You’ve in all probability solely simply downloaded iOS 26.1 – and for those who haven’t then the feature-packed replace needs to be ready for you now, however already a beta for iOS 26.2 has landed, revealing quite a few new options you possibly can stay up for quickly.
We wouldn’t essentially suggest downloading the beta, since will probably be unfinished and sure buggy – although if you wish to, right here’s how to download iOS betas. However, it offers us a good suggestion of what you possibly can count on in your iPhone when the completed model of iOS 26.2 launches.
So below, we’ve detailed nine new features that should be coming to your iPhone soon.
1. A Liquid Glass lock screen slider
With iOS 26.2, the lock screen is getting even more customizable, because – as shared by MacRumors – there’s now a slider that allows you to tweak the looks of the clock.
Much like now, you possibly can select whether or not you need the clock to seem ‘solid’ or like ‘glass’, however with iOS 26.2, for those who select the latter you’ll then additionally get a slider permitting you to regulate simply how clear it seems.
2. Reminder alarms
If you find yourself ignoring reminders then iOS 26.2 has a feature you might like, as if you toggle the ‘Urgent’ option when setting a reminder, you’ll also now be able to set an alarm to accompany it.
Then, when it comes time to remind you of that thing, rather than a short alert your alarm will sound, with options to snooze it with a tap or slide to stop it. If you snooze it, then the lock screen will display a countdown, alongside options to complete or reschedule the reminder.
Alternatively, you can toggle a setting in the Reminders app to replace the snooze button with a button you can press to mark the reminder as completed.
3. Enhanced Safety Alerts
If you head to Notifications > Settings in iOS 26.2 then – as spotted by 9to5Mac – you’ll now discover a new possibility referred to as Enhanced Safety Alerts. Tap on that, and also you’ll be taken to a display screen the place you possibly can allow or disable earthquake alerts and imminent risk alerts.
We’d recommend leaving these on, however there’s additionally a toggle for ‘Improve Alert Delivery’ which you may wish to allow, as it will share your approximate location with Apple to “improve the timeliness and reliability of Enhanced Safety Alerts.”
4. Improvements to the Podcasts app
Apple’s Podcasts app is getting a few new features with iOS 26.2, the biggest of which is automatically created chapters, so if a podcast creator doesn’t split an episode into chapters, the app will do so automatically, making it easier for listeners to navigate them – though creators will be able to disable this feature if for some reason they don’t want their podcasts to have chapters.
Another new feature is that if other podcasts are mentioned in an episode, you’ll be able to view and follow those podcasts from the transcript and the player.
Finally, you’ll also now be able to “quickly access the links shared in a podcast on the episode page,” which should make it easier to access sites mentioned in an episode.
5. Flash for Alerts
This is a niche feature but is bound to be very useful for some – if you head to Settings > Accessibility in iOS 26.2 you’ll find a new Flash for Alerts section, which gives you the option to have the screen flash when you get an alert.
Previously, the only accessibility option along these lines was to have the camera LED on the back of the phone flash, but now you can choose to have the screen flash instead or as well.
6. More accurate Sleep Scores
This is as much an Apple Watch function as an iPhone one, however we’re together with it right here since you possibly can view your Sleep Score within the Health app, and with iOS 26.2, these scores ought to higher replicate the way you really really feel.
That’s being achieved by adjusting the rating ranges for ‘Very Low’, ‘Low’, ‘OK’, ‘High’, and ‘Very High’. For instance, a rating of 0-40 is now thought of ‘Very Low’, the place earlier than it was 0-29, and also you now want a rating of 96 or increased to attain a ‘Very High’ ranking, the place earlier than you wanted a rating of 90 or above. Similar adjustments have been made to the rankings in between too.
And much less considerably, ‘Very High’ itself is new wording, changing the ‘Excellent’ that the highest scores have been beforehand listed as.
7. A new Passwords feature
Head to the settings section of the Passwords app in iOS 26.2 and you’ll now see an option to ‘Show Excluded Websites’. Tap that and you’ll see a list of websites that you’ve excluded from the app – in other words those where passwords won’t be saved when signing in.
From here, you can choose to remove any or all of these exclusions, giving you an easy way to change your mind.
8. Tables in the Freeform app
With iOS 26.2, the Freeform app has gained assist for tables, which you’ll be able to simply resize by dragging the corners, or add rows and columns to with the accompanying ‘+’ buttons.
This will in all probability be a distinct segment function, however for individuals who really use Freeform – or would if it supported tables – this might be an enormous deal.
9. Shortcuts in Apple News
Finally, if you use Apple News, you’ll find that with iOS 26.2 there are now shortcuts along the top of the app for things like sports, politics, business, puzzles, and food.
From early impressions of the beta it seems these shortcuts might be based on your activity in the app – so in other words the specific shortcuts you see might vary depending on which sections you most commonly visit.
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