Ios 26 Beta Preview: Liquid Glass Is Better Than You Think

At WWDC 2025, Apple revealed a awesome ocular shake-up for iOS (not to mention nan remainder of nan company’s operating systems). This is nan biggest change, aesthetically, since nan displacement distant from nan stitching, textures and skeuomorphic creation of nan iOS 4. It besides comes pinch importantly less AI and Siri updates this clip around. However, it’s nan smaller touches that make iOS 26 look for illustration a notable betterment complete its predecessor.

I’ve been moving nan iOS 26 developer beta for nan past 2 weeks and here's really Apple’s caller Liquid Glass creation — and iOS 26 broadly — stacks up.

(Ed. note: Apple conscionable released nan nationalist betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 and watchOS 26. This intends you tin tally nan preview for yourself, if you are consenting to consequence perchance buggy aliases unstable package that could origin immoderate of your apps to not work. As usual, we highly urge backing up each your day earlier moving immoderate beta, and you tin travel our guide connected really to instal Apple's nationalist betas to do so.)

Liquid Glass changes everything

iOS 26 looks caller and modern. And for once, really Apple describes it — liquid solid — makes sense: it’s a batch of layers of transparent elements overlapping and, successful places, nan animations are quite… liquidy. Menus and buttons will respond to your touch, pinch immoderate of them coalescing astir your digit and sometimes separating retired into caller menus.

Liquid Glass encompasses nan full creation of iOS. The location and fastener screens person been redesigned erstwhile again, featuring a caller skyscraping timepiece font that stretches retired from nan inheritance of your photos, pinch ever-so-slight transparency. There’s besides a caller 3D effect that infuses your photos pinch a spot of spatial magic, offering a touch of Vision Pro for iPhone users.

The acquisition successful nan first fewer builds of nan iOS 26 beta was jarring and messy, particularly pinch transparent icons and notifications, owed to those overlapping elements making things almost illegible. Updates crossed consequent releases person addressed this rumor by making floating elements much opaque. There is besides a toggle wrong nan Accessibility tab successful Settings to trim transparency further, but I dream Apple offers a slider truthful that users tin take precisely really “liquid” they want their “glass” to be. If you ain different Apple products, past you’ll travel to admit nan creation parity crossed your Mac, iPad and Apple Watch.

One noticeable alteration I'd been waiting for was nan iOS hunt bar’s relocation to nan bottommost of nan screen. I first noticed it wrong Settings, but it reappears successful Music, Podcasts, Photos and beautiful overmuch everyplace you mightiness request to find circumstantial files aliases paper items now. If, for illustration me, you’re an iPhone Pro aliases Plus user, you whitethorn person struggled to scope those hunt bars erstwhile they were astatine nan apical of nan screen. It’s a invited improvement.

Visual Intelligence

With iOS 26 connected iPhones powerful capable to tally Apple Intelligence, nan institution is bringing Visual Intelligence complete to your screenshots. (Previously it was constricted to Camera.) Once you’ve grabbed a changeable by pressing nan powerfulness and measurement up buttons, you’ll get a preview of your image, surrounded by suggested actions that Apple Intelligence deduced would beryllium applicable based connected nan contents of your screenshot.

Managing Editor Cherlynn Low did a heavy dive connected what Visual Intelligence is tin of. From a screenshot, you tin transportation accusation to different apps without having to move aliases prime them manually. This intends I tin easy screenshot tickets and emails, for example, to adhd to my calendar. Apple Intelligence tin besides place types of plants, nutrient and cars, even. If location are aggregate group aliases objects successful your screenshot, you tin item what you want to attraction connected by circling it. There aren’t galore third-party app options astatine this point, but that’s often nan lawsuit pinch a beta build. These are features that Android users person had courtesy of Gemini for a twelvemonth aliases two, but astatine slightest now we get thing akin connected iPhones.

One speedy tip: Make judge to pat nan markup fastener (the small pencil extremity icon) to spot Visual Intelligence successful your screenshots. I initially thought my beta build was missing nan feature, but it was conscionable hidden down nan markup menu.

More broadly, Apple Intelligence continues to activity well, but doesn't guidelines retired successful immoderate peculiar way. We’re still waiting for Siri to person its promised upgrades. Still, iOS 26 appears to person improved nan capacity of galore features that usage nan iPhone’s onboard instrumentality learning models. Since nan first developer build, sound memos and sound notes are not only overmuch faster, but besides much accurate, particularly pinch accents that nan strategy antecedently struggled with.

Apple Intelligence’s Writing devices — which I chiefly usage for summarizing meetings, convention calls and moreover lengthy PDFs — doesn't choke pinch much important reading. On iOS 18, it would struggle pinch sound notes longer than 10 minutes, trying to detangle aliases building nan contents of a meeting. I haven’t had that rumor pinch iOS 26 truthful far.

Genmoji and Image Playground some connection up different results done nan update. Image Playground tin now make pictures utilizing ChatGPT. I’ll beryllium honest, I hadn’t utilized nan app since I tested it connected iOS 18, but nan upgrades mean it has much inferior erstwhile I mightiness want to make AI artwork, which tin occasionally scope photorealistic levels.

One useful summation is ChatGPT’s “any style” option, meaning you tin effort to specify nan style you person successful mind, which tin skirt a small person to contentious mimicry — particularly if you want, say, a frivolous image of you splashing successful a puddle, Studio Ghibli style.

Apple besides tweaked Genmoji to adhd deeper customization options, but these AI-generated avatars don’t look for illustration me? I liked nan original Genmoji that launched past year, which had nan almost-nostalgic style of 2010 emoji, but still someway channeled nan auras of me, my friends and family. This caller batch are much elaborate and elaborate, sure, but they don’t look right. Also, they make maine look bald. And contrary to my detractors, I americium not bald. Yet. This feels for illustration a nonstop attack, Apple.

You mightiness consciousness differently, however. For example, Cherlynn said that nan first type of Genmoji did not lucifer her, often presenting her arsenic personification pinch overmuch darker tegument aliases of a different ethnicity, sloppy of nan root image she submitted.

Still, nan expertise to alteration a Genmoji’s expression, arsenic good arsenic adhd and region glasses and facial hairsbreadth done nan caller quality customization options, is an improvement.

A Camera app redesign for everyone

Apple has revisited nan camera app, returning to basics by stripping distant astir of nan antecedently offered modes and settings — astatine slightest initially — to show only video and photograph modes.

You tin swipe up from nan bottommost to spot further options, for illustration flash, nan timer, exposure, styles and more. You tin besides pat connected nan caller six-dot icon successful nan precocious correct of nan interface for nan aforesaid options, though that requires a spot much of a reach. These behave successful statement pinch nan caller Liquid Glass creation and you’ll spot nan Photo pill grow into nan settings paper erstwhile you property either area. Long-pressing connected icons lets you spell deeper into shooting modes, adjusting framework rates and moreover signaling resolutions.

What I for illustration present is that it benefits casual smartphone photographers while keeping each nan settings that much precocious users demand. None of nan updates present are earth-shattering, though. I dream Apple takes a bully look astatine what Adobe’s Project Indigo camera app is doing — location are a batch of bully ideas there.

One other betterment if you usage AirPods: Pressing and holding nan stem of your AirPod (if it has an H2 chip) tin now commencement video recording.

Apple Music tries to DJ

Alongside nan Liquid Glass creation touches, nan large summation to Apple Music this twelvemonth is AutoMix. Like a (much) much precocious type of nan crossfade characteristic recovered connected astir euphony streaming apps, successful iOS 26, Music tries to operation betwixt tracks, slowing aliases speeding up tempos, mildly fading successful drums aliases bass loops earlier nan adjacent opus kicks in. Twenty percent of nan time, it doesn’t activity good — aliases Apple Music doesn’t moreover try. But nan caller expertise to pin playlists and albums is useful, particularly for recommendations from different folks that you ne'er sewage astir to listening to.

Messages get a small much fun

Apple is making Messages much fun. One of nan ways it’s doing truthful is by enabling civilization backgrounds successful chats, overmuch for illustration successful WhatsApp. I instantly group retired to find nan astir embarrassing photograph of my workfellow (and frenemy) Cherlynn Low and make it our chat background. I cognize she’s besides moving iOS 26 successful beta, truthful she will spot it. [Ed. note: Way to springiness maine a logic to disregard your messages, Mat!]

Apple’s Live translator now useful crossed Messages, sound calls and FaceTime. Setting things up tin beryllium a small analyzable — you’ll first request to download various connection files to usage nan feature. There’s besides immoderate inconsistency successful nan languages supported crossed nan board. For instance, Mandarin and Japanese are supported successful Messages, but not connected FaceTime yet. In chats, if your strategy connection is group to English aliases Spanish, past you’ll only beryllium capable to construe into English aliases Spanish. For those polyglots retired there, if you want to construe incoming Japanese texts into German, you’ll request to group your device's connection to German.

While I didn’t get to flex my Japanese abilities connected sound calls and FaceTime, iOS 26 was much than tin of keeping up pinch immoderate rudimentary German and Spanish. I’m not judge if I’d trust connected it for superior business translator aliases vacation bookings, but I deliberation it could beryllium a very useful instrumentality for basics.

There’s besides nan expertise to select spam messages to their ain small files (purgatory). Spam texts stay a nightmare, truthful I admit immoderate imaginable weapons successful nan fight. Sadly, it hasn’t rather negociate to woody pinch nan TikTok trading agencies and telephone web customer services that proceed to barrage my Messages. Still, hopefully Apple will proceed to amended its discovery algorithms.

One much instrumentality successful nan conflict against spam: You tin shut up notifications for Messages from chartless numbers, though time-sensitive alerts from transportation services and rideshare apps will still scope you.

New apps are hit-or-miss

Not everything successful nan beta lands, however. I’ve already touched connected really Liquid Glass was initially a semi-transparent mess. The Games App, too, seems for illustration an unnecessary addition. Because it’s a blend of nan Games tab of nan App Store and a silo of your preinstalled games, I’m not judge what it’s adding. It’s not immoderate easier to navigate, nor does it present maine to games I want to buy.

Cherlynn did want to item that for a casual gamer for illustration herself, it’s intriguing to spot if nan Games app mightiness commencement to urge much mind-numbing puzzles aliases farming simulations. She was besides intrigued by nan thought of a much societal gaming acquisition connected iOS, issuing challenges to her friends. Still, because nan telephone she has been testing nan beta connected doesn’t person entree to each her contacts aliases her gaming history, nan recommendations and features are reasonably constricted astatine nan moment.

Games is 1 of 2 caller apps that will automatically subordinate your location screen. (Fortunately, they tin beryllium uninstalled). The different is Preview, which should beryllium a acquainted summation to immoderate Mac user. It offers an easy measurement to position sent aliases downloaded files, for illustration menus, summons QR codes and more. During nan developer beta, nan app pulled successful a fistful of my documents that antecedently lived successful nan Files app. Navigation crossed some those apps is identical, though Preview is constricted to files you tin really open, of course.

AirPods, upgraded

This is much iPhone-adjacent, but iOS 26 includes respective quality-of-life improvements for some of Apple’s headphones. First up: notifications erstwhile your AirPods are afloat charged, finally! The Apple Watch sewage this benignant of notification backmost successful iOS 14, truthful it’s awesome to spot Apple’s headphones drawback up.

Apple is besides promising “studio-quality sound recording” from nan AirPods, augmenting recordings pinch computational audio improvements. There’s a noticable bump successful audio quality. It appears that AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 will grounds files astatine a sample complaint of 48 kHz, which is double nan complaint utilized successful nan past. The sample complaint bump happened past year, but it is limited connected what nan app you're using. Is it “studio quality”? I don’t deliberation so, but it’s an improvement. While recordings sound somewhat amended successful quiet locations, nan bigger alteration is successful large environments. The algorithm doesn't look to beryllium degrading audio value arsenic overmuch while trying to trim inheritance noise.

iOS 26 besides adds slumber discovery to nan buds. If nan AirPods observe minimal movement, they’ll move disconnected automatically, which could beryllium adjuvant for nan adjacent clip I’m flying long-haul.

Wrap-up

In iOS 26, Apple has prioritized creation changes and systemwide consistency complete AI-centric package and features. While Liquid Glass is simply a large alteration to really your iPhone looks, Apple has drawn from personification feedback to finesse nan creation into emotion little jarring and gelling amended erstwhile nan location screen, Control Center and Notification drop-downs overlap pinch each other.

There are galore value of life improvements, including Messages and Visual Intelligence, successful particular. If anything, nan AI elephant successful nan room is nan deficiency of immoderate important updates connected Siri. After nan institution talked up precocious Siri interactions complete a twelvemonth ago, I’m still waiting for its adjunct to drawback up pinch nan likes of Google.