Apple launched the iOS 26.1 release candidate (RC) on Tuesday, greater than a month after the corporate launched iOS 26, which launched Liquid Glass, call screening and more to your iPhone. The iOS 26.1 RC brings a number of new settings and options to builders’ and beta testers’ gadgets, together with a brand new technique to modify Liquid Glass and a helpful safety function.
Since that is the RC, I like to recommend downloading it solely on one thing aside from your major system. The replace could be buggy and battery life could also be quick.
There is not any phrase on when Apple will launch iOS 26.1 to most of the people. Nevertheless, Apple often releases an RC every week or two earlier than making an replace accessible to everybody, so I count on the corporate to launch iOS 26.1 quickly.
Listed here are the options builders and beta testers can attempt now, and what might be in your iPhone when Apple formally releases iOS 26.1.
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One other technique to modify Liquid Glass
With the iOS 26.1 RC, Apple is letting you modify your iPhone’s new Liquid Glass design much more. In the event you go into Settings > Show & Brightness > Liquid Glass, you’ll be able to select for the brand new design to be Clear or Tinted.
“Clear is extra clear, revealing the content material beneath,” Apple writes for the setting. “Tinted will increase opacity and provides extra distinction.”
Altering Clear or Tinted seems to solely modify sure Liquid Glass components for now, like your Notification Heart and a few search bars all through your iPhone. Nevertheless, it would not seem to vary Liquid Glass components in your House Display screen. However you do not must be working the RC to regulate Liquid Glass in your House Display screen.
To regulate Liquid Glass on your Home Screen, long-press in your display screen, faucet Edit within the high left nook of your display screen, then faucet Customise. From right here, make your app icons both Clear or Tinted, then you’ll be able to faucet Mild, Darkish or Auto alongside the underside of the Customise menu to regulate the Liquid Glass components in your House Display screen.
In the event you aren’t working the RC and do not like Liquid Glass, you can even go to Settings > Accessibility > Show & Textual content Dimension after which faucet the toggle for Reduce Transparency to regulate the brand new design.
Mechanically set up Safety Enhancements
Apple introduces a helpful new safety setting within the iOS 26.1 RC that permits your iPhone to obtain and set up Safety Enhancements by itself. You could find this by going to Settings > Privateness & Safety > Background Safety Enhancements.
“Background Safety Enhancements present extra safety to your iPhone in between software program updates,” in keeping with Apple. “In uncommon cases of compatibility points, these Safety Enhancements could also be briefly eliminated after which enhanced in a future software program replace.”
This menu additionally permits you to uninstall a Safety Enchancment. To take action, faucet the three dots (…) subsequent to the put in replace. A brand new menu will seem with the choice to Take away & Restart. This may be useful for those who really feel the Safety Enchancment is inflicting you extra points than it is fixing.
This function jogs my memory of Apple’s Rapid Security Responses. The corporate launched RSRs in 2023 as a technique to rapidly deploy safety fixes to gadgets. Whereas a good suggestion in idea, Apple hasn’t used iOS RSRs because the launch of iOS 16.5.1 (c) in July 2023.
This is not a flashy setting, nevertheless it’s helpful and permits you to keep updated on smaller safety updates with out doing any additional work. As soon as enabled, this setting takes care of the remaining, so you do not have to test your iPhone on daily basis for brand new updates to potential safety points.
Cease by chance opening your Digital camera with this new toggle
The iOS 26.1 RC additionally introduces a brand new toggle that might stop you from by chance opening your Digital camera out of your Lock Display screen. To seek out this toggle, go to Settings > Digital camera and scroll to the underside of the menu. There you will see a toggle for Lock Display screen Swipe to Open Digital camera.
“Swipe left on the Lock Display screen to rapidly entry the Digital camera,” Apple writes for the setting.
Telephone name haptics management
Within the iOS 26 RC, there is a new possibility to show off haptics when your iPhone connects or drops a name. That approach your iPhone would not vibrate and make you suppose you bought one other message or notification every time you get on or off a name.
To entry this setting, go to Settings > Apps > Telephone and faucet the Haptics toggle.
Native Seize choices
Native Seize is a simple technique to file high-quality video and audio recordings of video calls in your iPhone, and the iOS 26.1 RC introduces a brand new Settings menu for the function. The menu offers you the choice to pick out a save location to your recordings, in addition to a toggle that permits you to solely file audio when utilizing Native Seize.
“Add Native Seize to Management Heart to file your personal audio and video throughout a name to save lots of and edit later,” Apple writes within the Native Seize settings web page.
New Accessibility possibility
The iOS 26.1 RC introduces a brand new choice to want single-touch actions over sliding actions in your iPhone’s display screen. You could find this new possibility by going to Settings > Accessibility > Contact and scrolling to the underside of the web page.
Alarm will get one other replace
One in all my favourite small upgrades in iOS 26 was the power to change your alarm snooze length. Within the iOS 26.1 RC, Apple makes it tougher to by chance dismiss your alarm. When your alarm goes off within the RC, you now must swipe to cease it slightly than hit a button. This might be annoying for those who’re attempting to close your alarm off quick, or it might assist make sure you’re truly awake earlier than you flip your alarm off.
Altering songs in Apple Music
Apple Music acquired a handful of recent options in iOS 26, however the iOS 26.1 RC would not change a lot concerning the app or service. As a substitute, the replace permits you to change songs in a brand new approach.
With the iOS 26.1 RC, as a substitute of tapping the subsequent or backward buttons to vary songs, you’ll be able to swipe left or proper on the music title from the music participant inside Apple Music. You are able to do this when the participant is taking over your complete display screen or once you’re trying by way of Apple Music and the participant is small and close to the underside of your display screen. The music title even seems to leap left or proper once you change songs now, too.
Extra Stay Translation languages
The iOS 26.1 RC provides extra languages to the brand new Live Translation function. Apple launched this function to iPhones and AirPods with iOS 26, and the RC lets builders and beta testers use it with these languages.
- Chinese language (Mandarin, simplified)
- Chinese language (Mandarin, conventional)
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
Apple Intelligence in additional languages
When you have an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, the iOS 26.1 RC brings the AI options to those languages.
- Chinese language (conventional)
- Danish
- Dutch
- Norwegian
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Swedish
- Turkish
- Vietnamese
Calendar replace
Not a serious change, however the iOS 26 RC updates the Calendar interface. In the event you view your calendar in Listing View, any calendar occasions you might have on a particular day will probably be coloured throughout the entire backside a part of your display screen.
New video scrubbing bar
The iOS 26.1 RC additionally brings a small change to the video scrubbing bar in Images. In the event you go into Images and watch a video, you will discover that the bar throughout the underside of your display screen is extra compact and inline in comparison with the previous scrubbing bar, which had the play/pause and quantity buttons above the bar.
That is one other small change that you simply may not have even seen.
These are a number of of the brand new options builders and public beta testers can attempt with the iOS 26.1 RC. Apple may launch one other RC earlier than it launches iOS 26.1 to the general public, however I might count on these new options and modifications to land in your iPhone within the subsequent week or two.
For extra iOS information, here is my review of the iOS 26, easy methods to scale back the Liquid Glass results within the replace and the way text screening works within the replace. You may as well try our iOS 26 cheat sheet.
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