Apple Seeds Third Betas of iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 to Developers

[MacRumors]

Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after the release of the second betas.

Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting the Software Update option.

iOS 26.3 adds a new tool for transitioning from an iPhone to an Android device. Transfers can be initiated during the device setup process, and moving data from one device to another can now be done without having to download a specific app.

Apple's transfer process supports moving photos, messages, notes, apps, passwords, phone number, and more.

The update also includes a Notification Forwarding setting for third-party wearables in the European Union, and there are some minor changes to the Weather wallpaper. More information on what's changed can be found in our iOS 26.3 beta 1 feature list.

Apple is expected to release the iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 to the public at the end of January.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Third Betas of iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 to Developers

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

they took their sweet time, I sure hope it's good. ios 26 is an abomination when it comes to efficiency, they even capped some parts of the UI at 80fps it seems.

it's sad to think that while 27 will be focused on bug fixing and underlying improvements, the best we'll get is probably something on par with ios18

 

[Crickster]

For me, beta 2 seemed to be the least stable of all of the iOS 26 betas. I kept getting random re-springs, even with simple tasks like opening the app store.

Beta 3 on my 16PM was just over 12gb

 

[nortonandreev]

For me, beta 2 seemed to be the least stable of all of the iOS 26 betas. I kept getting random re-springs, even with simple tasks like opening the app store.

Haven’t had any issues on my 17PM.

 

[Kottu]

Hope that this works better for my 15PM. Second beta made my phone laggy.

 

[thelion7]

Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after the release of the second betas.

Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting the Software Update option.

iOS 26.3 adds a new tool for transitioning from an iPhone to an Android device. Transfers can be initiated during the device setup process, and moving data from one device to another can now be done without having to download a specific app.

Apple's transfer process supports moving photos, messages, notes, apps, passwords, phone number, and more.

The update also includes a Notification Forwarding setting for third-party wearables in the European Union, and there are some minor changes to the Weather wallpaper. More information on what's changed can be found in our iOS 26.3 beta 1 feature list.

Apple is expected to release the iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 to the public at the end of January.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Third Betas of iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 to Developers

26.3 has to have been the worst beta cycle for me. Hopefully this beefy build will be the fixes we need.

 

[JoeSilver]

with the software coming a week after the release of the second betas.

Except that the link is to an article dated 12th of January, so it's 2 weeks.

 

[ceaty]

I had memory leak issues on 26.2 where each and every app would start all over when reopening it after switching to a different app. Have been on 26.3 beta 2 and that seems to have solved it. Weird to have to use a dev beta to get more system stability than the ‘stable’ build of 26.2.

 

[froot1988]

Keyboard still broken? 😍

 

[WB2Colorado]

Does this beta fix the .com shortcut not showing up on smaller iPads?

 

[Reeneman]

OTA updated again showed with more than 11 Gb but the OTA update is just 1,33 Gb.

 

[Jay Bly]

I’m hoping this fixes things for me a bit. Out of all the years I’ve never had that many problems with Bezos. But this last round has been pretty rough on battery life

 

[ppal1981]

How’s it going for those who’ve updated
to beta 3?

Beta 2 was the worst for me
as far as re-springs and battery like others mentioned here. I wish I stayed on the public 26 release.

 

[TFrank2]

Keyboard still broken? 😍

Of all of iOS 26’s shortcomings (and there are a lot) this has to be the most annoying aspect

 

[ronno]

Of all of iOS 26’s shortcomings (and there are a lot) this has to be the most annoying aspect

How is it broken?
I do so much speech to text that I haven’t noticed.

 

[TFrank2]

How is it broken?
I do so much speech to text that I haven’t noticed.

https://www.macworld.com/article/29...e-typos-you-keep-making-arent-your-fault.html

Typos and input issues

 

[ronno]

Of all of iOS 26’s shortcomings (and there are a lot) this has to be the most annoying aspect

One of the videos says this was also an issue in iOS 18
And yes, I've been thinking that my thumb typing skills have just gotten worse.

 

[TFrank2]

One of the videos says this was also an issue in iOS 18
And yes, I've been thinking that my thumb typing skills have just gotten worse.

I didn’t have an issues with 18, but the shift to 26 was immediately noticeable. My wife kept getting so frustrated and thought she was going insane after she updated 🤣. Things have seemingly improved after a bit of time, but every now and again I’ll run into clear input issues

 

[ronno]

My 2 hour use of beta 3 - it feels better than beta 2.
If feels smoother, music app has not weirdly stopped scrolling, battery life is not draining quickly, etc.
Check in with me again tomorrow 🤣.

 

[ronno]

Oldest phone I’ve put it on is an 11 Pro Max, the browsing experience is transformed with this third beta.
Beta 2 was almost unusable on this phone, browsing was always a jankey stuttering mass. Now it is smooth. So it looks like the coders have done something right here.

 

[geWAPpnet]

Apple is expected to release it to the public at the end of January? So until Saturday? Unlikely.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Haven’t had any issues on my 17PM.

Same.