Apple has now released the public beta of iOS 26 – giving iPhone users around the world a sneak peek of the next expectedly significant update of its mobile operating system. As is the case with every iOS version release, fans and tech pundits will be enthusiastic about showing off whatever is new and improved, as well as all the things they might face as early adopters.
If you want to know what to know about the public beta of iOS 26 in this article, we break down its must-see features, installation requirements, device compatibility and more.
According to Apple’s official beta program website, the iOS 26 public beta was launched on July 22, 2025, and those users with compatible devices can now enroll to try out the OS before its final expected release this fall.
A Quicker, Smarter iOS Experience: What’s Changed?
iOS 26 focuses on AI-first user experiences, privacy improvements and controls, enhanced customization, and improved functionality across devices.
As reported by The Verge, Apple is developing iOS 26 with on-device intelligence, using new and better AI models, called Apple Intelligence, to perform things like translating another language in real-time, providing relevant app suggestions, and allowing users to have a standard interaction with Siri (the improvements don’t require user information to be sent to the cloud).
1. Apple Intelligence: Smarter AI, on Your Terms.
Siri is a lot smarter, has a redesigned interface, and will offer deeper contextual understanding. Users will be able to ask follow-up questions, summarize lengthy messages, and automate functions within apps using Siri Shortcuts powered by Apple Intelligence.
What should you know about the iOS 26 public beta? Apple now allows users to easily summarize emails, news articles, and PDFs using on-device AI, which is a real advantage for multi-taskers and professionals. Since the AI works offline, it is fast, private, and secure.
According to TechCrunch, some of these new features were optimized for iPhone 15 Pro (and newer) for their A17 and A18 Bionic chip architectures.
2. Personalized Lock & Home Screens
iOS 26 adds even more capabilities to customize your apps and home screen. Now you can position app icons anywhere on the screen, change the size of the icons, and add interactive widgets that update in real-time.
As far as lock screen updates, Apple’s redesigned lock screen makes it easier than ever to customize layouts and comes with new capabilities for changing font color and weight as well as enabling live activity. Live activity allows you to bring live interactions, such as sports scores, rideshare arrival times, and fitness tracking.
3. Privacy Features You’ll Love
iOS 26 builds on Apple’s longstanding dedication to privacy and includes a Privacy Dashboard that lets you see how different apps are tracking you and what permissions have been used over time. The dashboard also gives alerts for atypical data activity.
There’s a new setting called Contextual Consent that lets users give one-time access to apps under particular conditions or scenarios. For example, you can allow an app access to your camera roll, but only when you are performing one specific function that requires that access to your camera roll.
4. Upgraded Messages and Facetime
The Messages app on iOS 26 supports RCS messaging, so reliable messaging is now just a few taps away between iPhone and Android devices. Users will experience better synchronization of group chats, sharing of high-resolution media, and sharing of read receipts across platforms.
FaceTime now supports Live Translation, which automatically enables live subtitles on a FaceTime call between users speaking very different languages. Live Translation is entirely powered by Apple AI on the device.
Installation – Joining the Beta Program
Apple advises that this beta only be installed by users that are comfortable using early, and possibly unstable, software. To join the Apple Beta Software Program, follow this link: https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/
Once you have enrolled:
1) Sign in to your device with your Apple ID.
2) Download the beta profile to your device.
3) Go to Settings > General > Software Update and select the iOS 26 Public Beta.
It is important that you backup your device before installing the beta, ideally via an iCloud back up or your computer.
Compatibility: Which Devices Can Run iOS 26?
Compared to iOS 25, Apple has significantly narrowed the list of supported devices in order to focus on hardware that is newer and can keep up with the demands of its new AI engine.
The compatible devices are:
- iPhone 15 series
- iPhone 14 series
- iPhone 13 series
- iPhone 12 series
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
iPhones that are older than iPhone 12 are not supported, since Apple Intelligence uses the A14 or later chipsets.
Early Reactions and Known Issues
MacRumors reports that while most testers love the improved UI and performance, there are reports of battery drain, app crashes, and Bluetooth unsteadiness—common beta problems. Apple has opened Feedback Assistant to receive reports on bugs and performance data.
“This is the most fun, forward-looking, iOS we’ve seen since iOS 14 put widgets on the home screen,” said Mark Gurman at Bloomberg in a report highlighting Apple’s rapid move into personal AI, without losing focus on user privacy.
Concluding Thoughts
So, what is there to be aware of about the public beta of iOS 26? This is an ambitious upgrade and has lots of powerful AI features and a strong emphasis on cross-platform connectivity, and significant enhancements to user control and snappiness of customization. But as with all pre-release software, we each have to weigh our own excitement for early access to Siri’s future, with several bugs and instability of component upgrades.
If you’re a developer, power user, or are just interested in what our iPhone software future might bring, you can take the iOS 26 public beta as an example of where Apple is going—sophisticated tools, conversational interactions, and a brave new world for mobile.
