This Classic IPhone Ringtone Gets a New Sound in IOS 26
Despite the lengthy WWDC keynote , Apple hasn’t had time to tout every new feature coming with iOS 26. So we continue to learn about new features and small changes as beta testers explore the new OS. These testers sniffed out one new addition that’s small but fun: Your iPhone is getting a new ringtone .
Technically, it’s getting a different version of an existing ringtone. At least, that’s how Apple apparently sees it: after releasing iOS 26 beta 2 , Apple added an alternative version of one of its signature ringtones for the first time, namely “Reflection,” the default iOS ringtone that Apple originally introduced with the iPhone X. Assuming Apple doesn’t change anything before the final version of iOS 26 is released, after updating, you’ll find a drop-down arrow next to “Reflection” in your phone’s ringtone settings. Tap it, and you’ll see two options: “Default,” which is the familiar tone, and “Alt 1.” That’s your new ringtone.
But perhaps more interesting than the tone itself is the fact that keen beta watchers discovered it in the first iOS 26 beta: while Alt 1 wasn’t an option in the ringtone settings, the sound file itself was present in the IPSW file for the operating system, as this user X discovered on June 18. The ringtone itself can be heard in the embedded message:
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I hear similarities between the Reflection Alt 1 and Default versions, but honestly, Alt 1 sounds unique enough to my ear to deserve its own entry. Apple could have called it “Rumination” or “Refraction” or something else, and I don’t think many would complain that it sounds too similar to the existing default ringtone.
But to be fair, Alt 1 is a pretty cool name for a ringtone. And who knows — Apple might change the name or make it a separate entry before the official OS release. It might also add more alternate tones or remove Alt 1 altogether. We won’t know until the final version of iOS 26 is released this fall.