iOS 26 beta 2 is live — here's the biggest changes for your iPhone
Apple has released the second developer beta for its iOS 26 update, following on the original released that arrived during the middle of WWDC 2025 earlier this month.
Apple's release notes for the second developer beta note several fixes to known issues found in the first beta, as well as a few new additions that look to improve the user experience. Even though this is an updated release, we're still very early in the beta process. As such, many of the features and additions could look different when the update officially launches, which will happen in the fall, according to Apple.
Still, many of these changes give us a good idea of what exactly we'll find when we are given access to the public beta, which is set to arrive at some point in July.
Some of the biggest changes appear to be focused on Apple's new Liquid Glass design, which makes many of the menus and drop-downs appear more transparent. There have been some complaints that certain menus are much harder to read as a result of Apple's new design.
The new update looks to counter this in two ways. First, Apple has reduced the amount of blur in the background of the iPhone Control Center, resulting in better contrast between the on-screen elements. Secondly, the update allows the Reduce Transparency option in the accessibility menu to reduce the effect even more than before.
One of the changes spotted in the first iOS 26 beta was that Apple had moved the '+' icon in the Safari app that opens a new tab to the upper left of the screen.
However, in the most recent developer beta, Apple has returned the button to the bottom left corner as had been the case in iOS 18.
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The second iOS 26 beta also makes it much easier to find out which accessibility options an app supports before downloading it from the App Store. While looking at an app's product page, users can access a new Accessibility section that developers will be required to fill out with all the features their products support.
The addition to the App Store is among the many accessibility features Apple promised to bring to the iPhone and other devices back in May.
Apple is also introducing full support for the order tracking feature for Apple Wallet that allows Siri to scan your Mail app to find all orders and emails from merchants, even if the products and services weren't paid for with Apple Pay.
Apple's second developer beta also adds several smaller additions and features that look to improve how certain apps and features work. For instance, the beta introduces a new Live Radio widget for Apple Music. There is also a new 'Alt 1' ringtone option for the "Reflection" ringtone. Apple is also improving the description for Low Power Mode to better explain what it does.
Apple has also changed the Transcribe Calls feature's name in the Live Captions setting to Save Call Transcripts. Not only that, but Apple has also made the feature's description state more clearly that call participants will be alerted that the call is being transcribed.
A feature introduced in the first developer beta is the new Recovery Assistant, which appears to allow users to find and solve issues that stop their devices from booting properly. Now in the second beta, Apple has officially mentioned the existence of this tool.Currently, the ability to restore an iPhone or iPad require connection to a separate device. This can be an issue for people who don't have easy access to one, likely forcing them to head to an Apple repair center to sort things out.
While Apple aims the developer beta at people who design software for the iPhone, anyone with an Apple ID can download the iOS 26 developer beta if they wish. Still, given that this is unfinished software, you may be better off waiting until the more stable public beta arrives in July.
If you do want to try out the beta now, we'd recommend putting it on a device that you don't rely on for your everyday use. Any iPhone released since the iPhone 11 in 2019 will support the iOS 26 developer beta, though some new features require a phone that supports Apple Intelligence.
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