Five New Features and Changes in the Latest IOS 26 Beta
On Monday, Apple released the sixth developer beta of iOS 26. This new beta will likely be the same build that Apple will release as public beta 3 in the coming hours or days, meaning all testers will be able to evaluate the new features and changes soon.
Everyone else is interested in keeping an eye on the changes Apple makes during this beta phase. While iOS 26 doesn’t have an official release date yet, it will be out this fall. Apple typically picks mid- to late September, meaning the iOS 26 beta could only last about a month.
While there aren’t any revolutionary features here, there are some very interesting changes, most of which I hope will make it into the general release this fall. Here’s what’s new:
New ringtones
This might seem odd to someone who keeps their iPhone on silent most of the time, but I really like the new ringtones. At the start of the iOS 26 beta, Apple added a variation of the default Reflection ringtone , and frankly, it’s great. In beta 6, the company added five more Reflection variations, and they’re also great:
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I like all of these songs, but perhaps the most memorable is “Dreamer.” Listen to it in its entirety to see what I mean. Who’s going to pick up the phone when the ringtone is this good?
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But it’s not just the Reflection variants. Apple also added an original ringtone called Little Bird to this beta. This ringtone might also be my silent mode contender:
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Another new animation
Apple’s latest iOS 26 beta also came with new animations, but this time it’s a little different. Testers showed how Apple has implemented windows collapsing into the app icon they belong to, rather than disappearing as they do now. It’s a new effect that you can see in the post below:
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I also see a lot of positive posts on X about how ” fast ” iOS 26 beta 6 feels. If that’s the case, that’s fantastic news. If Apple just gets rid of the bugs in iOS 26 and makes the whole system smooth and responsive, I’ll be happy.
Changes in liquid glass
Apple continues to improve Liquid Glass in this latest beta. The update adds a glass-like effect to the lock screen clock , widgets with transparent backgrounds , and system toggles .
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New video review
iOS 26 beta 6 also includes an introductory video that showcases some of the major changes in Apple’s new update. If it’s released publicly, iOS users will be able to preview many of the Liquid Glass updates:
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Classic camera mode switch is gone
In Beta 5, Apple added a “Classic Mode Toggle” toggle to the Camera app settings. This option allowed users to change the scrolling direction in the new Camera app, as some users did not like the change. Apple has now removed this toggle and made Classic Mode scrolling the default direction by default.