Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

[MacRumors]

Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about.

New Apple Intelligence Languages

Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese.

AirPods Live Translation Languages

AirPods Live Translation works with additional languages in iOS 26.1, including Japanese, Korean, Italian, and Chinese (both Mandarin Traditional and Simplified).

Phone

The Phone keypad now uses Liquid Glass for the numbers.

Apple Music

You can swipe on the music player in Apple Music to switch songs. Just slide a finger over where the song title is listed, and it'll go to the next song or back to the previous song.

Photos

The slider for scrubbing through videos in the Photos app has been updated.

The navigation bar also has a slightly more frosted look that makes it easier to see on light backgrounds.

Calendar

In the Calendar app, some of the views now show events from different calendars with a full color background.

iOS 26 on left, iOS 26.1 on right​

Safari

The Tab Bar (Bottom) in Safari is wider with less padding around the edges.

Background Security Improvement

Apple appears to have changed the name of Rapid Security Updates to Background Security Improvement, which is mentioned in the iOS 26.1 code.

"Background Security Improvement improves the security of your iPhone by installing security improvements and system files before they are available in iOS Software Updates. In rare instances of compatibility issues, these deliveries may be temporarily removed and then improved in a feature software update."

More Features

Know of something new in iOS 26.1 that we missed? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

 

[phuklok1]

swiping to to switch songs is cool, but please apple, eventually add a real parametric EQ (no old Ipod presets) that works system wide and can remember individual settings for each Bluetooth or other audio device you connect to.

 

[delsoul]

Nope. Not for me, I’m staying 18.7. iOS, Mac OS, etc 26 has been an absolute ball drop and Tim Cook/software won’t own up to it.

 

[ifxf]

The back/forward buttons in Music were obvious, not at all for swiping.

 

[sergekills]

Nope. Not for me, I’m staying 18.7. iOS, Mac OS, etc 26 has been an absolute ball drop and Tim Cook/software won’t own up to it.

I regret updating to iOS 26 with every cell of my body.
My iPhone is a tool and not some glossy accessory on a body strap slopping around.

Did anyone install it in here? Did they fix an issue contacts not showing up in Spotlight Search?

 

[Lizzard899]

Did it fix the blocking caller bug in the phone app? Everyone in reddit is talking about it

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1nkqc7l/the_option_to_block_unknown_callers_is_not

 

[ShivneelSingh]

I just want to "downgrade" my iPhone 17 Pro Max to iOS 18.7.

 

[msackey]

I’ve seen the following bug in ipadOS 18.6 and also in the latest iPadOS 26:
- Badges that sit atop the app icon may sometimes jump around when the cursor navigates to the app icon.

Anyone else seen this bug?

 

[Permanent Sigh]

Sometimes I’d like it if you hit the search button the focus would be on the search field ready for you to type.

 

[4 bit 9d api]

Nope. Not for me, I’m staying 18.7. iOS, Mac OS, etc 26 has been an absolute ball drop and Tim Cook/software won’t own up to it.

Says the person who doesn’t use it.

 

[midkay]

That video playback scrubber looks much nicer, and the way it animates to show the elapsed/remaining time when scrubbing looks great. These are exactly the kind of little refinements I'm excited to see more of, which I think will make this UI redesign really next-level.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

The back/forward buttons in Music were obvious, not at all for swiping.

The buttons are still there in the player and when the tab bar is expanded. This is talking about when it’s collapsed and hides those buttons as in the screenshot. You can still skip forward or back by swiping now.

 

[sza]

Can we get smaller round corners? I can’t dealt with these big ass round corners anymore!

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Did it fix the blocking caller bug in the phone app? Everyone in reddit is talking about it

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1nkqc7l/the_option_to_block_unknown_callers_is_not

Sounds like it's something in the carrier file, not the firmware. Those can be pushed independently.

 

[midkay]

Sometimes I’d like it if you hit the search button the focus would be on the search field ready for you to type.

Yes! It's weird how currently you hit Search, then the search bar appears and you have to move your finger over to it to tap into it to start typing.

 

[IceCool]

I don’t know about everything new…

1) App Library now has updated Liquid Glass with specular highlights
2) Fixed animation when the AirPlay view is invoked from Now Playing in Apple Music, Live Activities on the Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, or other similar source
3) Phone app keypad now uses Liquid Glass
4) When expanding a platter in the Control Center, the content inside of the platter (ie. Brightness or volume progress, Wifi/Cellular/Airplane Mode buttons) now animate properly where before there were minor visual issues
5) Apple Intelligence and Live Translation expand
6) You can now slide on the current song in the Tab Bar or full screen player views in Apple Music to change the song
7) For a song or album, Go to… actions have been condensed down into “Go To ->” that opens a sub menu
8) When viewing a contact in Phone or FaceTime, “Details” and “Voicemail” now use a proper slider. This change is not reflected everywhere (ie. Messages does not adapt this) for some reason
9) In Messages, the "+" button no longer expands out and up, rather it now expands just outward.
10) In Calendar, the "Calendars" dismiss view button now uses an "X" in the top leading as opposed to a checkmark in the top trailing edge
11) Photos Filter and View Options button now uses an ellipsis icon, rather than the filter icon
12) "Show Map" option in the menu with Filter and View Options
13) "Use as Ringtone" is no longer an option when sharing a photo using the Share Sheet
14) In Notes, the keyboard toolbar can be scrolled even when there's nothing else
15) In Games, the "Invite Friends" button no longer uses a green plus
16) In Maps, the Recents, Find Nearby, and other similar list views use a darker gray (almost certainly a bug)
17) In Settings, some toggles that would not use Liquid Glass now do
18) Home app uses Liquid Glass and light SF Symbol colors more liberally
19) Podcasts gets updated splash screen
20) Apple Books tab bar no longer shrinks when scrolled
21) Apple Vision Pro app now uses a 3D visual render of the device that animates as you scroll under the "Vision Pro" tab
22) Apple Vision Pro app now lets you configure AirPlay Receiver options in the "Vision Pro" tab
23) Under Tips in the Apple Vision Pro app, there's a new "What's new?" section that replaces "Essentials"
24) In jiggle mode, "-" buttons are significantly more blurred than before
25) Apps such as Health and Wallet now let you configure their widgets from the long press quick actions platter where they did not before

I'm certain there's more, but I didn't do a very deep dive as I'm short on time.

 

[nuff_said]

I regret updating to iOS 26 with every cell of my body.
My iPhone is a tool and not some glossy accessory on a body strap slopping around.

Did anyone install it in here? Did they fix an issue contacts not showing up in Spotlight Search?

Yes, contacts are showing up in spotlight search. I’m on iOS 26.0

 

[Dorfdad]

I been having issues with safari on mobile showing like a blank overlay on pages like covering up text yet nothing is there. Also on desktop having issue with the OS just freezing for 4-5 second when I click things.

Hope there is a fix for these issues ASAP. Regretting my working machine is now on 26 (Beta it feels like) I think im going to wait for version .2 or .3 for new OS's so they work out the bugs and not me.

 

[nuff_said]

Editors - I know this is more of a problem per user but consider how much Apple has fragmented their own OS, when capturing what’s new can it be called out what iPhone you need please?

 

[cjsuk]

So basically it should be finished around .3 ?

 

[211]

What I really want is to control the song title scroll. A lot of the time I have trouble determining which version (e.g. remix, live, etc.) of a song is playing, as the song title stays the same and I have to wait ages for it to scroll to show what version of the song it is

 

[dieselm]

Stable enough to install?

 

[thetotalitaria]

Did they fix this and the iTunes Store app?

 

[Böhme417]

Says the person who doesn’t use it.

I updated to Tahoe and iPadOS 26, but I’m holding out on my phone. There are just way too many UI issues. It’s not really anything serious, and my devices are surprisingly very responsive (unlike some other X.0 releases), but the UI issues are so annoying.

 

[coolfactor]

Nope. Not for me, I’m staying 18.7. iOS, Mac OS, etc 26 has been an absolute ball drop and Tim Cook/software won’t own up to it.

iOS, macOS and tvOS 26 have all been running like champs.

The only tweak I made on my iPhone 13 Pro was turn on "Increase Contrast", which makes the edges sharp, not blurry.

Loving 'em. Some really great UI behaviours that make them a joy to use.