Apple releases third public beta iOS 26.1 on Tuesday, about a month after the company released iOS 26who presented Liquid glass, call checking And more to your device. The iOS 26.1 beta contains several new tweaks for developer and beta tester devices, as well as a useful security feature that I hope makes it into the final version.
Since this is a beta version, I recommend only downloading it on a device other than your main one. The update may contain errors and battery life may be short.
Also, given that this is not the final version, there may be more features coming to your iPhone once version 26.1 is released. There is no word yet on when Apple will release iOS 26.1 to the general public.
Here are the features that developers and beta testers can try out right now, as well as what could be coming to your iPhone when Apple officially releases iOS 26.1.
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Automatically install security enhancements
Apple is introducing a useful new security setting in the iOS 26.1 beta that allows your iPhone to download and install security improvements on its own.
“Background security improvements provide additional protection for your iPhone between software updates,” Apple says. “In rare cases of compatibility issues, these security improvements may be temporarily removed and then improved in future software updates.”
This menu also allows you to remove a security enhancement. To do this, click on the three dots (…) next to the installed update. A new menu will appear with the option Uninstall and restart. This may be useful if you think that improving your security is causing you more problems than it solves.
This feature reminds me of Apple Quick Security Measures (RSR). The company introduced RSR in 2023 as a way to quickly deploy security patches to devices. It's a good idea in theory, but Apple hasn't used RSR for iOS since release iOS 16.5.1 (c) in July 2023.
It's not a flashy tweak, but it's useful and allows you to stay up to date with small security updates without doing any extra work. Once enabled, this setting will take care of the rest, so you don't have to check your iPhone every day for new updates and potential security issues.
Local Capture Options
Local Capture is an easy way to record high-quality video and audio from video calls on your iPhone, and the iOS 26.1 beta introduces a new settings menu for the feature. The menu gives you the option to choose where to save your recordings, as well as a toggle that allows you to only record audio when using local capture.
“Add Local Capture to Control Center to record your own audio and video during a call so you can save and edit it later,” Apple writes on the Local Capture settings page.
New accessibility option
The iOS 26.1 beta also introduces a new option that lets you prioritize tap actions over swipe actions on your iPhone's screen. You can find this new option by going to Settings > Accessibility > Touchscreen. and scroll down the page.
The alarm system has received another update
One of my favorite little updates in iOS 26 was the ability to change alarm snooze duration. In the iOS 26.1 beta, Apple is making it harder for people to accidentally turn off their alarms. When an alarm goes off in the beta, you now have to swipe the screen to stop it instead of pressing a button. This can be annoying if you're trying to turn off an alarm quickly, or it can help make sure you're actually awake before turning off the alarm.
Changing songs in Apple Music
Apple Music got a few new features in iOS 26, but the iOS 26.1 beta doesn't change much about the app or service. Instead, the update allows you to change songs in new ways.
In the iOS 26.1 beta, instead of tapping the Next or Back button to change songs, you can swipe left or right on the title of a song in the music player in Apple Music. You can do this when the player takes up the entire screen or when you're browsing Apple Music and the player is small and at the bottom of the screen. The song title now even jumps left or right when you change songs.
Other live translation languages
iOS 26.1 beta adds more languages to new Live translation peculiarity. Apple introduced the feature on iPhones and AirPods with iOS 26, and the beta allows developers and beta testers to use it with those languages.
- Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified)
- Chinese (Mandarin, Traditional)
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
Apple Intelligence in other languages
If you have an iPhone with Apple Intelligence support, iOS 26.1 beta 1 adds artificial intelligence features to these languages.
- Chinese (traditional)
- Danish
- Dutch
- Norwegian
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Swedish
- Turkish
- Vietnamese
Calendar update
It's not a major change, but the iOS 26 beta updates the Calendar interface. If you're viewing your calendar in list view, any calendar events scheduled for a specific day will be colored across the entire bottom of the screen.
New video cleaning panel
The iOS 26.1 beta also makes small changes to the video scroll bar in Photos. If you go into Photos and watch a video, you'll notice that the bar at the bottom of the screen is more compact and integrated than the previous scroll bar, which had play/pause and volume buttons above it.
This is another small change that you may not have even noticed.
These are just some of the new features that developers and public beta testers can try out in the third public beta of iOS 26.1. There will likely be more beta versions before the OS is released to the general public, so Apple will have plenty of time to change these features.
More iOS news can be found here. my review of iOS 26how to reduce Liquid glass effects in the update and how viewing text works in update. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet.
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