iOS 26.2 Might Let You Adjust Your iPhone’s Liquid Glass Even More

Apple gave the iPhone the ability to customize some Liquid glass items with public release iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3.

Now, with first beta version of iOS 26.2Looks like we'll have even more options for new designs soon.

If you're a developer or public beta tester, you can test these changes and other updates today. Since this is a beta version, I recommend downloading it on a device other than your main one. Since this is not the final version of iOS 26.2, the update may be buggy and have short battery life, so it's best to keep these potential issues to a secondary device.

Additionally, additional features may be added to your iPhone when iOS 26.2 is released to the general public later (no release date announced). Based on when Apple released iOS 18.2 And iOS 17.2 in December 2024 and 2023 respectively, it is likely that we will see iOS 26.2 next month.

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Here's what features developers and beta testers can try now, and what could be coming to your iPhone when Apple officially releases iOS 26.2.

Liquid glass slider on the lock screen

The iOS 26.2 beta introduces a new clock slider on the lock screen that lets you adjust the matte of Liquid Glass. Moving the slider to the left makes the watch more transparent, and moving the slider to the right makes it denser.

Liquid Glass has polarized iPhone users since Apple announced the redesign in June. Some people Reddit notes that the design may have some readability issues, although other find it modern and playful.

No matter how people feel about Liquid Glass, the design will remain the same.

Apple introduced a Liquid Glass setting in iOS 26.1 for iPhone users that lets you darken certain menus. The iOS 26.2 beta appears to bring more design customization options. I expect Apple to continue to expand Liquid Glass's customization capabilities in future updates.

Offline lyrics on Apple Music

Apple is also adding offline lyrics to Apple Music (11 dollars per month) with iOS 26.2 beta. The company has made several additions and changes to Apple Music with iOS 26, including lyrical translation.

In the iOS 26.2 beta, when subscribers download songs to their device, they can access the lyrics to those songs when they don't have a signal or internet access. However, the album art may not load.

Podcast changes

The Podcasts app gets some new features in the iOS 26.2 beta. One such feature is chapters, which make it easy to navigate through episodes. Chapter breaks in a podcast are indicated by small hash marks in the podcast media player.

Other changes to podcasts include links you share within a podcast right on the episode page, as well as the ability to follow other podcasts mentioned during an episode right from the transcript.

News application sections

In addition to changes to podcasts, the iOS 26.2 beta also brings some changes to the News app. The app now has a menu at the top of the home page, which is divided into sections such as Sports and Politics.

A long overdue change makes it easy to jump to another section right from the main page of the News app.

Before beta testing, the main news page was divided into different sections, but navigating through them was difficult. You had to either scroll down the home page to find them or look for them on the Next page. This small change allows you to jump to a topic with relative ease.

Reminders can set alarms

Reminders can also set an alarm for you in the iOS 26.2 beta. According to Apple InsiderWhen you create a reminder, you can mark it as urgent and the app will prompt you to schedule an alarm or timer for that reminder.

However, I don't see the Urgent option in the Reminders app. I'm using iOS 26.2 beta on my old one iPhone 14 proso I don't understand why I don't see this option. This may be a bug in the beta, which is a good reminder that betas are buggy, so don't download them to your main device.

New enhanced security alerts

Users of the iOS 26.2 beta can also find a new menu for security alerts, such as alerts for earthquakes and other threats. To find these new alerts, go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced Security Alerts. Here you'll find toggles for earthquake alerts and imminent threat alerts.

“In emergency situations, your iPhone can receive security alerts and anonymously broadcast them to nearby Apple devices,” Apple writes in the menu.

There's also an “Improve Alert Delivery” toggle that, when turned on, shares your approximate location with Apple to improve the timeliness and reliability of alerts.

Adjusting your sleep score in the Health app

According to 9to5MacHealth app sleep scores have been adjusted in iOS 26.2 and WatchOS 26.2 betas, raising the threshold for most scores.

The Sleep Score is designed to measure the restorative quality of your sleep. This feature categorizes your sleep on a scale: Very Good (previously Excellent), High, Normal, Low, or Very Low. These categories are based on a point system measured by the length of your sleep, the time you went to bed, and any interruptions in sleep during the night. These points were summed up and the following ratings were given:

• 0–29 points: Very low
• 30–49 points: Low
• 50-69 points: OK
• 70-89 points: High
• 90-100 points: Excellent.

9to5Mac writes that the range of these estimates is changing with the iOS 26.2 beta. Here are the potential new ranges for your sleep score:

• 0–40 points: Very low
• 41–60 points: Low
• 61-80 points: OK
• 81-95 points: High
• 96-100 points: Very high

These are just some of the new features that developers and public beta testers can try out in the first public beta of iOS 26.2. There will likely be additional beta versions before the OS is released to the general public, so Apple will have plenty of time to polish these features.

For more iOS news, here's everything you need to know. iOS 26.1 And my review of iOS 26. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet.