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Apple Releases Fifth Public Betas of iOS 26 and More

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Apple today released the fifth public betas of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and tvOS 26, allowing the public to test the updates ahead of their September launch. The fifth public betas come a week after the fourth public betas, and the updates correspond with the eighth developer betas that were released earlier today.

ios-26-liquid-glass-lock-screen-beta-6.jpg

Public beta testers that have registered on Apple's website can download the latest iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 public betas by opening the Settings or System Settings app, going to the General section, tapping on Software Update, and choosing the iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS 26 Public Beta options.

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 feature Apple's Liquid Glass design, with a visual aesthetic that focuses on transparency. Icons, menu buttons, navigation bars, and more reflect and refract light with subtle animations. There are pop-out menus in some areas, tab bars shrink down, and everything has a more rounded look.

iOS-26-on-Three-iPhones.jpg

There are new Apple Intelligence features like Visual Intelligence for screenshots, updated order tracking in the Wallet app, new features in Reminders, and Live Translation for the Messages, Phone, and FaceTime apps. Image Playground has ChatGPT style options, and Genmoji supports mixing two or more emoji characters to make something new.

ten-messages-features.jpg

2D photos have a more 3D look with a Spatial Scene feature, and Safari has updated navigation. In the Phone app, there are new Call Screening and Hold Assist features that will save you time, while the Messages app supports customizable backgrounds and polls. Apple Music has a DJ-like AutoMix feature, CarPlay has an overhauled interface, there's a new Apple Games app, and Preview has come to the iPhone for the first time.

ios-26-call-holding.jpg

macOS Tahoe has the same Liquid Glass design as iOS 26, and it extends to app icons, folders, the Dock, in-app navigation, menus, the Control Center, and the Menu Bar. The Control Center and the Menu Bar are customizable, and you're also able to customize folders, app icons, and widgets.

macos-tahoe-design.jpg

Safari has an updated tab design and a redesigned sidebar, and Apple has brought the Phone app to the Mac for making phone calls through Wi-Fi Calling. The Phone app supports the new Call Screening and Hold Assist features.

Spotlight has been overhauled with improved search and the ability to execute hundreds of actions without opening up an app. There's a new Games app with a Game Overlay feature, and developers have access to Metal 4.

More on what's new can be found in our iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe roundups. This is likely to be the final public beta of iOS 26 before the release candidate and the launch version.

Article Link: Apple Releases Fifth Public Betas of iOS 26 and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/25/apple-releases-ios-26-public-beta-5/
iOS 26 PB 5 is 9.41 GB on my iPhone 25e.

(no corresponding new watchOS PB for me to install on my Apple Watch 21).
 
Lots not to like about the new changes for change’s sake Liquid Glass (gen bad UI design choices: frequently used buttons now buried down in menus to make place for less freq used things, cramped ((rounded corners everywhere, seriously?)), active things behind inactive layers, etc.), but I am:
- happy about the passwords app keeping a history of old passwords.
- intrigued by call screening feature (but may not use) and call waiting feature (will use).
- happy about having all credit card info in the wallet.
- looking forward to being able to put my passport in the wallet (hoping this will drive greater uptake of government entities supporting and accepting these over paper and plastic). (UPDATE: Not added in this beta, so we wait for either another beta, RC, backend activation after launch day, or a late launch).
 
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Robert.Walter said:
Lots not to like about change sake liquid glass, but I am:
- happy about having all credit card info in the wallet.
- looking forward to being able to put my passport in the wallet (hoping this will drive greater uptake of government entities supporting and accepting these over paper and plastic).
- happy about the passwords app keeping a history of old passwords.
Click to expand...

This has been the thing for me. The new features in the software (mainly those in the phone app) have outweighed my mild dislike of Liquid Glass.
 
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Not sure if I read this right, but wasn't there a comment(s) on the betas causing excessive battery wear on the iPhone batteries? Maybe something with heat? I wasn't sure if this was True or False.
 
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mblm85 said:
This has been the thing for me. The new features in the software (mainly those in the phone app) have outweighed my mild dislike of Liquid Glass.
Click to expand...
Agree. Phone updates, other s/w adds and improvements outweigh the clunky UI (I mean, really, did we need a search window to be on display, or a big empty hot dog robbing space above the keyboard, such that useful, likely more used buttons, are buried inside a menu, sometimes 2 levels down in the menu?).

I'm increasingly getting the feeling that Apple didn't really know what they could improve in iOS feature-wise (and there are many opportunities for that) so they just decided "let's make it look differently" ...
 
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Apple thank you for your innovation in software and hardware. Could you extend that innovative spirit toward a solution for multiple personal spaces? Maybe brand it so it's for single users only to have a few separate spaces for home, work, personal etc.
 
Lucasof said:
This is good, updated version less bugs. I gotta say this year beta is actually not bad. No major issues, or at least in my mac :)
Click to expand...
I'm actually running it on my M2 iPad Air, I used to run it on my MBA but replaced that with the iPad last year.
I too am happy with the PB, no issues here either
 
Just updated to the beta for the first time. The first thing I noticed was you can't easily change safari tabs.

You need to press the 3 dots then swap tabs. Please tell me there's a quicker way of swapping tabs.
 
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scouser75 said:
Just updated to the beta for the first time. The first thing I noticed was you can't easily change safari tabs.

You need to press the 3 dots then swap tabs. Please tell me there's a quicker way of swapping tabs.
Click to expand...
Swipe up on the address bar. I didn’t like it either but it’ll become second nature after a while. I don’t mind now.
 
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djinn said:
Not sure if I read this right, but wasn't there a comment(s) on the betas causing excessive battery wear on the iPhone batteries? Maybe something with heat? I wasn't sure if this was True or False.
Click to expand...
This happens every year, and yet like alpha lemmings, we install the betas.
 
scouser75 said:
Just updated to the beta for the first time. The first thing I noticed was you can't easily change safari tabs.

You need to press the 3 dots then swap tabs. Please tell me there's a quicker way of swapping tabs.
Click to expand...

This alone is terrible, perhaps the thing that has grated me into swearing at my iPhone for the first time ever since 2010.

Update: Thanks to iBreatheApple in #18 above, this is done by swiping the address hotdog upwards. Thank you sir!
 
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