iOS 26.1 beta update: iOS 26.1 just dropped — here’s every new feature changing your iPhone experience

Apple has officially started beta testing iOS 26.1 as of Monday, allowing developers and public testers to try the next update early. iOS 26.1 is a point update, which means it’s smaller than major iOS releases. Apple already included most big features in iOS 26 and saved smaller tweaks for 26.1.

Apple Music gestures are updated: users can now swipe left or right on the Now Playing bar to skip forward or go back to previous songs. With this change, Apple has removed the skip forward button from the Now Playing bar. The back button was not present before. Swiping is the new way to navigate songs, as per the report by Lifehacker.

The new swipe gesture is small but useful, although it might take some time for users to get used to it. The video playback bar in the Photos app is redesigned. In iOS 26, the bar was flush with the UI, which sometimes made the play and mute buttons hard to see.

iOS 26.1 new features in Photos and Live Translation

iOS 26.1 beta introduces a video playback bar separate from the UI, making it easy to see at all times. It’s a small but smart design improvement. Live Translation for AirPods is a feature that translates conversations automatically for languages you don’t understand. It works with iPhone 15 Pro or newer and AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, or AirPods 5 with Active Noise Cancellation, as per the report by Lifehacker.

Apple originally supported French, German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain) for Live Translation, but iOS 26.1 adds four new languages: Chinese (Mandarin, simplified), Chinese (Mandarin, traditional), Italian, Japanese, Korean. Apple Intelligence now supports eight new languages for iPhone 15 Pro and newer, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

iOS 26.1 design updates and smartwatch support

Liquid Glass design language is now applied to the Phone app’s keypad. Previously, the keypad still looked like iOS 18 and earlier, even though other parts of iOS 26 were updated. The Liquid Glass keypad matches iOS 26’s design but slightly reduces visibility of keys in light mode. Apple may adjust this in future updates. Calendar app improvements: in List view, daily events are now color-coded by their respective calendars, instead of appearing on the same white background. iOS 26.1 beta code references third-party smartwatch support. Apple may allow users to forward notifications to non-Apple smartwatches using a “Notification Forwarding” feature. Another beta code reference, “AccessoryExtension”, could be a framework to pair third-party watches with iPhones, but this feature is not yet functional. These smartwatch-related features may be Apple experimenting with EU regulations, like the Digital Markets Act, to allow non-Apple device compatibility, as per the report by Lifehacker.

Overall, iOS 26.1 is a minor update, but it brings useful gestures, clearer video playback, more language support for Live Translation and Apple Intelligence, UI updates like Liquid Glass, Calendar improvements, and hints at third-party smartwatch support.

FAQs

Q1. What is new in iOS 26.1 for iPhone?

iOS 26.1 adds Apple Music swipe gestures, clearer video playback, more Live Translation languages, Liquid Glass keypad design, color-coded Calendar, and hints at third-party smartwatch support.

Q2. Which iPhones support iOS 26.1 features?

Features like Live Translation and Apple Intelligence language support work on iPhone 15 Pro and newer models, while general UI improvements apply to most iPhones.