iOS 26.1 update arriving later this month for iPhones: everything we know so far

iOS 26 got its stable release last month as one of the biggest Apple updates in recent years. Apart from breaking away from the nomenclature (the numbering system called for an iOS 19) to put it more in alignment with the year it’s focused on, iOS 26 brought a major overhaul to iPhones with Apple’s new design language, which it called Liquid Glass.

Besides the UI change, there were deeply integrated personalisation, AI and translation tools to improve productivity with features like real-time Live Translation and spam filtering for iPhone 11 and above.

Now, iOS 26.1 is slated to roll out later this month, with the second public beta released already. What can we expect from the update based on the beta versions we’ve seen?

Firstly, there are some design tweaks, but of course, nothing as significant as the overhaul iOS 26 brought. In iOS 26.1, the numeric keypad in the Phone app adopts the Liquid Glass design language now. In the Photos app, the video scrubber and navigation bar look to adopt translucent frosted backgrounds, which could enhance readability. Additionally, the Calendar app now displays event colours across the entire width of the entry for a more unified look.

iOS 26 updated the look of the Music app, introducing a fresh coat of Liquid Glass and broad restructuring of navigation controls. With iOS 26.1, users can expect a small, albeit useful change with the Now Playing bar. You will just have to swipe left and right on the bar to switch songs. These sorts of intuitive additions, although not dramatic functionally, make the user experience a bit smoother.

With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is continuing its global expansion, adding support for more languages. Chinese (traditional), Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese are now supported apart from the initial English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, and Simplified Chinese.

Live Translation launched last month for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4, initially supporting English (US and UK), French, German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain). With iOS 26.1, Apple will expand this feature to include five new languages: Simplified Mandarin, Traditional Mandarin, Italian, Japanese, and Korean.

Indians may be disappointed as users here can only access Apple Intelligence features in localised English, instead of Hindi and other regional languages. While India may be an important market for Apple, this could reflect the company’s global approach, and gradual expansion into regional languages may be a part of a phased rollout strategy. There could also be technical hindrances, as delivering high-quality AI experiences requires massive, well-annotated datasets.

iOS 26 introduced changes to the Alarm app, featuring a large button for snoozing and dismissing the alarm. Users complained it was “too easy” to turn the alarm off, and Apple seems to have addressed this feedback. In the second beta of iOS 26.1, instead of just hitting a giant button to stop your alarm, you’ll now have to perform a swipe gesture instead.

The iOS 26 code has also reflected references to Apple possibly adding support for third-party smartwatches. This may or may not be seen in iOS 26.1, but it definitely reflects Apple laying the groundwork to improve interoperability with third-party accessories, something which the EU has demanded through legislation. It remains to be seen whether this feature, referenced as Notification Forwarding in the code, will be available across regions or only where laws demand it.

iOS 26 was largely well-received for Apple getting experimental with the UI for the first time since iOS 7 (released back in 2013). However, practical experiences of users, especially of those with older iPhones, called for some fine-tuning in the new update. Traditionalists, used to the simplistic UI that iPhones are known for, complained about the translucence that Liquid Glass brought. For some, it was simply about aesthetics but people are also complaining about readability issues due to the transparent effect. You can increase or reduce the transparency but completely disabling it is not an option.

Apart from aesthetics, older iPhone users are also reporting stutters and performance lags, along with problems of overheating. Apple may attribute it to resource-heavy features in iOS 26, but acknowledges it is a pain point. iOS 26.1 and future versions can hope to address these issues as users slowly adapt themselves to the visual changes.

For most users, iOS 26.1 will be worth installing the moment it becomes available. It fine-tunes the Liquid Glass design, irons out early bugs, and expands Apple Intelligence in meaningful ways. That said, if you’re using an older iPhone and already noticed performance hiccups with iOS 26, you might want to wait a week or two after rollout to see if stability updates follow. Overall, iOS 26.1 feels like Apple finding its rhythm again, balancing bold design with the reliability iPhones are known for.