Summary
- Apple has started rolling out the iOS 26.1 beta for developers.
- The beta build adds Liquid Glass to the Phone app's keypad and adds a new seek bar in the Photos app.
- Apple Music also gains the ability to switch to the next or previous track by swiping on the Now Playing bottom bar.
Apple has begun testing the beta build for its next update – iOS 26.1, on eligible iPhones. The beta build brings a few minor features and improvements over the stable update, and here's everything you need to know.
A week after releasing the iOS 26 stable build for everyone, Apple has now started seeding the first developer beta of iOS 26.1. The build adds a few visual changes across apps.
Safari now features a wider Tab Bar at the bottom, while the Phone app now features the Liquid Glass effect when dialling numbers on the keypad. Apple has toned down the transparency when interacting with the navigation bar on the Photos app.
When playing videos, the Photos app in iOS 26.1 now features a new seek bar at the bottom, which doesn't extent to the edges. Instead, it's placed inside a long-pill shaped box that also hosts the Play/Pause and Mute icons on either side. This bar now looks more in line with the Liquid Glass design.
iOS 26.1 developer beta adds a neat little feature to the Apple Music app, which allows users to switch to the next track by swiping on the Now Playing pill at the bottom. Users can slide their finger towards the left or right to go to the previous track to jump to the next song with ease.
Lastly, Apple has extended support for Apple Intelligence and AirPods Live Translation by adding more languages. iOS 26.1 will be able to offer Apple Intelligence in Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish and Vietnamese whereas Live Translation in AirPods will support Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Italian.
Besides iOS 26.1, Apple is also rolling out the first betas of iPadOS 26.1, macOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1 and visionOS 26.1 for developers. Beta testers enrolled in Developer Beta program can install the latest iOS 26.1 Beta by heading over to Settings > General > Software Update > Update Now.
