menus in apps resembling Messages are additionally significantly better and simpler to learn now. 

My one criticism in regards to the design is the brand new choice to show your apps Clear. This choice is just like the Tinted one launched in iOS 18 and it removes all colour from the app icon. Every app icon and widget turns semi-translucent, too. But since each app is similar colour, as quickly as I take my glasses off, I can not inform which is which with out touching my homescreen to my nostril. 

I do not use the Tinted choice for the same purpose, however the Clear choice might make it tough to acknowledge apps in case your background is especially busy. If you could have a visible impairment, you might need hassle with the Clear choice.

Messages retains getting higher

When Apple launched iOS 18 in 2024, it introduced new options to Messages, together with RCS messaging, extra Tapbacks and a Send Later perform, which I actually loved and thought made texting extra enjoyable. The iOS 26 beta provides even extra enjoyable enhancements to Messages.

The new chat backgrounds are a good way to distinguish between chats, and typing indicators in group chats are a pleasant technique to see who’s and is not energetic at any given second. Plus, message filters are good to have; they filter out spam and rip-off messages with out notifying you. That method, any messages from “recruiters” or the “IRS” do not even hit my inbox. You can change the settings to permit notifications from sure unknown numbers, too, resembling messages with verification codes or receipts, so you are not blocking all unknown senders. 

The Games app is a pleasant contact, however might use some work

I cowl Apple Arcade and another cellular gaming companies resembling Netflix Games, and generally I prefer to play Xbox Cloud Gaming on my iPhone. So when Apple mentioned it might have a devoted Games app in iOS 26, I used to be fairly excited. But it fell quick in a number of areas for me. 

The most important factor I like in regards to the Games app is that it acts as a hub for all of the video games connected to your Apple ID. So whereas I deleted sure video games resembling Downwell from my gadget to make room for others, I can nonetheless discover these video games within the app if I ever need to dowload and revisit them. (And I completely need to revisit Downwell.)

However, the app is not all the time useful with some older video games connected to your account. For occasion, I downloaded Crazy Taxi onto an older iPhone earlier than Sega eliminated the sport from the App Store, and the sport seems in Games on my newer gadget. But since Crazy Taxi was faraway from the App Store, if I attempt to obtain the sport onto my new gadget, I get a continuously-rotating pinwheel, prefer it’s making an attempt to load. So now, regardless of Apple attaching Crazy Taxi to my account, I can not play it. Instead, it taunts me with its inaccessible soundtrack filled with the Offspring and Bad Religion. 

And whereas Games shops details about all of the cellular video games connected to your account, it is not built-in with different gaming companies resembling Xbox Cloud Gaming or Steam.I exploit a shortcut to open Xbox Cloud Gaming on my iPhone, so I perceive it not registering as a gaming app — however Steam is clearly a gaming app, and but Games would not acknowledge it. In the longer term, I’d like for Games to acknowledge these different companies, or not less than have the choice so as to add them to the app so all the things gaming associated is in a single neat spot. 

The beta is filled with options… nevertheless it has room for enchancment

While Liquid Glass, Messages enhancements and the Games app are a number of of the brand new options within the iOS 26 beta you possibly can strive now, I got here throughout a number of points within the beta, which is to be anticipated. Some of those issues have been extra noticeable than others, and these are those I hope Apple will handle first. 

The most prevalent difficulty I bumped into was that after unlocking my iPhone with Face ID, my lock display screen would keep in place for a break up second earlier than switching to my house display screen. When I slowly swiped up on my lock display screen after unlocking it, I might see the Liquid Glass layer slide up over my lock display screen background however not pull my background with it. In previous iOS variations, whenever you swiped up in your lock display screen after unlocking it with Face ID, your lock display screen background would roll up your display screen to disclose your property display screen. But within the beta, the Liquid Glass layer strikes whereas your background would not. While this by no means brought about my iPhone to crash, it was actually annoying.

I additionally had points with Visual Intelligence — each the brand new screenshot search and the earlier method of trying to find photos. Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can use Apple’s AI to carry out a Google Image seek for gadgets in screenshots and images. I used it to search for some house decor gadgets and footwear from photos on Instagram. The search perform often discovered what I used to be in search of, however dismissing the search menu felt clunky. After performing a search, I’d attempt to swipe the menu down — like dismissing a keyboard in Messages — however it might bounce again, even after dragging all of it the way in which down the display screen. Only after dragging it down once more would it not lastly disappear, and having to do this a number of instances was irritating.

I carry up these points to remind you that iOS 26 continues to be in beta, so operating into these hiccups is not that uncommon. Betas are supposed to take a look at options, make enhancements and discover bugs to allow them to be patched out. Apple mentioned it would launch iOS 26 to most people this fall, so there’s loads of time for the corporate to deal with these points and any others which may seem in future betas. 

For extra on Apple, here is what it’s essential to find out about iOS 26 and all the things the corporate introduced at WWDC 2025. 

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