Apple Seeds Third Public Betas of tvOS 26 and watchOS 26

[MacRumors]

Apple today seeded the third public betas of tvOS 26 and watchOS 26 to Apple TV and Apple Watch users who have signed up for the public beta program. The third tvOS 26 and watchOS 26 public betas come a week after Apple seeded the second public betas.

watchOS 26 and tvOS 26 can be downloaded through the Settings app on each device after you sign up on Apple's beta website.

The updates adopt Apple's Liquid Glass aesthetic, which is also coming in macOS Tahoe and iOS 26. Liquid Glass focuses on transparency and a more rounded look for menus and other interface elements.

watchOS 26 includes Workout Buddy, an Apple Intelligence feature meant to motivate you during your workouts. The Workout app interface has been redesigned, the Smart Stack has more actionable suggestions, the Messages app offer Live Translation and better Smart Replies, and the Phone app features like Call Screening and Hold Assist are available on the watch. Apple also brought the Notes app to the Apple Watch, so you can create notes and view existing notes right from your wrist.

tvOS 26 supports a new Apple Music Sing feature that uses the iPhone as a microphone, plus there are new lyric translation and pronunciation tools. FaceTime has been updated with incoming call notifications and contact posters, there are new aerial screen savers, and there's an option to set an AirPlay speaker as a permanent speaker for an Apple TV.

watchOS 26 and tvOS 26 are set to launch this fall alongside iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe.


Article Link: Apple Seeds Third Public Betas of tvOS 26 and watchOS 26

 

[Scutt]

Look like they are about done with tvOS betas. This build is 23J5339a

 

[ericg301]

how's the Watch beta? I'm getting tired of my text notifications not matching the new filtering in iOS 26.

 

[GioGiusi]

Did this come with enabled blood o2 like 18.6.1?

 

[Mactownraces]

No, the blood o2 is not enabled in this beta. I was hoping it would be but I guess we’ll have to wait till next beta 26.

 

[Zorn]

It's strange that they would release a new developer beta without the o2 feature in it on the same day they announce all of that. My watch & Apple TVs also do not have any iOS 26 betas available, although my phone & iPad did. Just a pretty weird rollout this one.

 

[kirky29]

For years I've had a screensaver bug on my Apple TVs, where I select an iCloud photo album called 'TV' with say 1000 pictures in, but it seems to only select 20 at a time, and keep looping them. I've tried moving them on to an older Mac Mini with home setup on and it does the same.... I know other poeple have this issue too.

Has this been fixed or remotely addressed?

 

[PRWith]

After the last PB update to tvOS beta 26 (3) My ATV remote control (ATV 4k gen2) does not work with my Samsung S90C TV anymore.

When I turn off the ATV with the ATV remote control, my TV usually turns off as well, but now my TV says that a device is off and it needs to be plugged in. (nothing has changed on my TV and has not updated since there are no new updates and it does not have an internet connection)

My settings on the ATV are TV via IR, this is because my SONOS does not work if it is not like that. I have tried other settings but the volume does not work on the SONOS when the ATV is off. I have reset the ATV remote control but no change.

 

[walterwhite1]

Apple have totally messed the current Apple TV 4K since they went from dev beta to public beta. I find 50% of the time when I turn it on the previews at the top of the page are static images and done play video, plus none of the streaming apps will play video either. You have to reboot it for it to work. I reported this to Apple when they switched to public beta and it still hasn’t been fixed. Ironic it was fine on the original dev betas. Very poor quality control by Apple!

 

[aperfectcircle]

After the last PB update to tvOS beta 26 (3) My ATV remote control (ATV 4k gen2) does not work with my Samsung S90C TV anymore.

When I turn off the ATV with the ATV remote control, my TV usually turns off as well, but now my TV says that a device is off and it needs to be plugged in. (nothing has changed on my TV and has not updated since there are no new updates and it does not have an internet connection)

My settings on the ATV are TV via IR, this is because my SONOS does not work if it is not like that. I have tried other settings but the volume does not work on the SONOS when the ATV is off. I have reset the ATV remote control but no change.

Same on my S95B. Turning off via the power button on the remote seems to turn the TV off then trigger it right back on again. I have found that turning off the Apple TV via the soft power button in control centre works fine.

 

[IT Troll]

After years of intensive development, this release of tvOS finally has the groundbreaking option to hide the deprecated iTunes apps. Perhaps they will be delete-able in tvOS 27.