Apple released a public beta version of iOS 26 today. However, without a plan, you probably shouldn’t install it.
The latest version of iOS brings a huge new design language, new quality of life features, new AI skills and more. There is a lot to dig into and this article won’t cover everything you can try on iOS 26. However, once the public beta is installed, see below are some of the best new features.
iOS 27 reportedly focuses on foldable iPhone features
5 Best New Features to Try in iOS 26 Beta
Again, this is not a complete, comprehensive list of every change in iOS 26, because there is one a lot of. Let’s stick to the biggest and best now.
Liquid glass
Image source: Apple
Image source: Apple
Launched at WWDC earlier this year, Liquid Glass is an all-encompassing term for introducing Apple’s new design language into Apple 26.
As the name suggests, liquid glass changes the appearance of all application icons and other UI elements, so they resemble liquid and glass. When you drag something with your fingers, it animations nicely in a liquid way, and everything has a glassy, a little transparent texture. There is no more to say than if you should install iOS 26 Public Beta and check it out for yourself.
iOS 26 also allows you to personalize the look of your widgets, so if you don’t like the “clear” style, you can adjust the liquid glass to your preference.
Change the phone app
Image source: Apple
One big thing Apple has done with iOS 26 is to completely redesign several core everyday apps such as phone calls, messages and photos. Let’s start with the phone app.
For beginners, things like recovery, voicemail, and favorites are now all on one screen, rather than living together on separate tags. There is also a new call filtering feature that will answer any calls for you and ask the caller who they are and why they call. If the answer is satisfactory, you can pick up the phone. If not, you can tell them to hike and continue your day.
Hold Assist will also save you from the burden of listening to horrible music on customer service phones. You can put down the phone and wait for the notification to pop up, which tells you when humans are on the other end. Sounds cute.
Mixable light speed
New message function
Image source: Apple
Message is home to all text and group chats, and also play with some new toys.
One of my favorites is the ability to poll in group chats, which is nominally a feature that decides where to eat dinner, but will actually be a feature that addresses incredible arcane, ridiculous inner jokes in a group of friends. Group chat also has much-needed ability to see who is typing, and a new feature that allows users to set a custom background for their chats.
Group chat is about to become so stupid.
Photos app overhaul
Image source: Apple
There is no doubt that iOS 26’s more highly anticipated changes will undoubtedly be a major overhaul for the current especially good photo app.
There are only two tabs at the bottom now, namely Library and Collections. One (presumably) shows you everything on your phone, while the other shows you everything you put in a folder. sound a lot of Cleaner than the current disaster of the photo application interface, confusing. This seems like a small thing, but considering how bad the recent updated photos are, I’m really looking forward to it.
Live translation
Image source: Apple
The new iOS launches a range of new Apple intelligence-powered features, such as news summary and shortcuts, which theoretically make complex tasks an automated breeze. But, at least in me, one of them stands out above the rest.
Specifically, on-site translation gains a lot of power. Now, it works in the messaging app, which is cool, but even cooler is that it now interfaces with phone and FaceTime calls. In theory, you can now have conversations with someone over the phone without speaking the same language as those in iOS 26. Obviously, it can even work if another person doesn’t have an iPhone (a bit crazy).
There are so many things left with iOS 26 that we will look into in the next few months, but for now, these features are chewy.
Honors nomination: New Genmoji creation tool and upgrade Chatgpt
Image source: Apple
If you want to take advantage of the new Apple Intelligence feature that iOS 26 comes with, you need a relatively new iPhone. Specifically, iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max devices (Apple Intelligence activated).
In iOS 26, you will get new tools to create custom GenMoji using Chatgpt. According to Apple, “Genmoji and Image Playground provide users with more opportunities to express themselves, including mixing their favorite emojis, Genmoji and descriptions to create a completely new image.”
We’ve introduced the new Image Playground and Genmoji tools before, but we haven’t tried it yet.
