iOS 26 beta lets you test drive the future of iPhone today (for free)

Want to get in on the future of iPhone before it happens? You can, with the iOS 26 beta.

Apple has opened up the in-progress version of the iPhone’s software to ordinary folks. And to get it all you have to do is switch to the beta update stream in the Software Update section of your iPhone’s Settings menu.

It’s available to those with an iPhone 11 or newer.

But what does iOS 26 actually bring? Quite a lot.

Last month Apple described iOS 26 as its “broadest software design update ever.” And the flagship part of that is called Liquid Glass, the new look for the iPhone’s software.

As the name might suggest, there’s a lot more transparency effects to iOS 26, while animations are more fluid-looking.

This new look affects the entire system. It’s a big change.

Translations, polls and more

There’s a load of other additions too. The iPhone is getting a call screening mode, which makes someone tell what’s basically your digital assistant what they are calling about. You can then see their response on-screen.

Thankfully, this is only for unknown numbers — we can’t see your mum or partner being particularly pleased to have to tell a cut-price Siri-a-like why they are calling.

iOS 26 also adds real-time translation, part of the slow roll-out of Apple Intelligence that has caused such a fuss over the last year.

You will also be able to add polls to messages in the Messages app, which is something we use all the time in apps like WhatsApp.

That’s just a sampler of what’s coming in iOS 26. There’s no cost to trying out the beta version yourself, but Apple does recommend you backup your data before doing so. It is work-in-progress software, after all.

The full, final version of iOS 26 will be released later this year when the next generation iPhones is announced. Judging by Apple’s activity in previous years, that’s likely to happen some time in mid-September.

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