Apple has released iOS 26 Beta 2 for iPhone. The update brings a handful of changes over the Beta 1 update that was introduced shortly after WWDC 2025. It brings a new toggle that increases the blur when displaying the Control Centre, improving legibility. Meanwhile, the iOS 26 Beta 2 update also carries fixes for several issues, including an instance where iPhone 16 models failed to boot up after installing the first beta.
iOS 26 Beta 2 Update New Features, Changes
The iOS 26 Beta 2 update has added more blur behind the Control Centre. This was an issue widely reported by users as the new Liquid Glass UI decreased the legibility of the panel. There were some instances where it was totally unreadable, especially when a wallpaper of a lighter tone was applied. This is said to have been rectified with the update.
Further, iPhone users can now control the level of blur that appears. A new Reduce Transparency option has reportedly been added under Accessibility which can be used to decrease it for potentially easier readability.
There are two new widgets for Apple Music — one for Live Radio and another for searching for songs directly via the iPhone’s lock screen. The company has also renamed the Transcribe Calls option for Live Captions to Save Call Transcripts. Meanwhile, the Wallet app will fully support order tracking, with a new option that lets Siri scan your Mail app to find and fetch order-related emails from merchants.
Other small changes include an updated description for the Low Power Mode, new “Alt 1” ringtone, Accessibility section in the App Store, and changed location of the “+” tab when tab management view is toggled in Safari.
In addition to these features and changes, Apple also rolled out several bug fixes, the most notable of which caused an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 to not boot up. This issue occurred after updating to iOS 26 Beta 1, where the devices showed a low battery symbol.
As per Apple, this can be fixed by restoring the iPhone to the updated iOS 26 Beta 1 or downgrading to the publicly available iOS 18 version. Here’s how:
- Connect a USB Type-C cable to the computer
- Open Finder on Mac or the Apple Devices app on Windows.
- When the iPhone’s screen turns black, connect it to the computer while simultaneously pressing and holding the power and the volume down buttons.
- Release the power button after three seconds while continuing to hold the volume button until the iPhone appears in the Finder or Apple Devices app. This may take up to 15 seconds.
- Now, you can choose between restoring the iPhone to an updated version of iOS 26 Beta 1 or the latest iOS 18 version.
- Lastly, restore the iPhone from your backup (if available) to get all of your data back.
