Apple published the second public beta version of iOS 26.1 Tuesday, less than a month after the company published iOS 26, which introduced Liquid Glass, the filtering of calls and much more on your device.
iOS 26.1 provides useful safety functionality to developers and beta-testers devices, which, I hope, will make the final assembly.
Since this is a beta version, I recommend that you download it only from a device other than your main device. The update can be built and the battery life can be short.
In addition, since this is not the final version, more features could arrive on your iPhone when releaseing version 26.1. It is not known when Apple publishes iOS 26.1 to the general public.
Here are the features that developers and beta testers can try now, and what could be on your iPhone when Apple officially launches iOS 26.1.
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Automatically install safety improvements
Apple introduces a new useful safety parameter in the beta version of iOS 26.1 which allows your iPhone to download and install safety improvements itself.
“Safety improvements in the background provide additional protection to your iPhone between software updates,” according to Apple. “In rare cases of compatibility problems, these safety improvements can be temporarily deleted and then improved in future software update.”
This feature reminds me of that of Apple Quick safety responses (RSR). The company introduced the RSR in 2023 as a means of quickly deploying safety fixes on the devices. Although this is a good idea in theory, Apple has not used RSR iOS since the release of iOS 16.5.1 (C) in July 2023.
It is not a flashy parameter, but it is useful and allows you to stay informed of small security updates without performing additional work. Once activated, this parameter takes care of the rest, so you don’t need to check new updates on your iPhone on potential security problems on your iPhone.
Change song in Apple Music
Apple Music has received a handful of new features in iOS 26, but the beta version of iOS 26.1 does not change much to application or service. Instead, the update allows you to change the songs in a new way.
With the beta version of iOS 26.1, instead of pressing the next or rear buttons to change songs, you can slide your finger to the left or right on the title of the song from the music player in Apple Music. You can do it when the reader occupies your whole screen or when you travel Apple Music and the reader is small and near your screen. The title of the song even seems to jump on the left or right when you change your song now.
The alarm receives another update
One of my favorite little upgrades in iOS 26 was the possibility of Modify the rehearsal duration of your alarm. In the beta version of iOS 26.1, Apple makes the accidental rejection of your alarm more difficult. When your alarm is triggered in the beta version, you must now slide your finger to stop it rather than press a button. This can be boring if you try to turn off your alarm quickly, or it can help you make sure you are really awake before turning off your alarm.
More languages of live translation
The beta version of iOS 26.1 adds more languages to the new Live translation functionality. Apple has introduced this functionality to iPhones and AirPods with iOS 26, and the beta version allows developers and beta-testers to use it with these languages.
- Chinese (Mandarin, simplified)
- Chinese (Mandarin, Traditional)
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
Apple Intelligence in more languages
If you have an Apple Intelligence compatible iPhone, iOS 26.1 beta 1 provides AI features to these languages.
- Chinese (traditional)
- Danish
- Dutch
- Norwegian
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Swedish
- Turkish
- Vietnamese
Calendar update
This is not a major change, but the beta version of iOS 26 updates the calendar interface. If you display your calendar in list mode, all the calendar events that you have a specific day will be colored throughout the lower part of your screen.
New video cleaning bar
The beta version of iOS 26.1 also brings a small modification to the video scroll bar in Photos. If you access photos and watch a video, you will notice that the bar at the bottom of your screen is more compact and more aligned than the old scroll bar, which had the reading/break buttons and volume above the bar.
This is another small change that you may not even have noticed.
These are only a few of the new features that developers and public beta-testers can try with the second public beta version of iOS 26.1. There will probably be other beta versions before the operating system is made public, which leaves Apple enough time to modify these features.
For more iOS news, here is My opinion on iOS 26how to reduce the effects of Liquid Glass in the update and how text filter works in the update. You can also consult our IOS 26.
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