Apple released the first public beta of iOS 26 on July 24, more than a month after the company announced the next iOS version at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. That means developers and public beta testers can try the upcoming iPhone features before others get them this fall.
And this is an important iOS version for Apple. According to Bloomberg, some Apple investors are frustrated with the company's delay in artificial intelligence features. Apple is also facing an antitrust lawsuit from the Department of Justice that alleges the company leveraged the iPhone's dominance to enrich itself while smothering competition. So in order to bolster confidence in the company and shore up investor funding, Apple really needs iOS 26 to be a slam dunk.
I've lived with the developer betas of iOS 26 for more than a month -- checking out new features, including the customizable snooze timer. Here are my thoughts on the update so far.
Before we go any further, remember that this is a beta version of iOS 26. Because this isn't the final version of iOS 26, the update might be buggy for you, and your device's battery life may be affected, so it's best to keep those troubles off your primary device. If you want to try the beta out, I recommend downloading it on a secondary device.
Plus, being a beta version, it's also possible that Apple could add more features to the update before the final version of iOS 26 is released this fall.
Liquid Glass design is impressive -- mostly
After Apple tweaked the design during the beta process, Liquid Glass looks great. Apple/Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
When Apple first introduced iOS 26's Liquid Glass at WWDC, people online were torn about the design. Some were excited about it, but others were concerned about readability with the new design -- myself included.
But after Apple tweaked iOS 26's Liquid Glass design during the beta process, it's now a pretty nice display scheme. The way color and images refract through the glass-like panels on my home screen is impressive, reminding me of glass block designs. It's kind of like when a movie renders CGI liquid really well. You know it's not real, but it can be hard to tell the difference between the digital and real thing.
In early beta versions of the software, I had a hard time reading some menus when they were in front of other text. The glass was too glass-like, making all the words looked jumbled together. At the time, I toggled on both Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast to dull the glass effect. But now, the glass design looks good without turning on additional settings to make things legible. The "glass" menus in apps such as Messages are also much better and easier to read now.
... continue reading