iOS 26 beta 5: All the new features and changes

iOS 26 took another step towards its public release in September, with Apple releasing the fifth beta to developers on Tuesday. The new build does not introduce radical Liquid Glass changes, but tweaks several other aspects of the OS.

Check out all the changes in iOS 26 beta 5 below.

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 beta 5: What’s new and changed

Classic Mode Switching in Camera app

The revamped Camera app in iOS 26 changes how you switch between camera modes. Previously, swiping left moved you to the mode on the right.

iOS 26 changes that by making the camera switch to the mode in the same direction you swipe. If you don’t like this behavior, iOS 26 beta 5 adds a Classic Mode Switching option, reversing “the scroll direction of mode switching.” You can enable it from Settings > Camera.

New AirDrop icon

The newest beta introduces a more Liquid Glass-y AirDrop icon in the Share Sheet.

New Lock Screen passcode animation

iOS 26 beta 5 features a new passcode animation on the Lock Screen. While a small change, it looks a lot sleeker.

iOS 26 beta 5 adds a new animation to the passcode screen pic.twitter.com/ZO54DZokA9

— Aaron (@aaronp613) August 5, 2025

Splash screen for system apps

As iOS 26 nears its public launch, Apple has begun adding a splash screen highlighting the changes to its system apps. Beta 5 adds a splash screen to Apple Music, Notes and Freeform apps.

Refreshed low battery Dynamic Island notification

iOS 26 beta 5 revamps the low battery Dynamic Island notification. The new design looks a lot sleeker than the iOS 18 version. Likewise, there’s a new pop-up for Game Mode as well.

Glassier Dock

A minor tweak, but iOS 26 beta 5 makes the Home Screen Dock thicker and glassier.

Always visible Menu Bar on external displays

When connected to an external display, iPadOS 26 beta 5 always displays the Menu Bar inside an app (via @Stroughtonsmith). Apple has added a new “Swipe to Reveal Menu Bar” toggle in the Multitasking & Gestures menu, allowing you to swipe down from the top center of the screen to reveal the Menu Bar.

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 beta 4: What’s new and changed

Liquid Glass is back

Apple gave its new Liquid Glass design a more frosted look in iOS 26 beta 3 to improve readability. But this also made the design feel less liquid-y. The latest iOS 26 beta changes this and adds more transparency to UI elements.

Darker Lock Screen background

When you scroll through notifications on the Lock Screen in iOS 26 beta 4, the background automatically darkens to improve readability. This small tweak should make a big difference in everyday use.

Big improvement to notifications in iOS 26 beta 4!

On the Lock Screen, the background now dims as you’re scrolling through notifications pic.twitter.com/IRuHusNMvB

— Apple Hub (@theapplehub) July 23, 2025

Notification Summaries return to News apps

Following criticism for generating incorrect AI summaries, Apple nuked notification summaries for news and entertainment category apps with iOS 18.3. With iOS 26 beta 4, the company prompts users to enable the feature, seemingly for testing purposes and to gather feedback.

When your iPhone or iPad restarts after installing the latest iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 beta, a prompt will appear asking you to enable notification summaries for different app categories, including News & Entertainment.

New Camera splash screen and tweaks

Opening the Camera app in iOS 26 beta 4 brings up a splash screen explaining how the simplified camera layout works.

In previous betas, after opening the camera, the mode picker would be expanded — hiding the camera roll and camera flip button for a second or two. This is no longer the case in beta 4; the buttons to the side are visible right away.

The camera mode picker has another change: it scrolls the opposite way. Swiping your finger to the right spins it to the left. This is, inexplicably, the opposite of how scrolling works everywhere else on the iPhone.

Updated system icons

The new iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe betas change the system icons of external drives and disks with a lighter look and less perspective.

iOS 26 Beta 4 changes : The visual style for drive icons has been updated to the new Liquid Glass / macOS Tahoe style. pic.twitter.com/gQZPeaZhDp

— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) July 22, 2025

Call screening options

iOS 26 Beta 4 introduces additional Call Screening options in the Phone app for screening unknown callers. So, you can decide between “Never” screening unknown callers, “Ask Reason for Calling,” or “Silence” calls from unsaved numbers.

New wallpapers and themes

iOS 26 beta 4 adds 12 new CarPlay wallpapers, including dark and light variations. The default iOS 26 wallpaper also has a new Dynamic option, with different colors throughout the day.

iOS 26 beta 4 adds 12 new CarPlay wallpapers!

See thread for them all:

Blue (Dark/Light)
Brown (Dark/Light) pic.twitter.com/OTH9VZCwmz

— Aaron (@aaronp613) July 22, 2025

The update also removes some existing wallpaper options, though.

Late Night Mode gets a name change

Beta 4 renames the “Late Night Mode” option in Settings > Sounds and Haptics to “Reduce Loud Sounds.” A description below details what the feature does: reducing audio volume and range and creating softer sound effects.

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 beta 3: What’s new and changed

A more frosted Liquid Glass design

iOS 26 beta 3 significantly tones down the transparency in Liquid Glass, making elements more frosted. This helps improve readability, a common complaint from iOS 26  beta testers so far.

Apple also tints the lock screen wallpaper on the PIN page for better readability.

Control Center color tweak

Besides making the background frosted, iOS 26 beta 3 tweaks the colors of the Control Center toggles, making them pop more.

iPadOS 26 gets a macOS-like cursor

in iPadOS 26 beta 3, shake the cursor and it’ll expand in size, It’s a trick carried over from macOS to make the cursor easier to see if it gets lost on multiple screens. pic.twitter.com/gNHBDDZhI9

— Ed Hardy (@EdFromFreelance) July 7, 2025

In macOS, if you shake the mouse, the cursor expands in size so you can easily find it. iPadOS 26 beta 3 brings the same behavior to the iPad, with a shake increasing the cursor’s size. With iPads finally gaining a proper app windowing system, the shake-to-find-cursor feature could prove handy when juggling multiple windows.

New Safari bookmarks menu

The Safari menu that shows your bookmarks, reading list and history is now more expansive than before. The modal pop-up fills the whole screen. It has a “Recently Saved” section at the top, with rich link previews of things you’ve added to your bookmarks and reading list.

More color options for the stock wallpaper

The latest iOS 26 beta adds more color options for the stock wallpaper. The new options include Shadow, Halo, and Dusk.

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 beta 2: What’s new and changed

iOS 26 beta 2 does not bring any radical changes. It likely won’t address every bug you reported from beta 1, either. You’ll see bigger changes arrive in developer beta 3, which should also be the first public beta.

Still, iOS 26 beta 2 packs several changes that improve the overall experience.

Tweaked Control Center blur

iOS 26 beta 2 tweaks the Control Center blur to improve readability. This change fixes a major complaint with the first developer beta, where the Liquid Glass design was widely mocked on social media. We even complained about it in our iOS 26 and Liquid Glass hands-on.

Apple fixed the Control Center!

iOS 26 Beta 1 vs iOS 26 Beta 2 pic.twitter.com/K2bYiOZaHt

— Brandon Butch (@BrandonButch) June 23, 2025

Relocated tab button in Safari

The new tab button in Safari has shifted to the bottom, on the left of the address bar in iOS 26 beta 2. In the first beta, it was located at the top left, making it hard to reach.

Long-pressing Safari’s address bar will bring up the “Close Tab” option even if there’s only one tab open.

Default wallpaper reacts to device movement

The stock iOS 26 wallpaper responds to your iPhone’s movement, with its elements subtly shifting as you move the device.

This feature only seems to be available on newer iPhones, though.

Back and forward buttons in Safari

In the first iOS 26 developer beta, Safari only had a floating address bar at the bottom. The second beta tweaks this, adding back and forward buttons to the left of the address bar.

New ringtone

iOS 26 developer beta 2 adds a new “Alt 1” ringtone. It was technically present in the first beta, albeit hidden.

This is the new iOS 26 beta 2 ringtone pic.twitter.com/5ZAMR2OruB

— iOS Pro (@iOS10Pro) June 24, 2025

Radio Widget for Apple Music

There’s a new Live Radio widget for Apple Music in the second iOS 26 developer beta.

Wallet gains package tracking

As Apple announced at WWDC25, the Wallet app in iOS 26 beta 2 can track your orders. It can do this by automatically pulling the relevant tracking information from the Mail app.

Improved Low Power Mode descrption

Apple has updated the Low Power Mode description in iOS 26 beta 2 to highlight what it does. The company now clearly mentions that the mode also affects 5G, iCloud syncing, etc.

Below is the updated description:

“iPhone will temporarily reduce some background activities, processing speed, display refresh rate and brightness, and limit certain features such as 5G, iCloud syncing, mail fetch, and more.”

Settings are denser

The Settings app has tighter spacing in iOS 26 beta 2. On an iPhone 16 Pro, the “General” item now peeks above the bottom of the screen, whereas before it was pushed offscreen.

This is an improvement; however, spacing is still much more generous than in iOS 18. Previously, you could see the top four items from the second group of settings: General, Accessibility, Action Button, and Apple Intelligence & Siri.

Apple will start the iOS 26 public beta testing in early July, likely alongside the third beta. You can wait until then or install the iOS 26 developer beta on your iPhone right away if you can’t wait to try the new Liquid Glass design.