iOS 26 brings a new translucent "Liquid Glass" look, the latest on-device Apple Intelligence perks (real-time translation and a smarter Visual Intelligence search ), and phone and text upgrades like built-in call screening and in-chat polls.

Testing with developer and public beta versions went smoothly for even the oldest supported models. But there are safety measures if upgrading to the beta or release version goes awry.

Apple’s first iOS 26 public beta offers an early taste of a major software overhaul. Here are the biggest changes and features we tested.