In just over a week, the Apple iPhone 17 event will be here — it’s Tuesday, September 9 — and we’ll finally get to see the new iPhone 17 lineup. Assuming Apple sticks to tradition, we should be able to install iOS 26 roughly one week after the event. But you don’t have to wait to test out the new features because you can download and install the newly released public beta 5 (or iOS 26 developer beta 8 for developers). I’ve been playing around with it for the past couple of weeks, and have found that taking screenshots is way better in the new operating system, as well as getting to choose how long you snooze. Even the refreshed Camera app is easier to navigate. You can see a more complete view of the new features in our preview of the iOS 26 public beta release, which shows off the fresh home and lock screen redesign. Called Liquid Glass, the translucent look will extend across all of Apple’s upcoming operating systems. The overhaul is one of several big changes coming to iOS, macOS, iPadOS and the rest of Apple’s software suite, all of which were showcased during the company’s WWDC keynote on June 9.
After overpromising on AI plans last year, Apple kept its iOS roadmap focused more on basic quality of life improvements this year. There are multiple useful additions coming to the Phone and Messages apps on your iPhone, for instance: Apple execs outlined the ability to weed out spam texts or other unknown senders and an option to hold your spot on a phone call when you’ve been waiting for a representative to pick up. Plus, a treasured feature that we took for granted is coming back (hint: it’s in the Photos app).
With each beta, it seems like additional new improvements are popping up, like this new AirPods gesture we’re all curious about, and this FaceTime feature that’ll freeze your video if it detects nudity. With the release of the iOS 26 developer beta 5, we saw more added features, like a new bouncy animation on the passcode screen and in the Control Center, MacRumors reports. Some or all of those changes will likely soon migrate into the separate public beta (see below). Most newer iPhone models are eligible to download iOS 26 (both the betas and final version). Want to see the full list of new features coming this fall? Read on.
What is iOS 26?
The current iPhone operating system is iOS 18, and Apple is still actively updating it — version 18.6.1 was released to restore Apple Watch blood oxygen monitoring functionality for certain users in the…