Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 2

[MacRumors]

Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, introducing useful changes to alarms, multitasking on the iPad, and more. There are also subtle tweaks to some of the Liquid Glass design elements as Apple continues to refine iOS 26.

Alarms and Timers

Alarms set using the Clock app now have a slide to stop button rather than a tap to stop button on the Lock Screen. To snooze an alarm, you can tap, but to turn it off from the Lock Screen, you need to use a slide gesture.

The change makes it much harder to dismiss an alarm when you're trying to tap on the snooze button. Slide to Stop is also used for timers.

Background Security Improvements

The Privacy and Security section of the Settings app now has a toggle to automatically download and install security improvements. It's a revamp of the prior Rapid Security Responses feature.

Fitness App

You can now create custom workouts in the Fitness app on iPhone. There are options for selecting workout type, estimated Active Calories, effort, duration, and start time.

Settings App

Apple changed the alignment of icons and text in the Settings app. All settings with headers that feature text now have that text aligned to the left instead of center aligned.

This includes General, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Cellular, Personal Hotspot, Accessibility, and more.

Display Settings

The Display section of the Settings app now has iOS 26-themed wallpaper instead of iOS 18 wallpaper.

Home Screen Folders

When you tap into a folder on the Home Screen, the name of the folder at the top is left aligned instead of center aligned.

iPadOS 26.1 Slide Over

With iPadOS 26.1 beta 2, Apple reintroduced Slide Over. Slide Over works alongside the window-based iPadOS 26 multitasking functionality, so you can have multiple windows open and still swipe over to quickly access a Slide Over app.

You can only have one Slide Over app at a time in iPadOS 26.1, and you can use the feature by tapping on the green window resizing button and
toggling on Enter Slide Over.

External Microphones on iPad

There's now an option to adjust input gain on the iPad when using an external microphone.

Liquid Glass

The light refraction effect around apps is now more subtle with darker icon colors and background colors.

Wallpaper

When setting a wallpaper on the Lock Screen, instructions like Pinch to Crop show up momentarily and then disappear, rather than being shown all the time.

Display Accessibility

Under the Display and Text Size section in the Accessibility settings, there is a new "Display Borders" toggle. It adds a border to all buttons, and replaces the prior "Button Shapes" setting.

Calendar

The Calendar app change that showed events with a full color background in iOS 26.1 beta 1 has been removed.

Photos App

The interface for managing multiple photos that you've selected has been tweaked slightly. Play as Slideshow, Favorite, and Hide are now at the top of the menu.

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 2

 

[Kylo83]

Plz just fit keyboard lag when typing and contacts page why clicking it goes to iCloud select before you contacts. Also when deleting music from Apple Music you shouldn’t have to scroll down to see delete music

 

[dreamerstree]

Too bad about the calendar change. I actually liked it the way it was before.

 

[jz0309]

some nice changes coming

 

[swrobel]

“Revamp of the Rapid Security Response feature they never used”

 

[ossifer]

I’ve been waiting for years for the folder name alignment thing. This is why I never bought an iPhone until now.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

There’s no such thing as an app not being compatible with SlideOver anymore. Any app window goes right over there. One less view for devs to support.

 

[nortonandreev]

“Revamp of the Rapid Security Response feature they never used”

My thoughts.

 

[What_Is_George]

The fact the wallpaper wasn’t updated in display settings is actually disappointing for Apple standards

 

[Octothorpe]

I’ve been waiting for years for the folder name alignment thing. This is why I never bought an iPhone until now.

So we go from a home screen folder icon with the folder name centered under the bottom --> to a blown-up version with the folder name left-aligned on the top? +1 to inconsistency.

 

[atoqir]

Installed this on my iPad Pro 2018 and the animation stutters and lag are almost gone now. So by the time this launches in the final version, I will finally have my smooth iPad experience back because iPadOS 26.0 was terrible for this model.

 

[Act3]

Installed this on my iPad Pro 2018 and the animation stutters and lag are almost gone now. So by the time this launches in the final version, I will finally have my smooth iPad experience back because iPadOS 26.0 was terrible for this model.

I'm glad to be reading that. My M1 pro has occasional stutters and glitches with 26.0.1

 

[nathorpe]

Plz just fit keyboard lag when typing and contacts page why clicking it goes to iCloud select before you contacts. Also when deleting music from Apple Music you shouldn’t have to scroll down to see delete music

Would be interested to know what device you’re using and whether Adaptive Power is turned on or off? On both my old 15 Pro and my 17 Pro I’ve experienced considerably worse keyboard performance with it turned on (beta and final version on 15 Pro and 26.0.1 on 17 Pro). Hoping 26.1 fixes this!

 

[winxmac]

“Revamp of the Rapid Security Response feature they never used”

What do you mean they never used? They introduced it in iOS 16 and only used it in iOS 16. 😂

 

[jfmartin67]

Well, seems smoother than beta1... on my iPhone 15 Pro Max... to be tested M4 iPad Pro...

 

[Etc_]

I'm glad to be reading that. My M1 pro has occasional stutters and glitches with 26.0.1

Same here. It runs absolutely horribly on my M1 iPad Pro. For example, every time I swipe up to close an app, it stutters and the animation isn’t smooth. Screen rotation on the lock screen is stuttery, and the icons on the Home Screen don’t rotate smoothly, they just flip. Sometimes the lock screen even gets “stuck,” and I can’t swipe up to go to the Home Screen, so I have to lock the device and try again. The battery life is abysmal. It was definitely more optimized and polished for iPhones this time. It runs better there, but there are still some glitches.

 

[Act3]

Same here. It runs absolutely horribly on my M1 iPad Pro. For example, every time I swipe up to close an app, it stutters and the animation isn’t smooth. Screen rotation on the lock screen is stuttery, and the icons on the Home Screen don’t rotate smoothly, they just flip. Sometimes the lock screen even gets “stuck,” and I can’t swipe up to go to the Home Screen, so I have to lock the device and try again. The battery life is abysmal. It was definitely more optimized and polished for iPhones this time. It runs better there, but there are still some glitches.

the M1 should be plenty powerful, heck I see some stutters on my 17 pro.

 

[bluespark]

Some good changes here. The OS 26.0 snooze/stop buttons were driving me crazy (i.e., causing me to oversleep). This, by contrast, may be the best snooze/stop implementation Apple has ever done.

 

[Boeingfan]

Background Security Improvements

Settings > Privacy & Security > Background Security Improvements > Automatically Install

 

[Etc_]

the M1 should be plenty powerful, heck I see some stutters on my 17 pro.

Strange, on my 17 Pro it runs really well (I mean, as well as a new major iOS version can, obviously with the occasional glitches). A lot better than on my iPad, a night and day difference.

 

[MrPeripatetic]

Gosh, would love it if they would just fix TOS. 26 broke it as it is now unusable with an iPad connected to keyboard/trackpad.

 

[scrapesleon]

they prepping the iOS for the foldable iPhone next year look how the moving everything to the left side instead of the centre

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Heeeey Slideover is back!
/r/iPadOS will be ecstatic

 

[stevodotorg]

How about fixing the dizzy slanted dark mode icons?

 

[TheColtr]

Didn’t have add “slide to unlock” style UI in iOS 26 on my bingo card. Love to see it make a comeback