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Ready to try Apple’s iOS 26? Here are all the compatible iPhones that can run public beta 2 today

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Soon after the Apple iPhone event takes place, we’ll finally have access to iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 — both of which are bringing huge upgrades to your iPhone and iPad’s operating systems. One you might be thrilled to play around with is the visual update: Liquid Glass. (It’s like the better-executed version of Windows Vista.) We spent two weeks test-driving it — you can check out our detailed hands-on iOS 26 preview, or you can try it out yourself by downloading and installing the public beta 2. That software is a more stable iteration of the separate developer version, which recently hit the beta 6 waypoint, and offers a few more flashy features not yet available in the public version. (While the public beta is open to everyone and quite stable, always remember there’s a degree of risk involved with beta software.) Additionally, there are credible reports that iOS 26 could bring a new live translation feature to AirPods, too. Not ready to upgrade your smartphone or tablet this year? No worries, we’ll help you find out if your devices will be able to run iOS 26.

While Apple didn’t nix any iPhones from its eligibility list last year, that’s not the case for 2025 — a few models are getting cut this time. All iPhone 8 models and the iPhone X were the last to get the boot in 2023, and this year the 2018 models are getting left behind. If you have an ineligible device, you won’t be able to download iOS 26 when it becomes available this fall.

We’ll get to the bottom of which iPhones and iPads will support iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 this year. To see what’s coming with the latest OSes, check out everything announced at Apple’s WWDC June 9 event. One thing you shouldn’t immediately expect is Apple’s updated version of Siri, though the company is reportedly working on a ‘stripped-down’ AI chatbot to compete with ChatGPT.

These three iPhones won’t be compatible with iOS 26

Unlike last year, several iPhone models won’t be eligible to download the newest iOS when it makes its debut this fall. This trio of models first released in 2018 won’t be coming to the iOS 26 party:

iPhones compatible with iOS 26

While we don’t yet know the new iPhones Apple will be dropping this fall — though there are iPhone 17 rumors — we do know, per Apple’s site, that the phones listed below will be compatible with iOS 26. Basically, if you have an iPhone that was announced in 2019 or later, you’re in the clear:

  • iPhone SE (second generation or later)

iPads compatible with iPadOS 26

The iPads listed below, and any iPads released later this year, are eligible to download iPadOS 26.

  • iPad Pro 12.9‑inch (3rd generation and later)

  • iPad Pro 11‑inch (1st generation and later)

  • iPad Air (3rd generation and later, including M2 and M3)

  • iPad (8th generation and later, including A16)

  • iPad mini (5th generation and later, including A17 Pro)

What if I don’t want to buy a new iPhone?

If you want to continue using your older iPhone that isn’t supported by iOS 26, that’s fine. However, you’ll miss out on security updates which could potentially put your phone at risk for malware and other threats. Additionally, some apps may stop working if they require a certain version of iOS or later. And of course, you won’t be able to access the latest features iOS 26 offers.

When will iOS 26 become available?

Apple usually rolls out its latest iOS in mid-September, just a few days before the new iPhones hit store shelves. Last year, it released iOS 18 on Monday, Sept. 16. Expect a confirmation of the release date at the iPhone 17 event, expected in early September.

iOS 26 features we’re excited about

Liquid Glass design: Your home screen is getting revamped with new app icons, including dark mode and all-clear options. You’ll also notice buttons with a new floating design. Liquid Glass was designed to make all of Apple’s OSes more cohesive.

Phone app redesign: You’ll finally be able to scroll through contacts, recent calls and voicemail messages all on one screen. It also comes with a new feature called Hold Assist that’ll notify you when an agent comes to the phone so you can avoid the elevator music.

Live Translate: iOS 26 is bringing the ability to have a conversation via phone call or text message with someone who speaks another language. Live Translate will translate your conversation in real time.

Polls feature: Coming to group messages in the Messages app, chat members will be able to create polls. This can help prevent the unwanted 30+ messages when it comes to deciding which restaurant you’re meeting at this weekend.



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Gaming Gear

I Changed Just 10 Essential iOS 18.5 Settings and Transformed How I Use My iPhone

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Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference has given us a glimpse into how iOS 26 will change how we use our iPhones — but what about the here and now? In iOS 18.5, there are several settings that can streamline the way you interact with your iPhone. Some are obvious, others definitely fly under the radar. But all of them can make a big difference. From saving battery life to boosting performance, these changes helped me fine-tune my phone and avoid unnecessary headaches. Here are the 10 iPhone settings I recommend changing in iOS 18.5.

Watch this: 11 Hidden Features in iOS 18

06:44

For more on what’s new in iOS 18, learn about improvements to the overhauled Calculator app and the Mail app. And don’t forget to consult our iOS 18 upgrade checklist, which includes making sure you have a proper backup before upgrading.

Turn off categories in the Mail app

When it comes to something like email, everyone has their own way of dealing with the influx of messages. Traditionally, the Mail app has kept a chronological list, but that can get unwieldy if you also get scores of promotions, receipts and other types of email. The new categories feature creates virtual buckets for Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions, and guesses how your messages should be sorted.

If that approach doesn’t work for you, here are two things to try.

• In the event that categories are somewhat useful, but you still want a chronological view of your Inbox, swipe all the way to the right of the categories and tap All Mail.

• To turn off categories altogether, tap the three-dot menu (…) in the top-right corner, and then tap List View.

Turn off Mail Categories from within the Inbox. (iOS 18.5 beta shown here.)

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Change the default buttons on the lock screen

In real estate, location is everything, and the bottom corners of the iPhone lock screen are the prime spots, each an easy thumb press away when your device is still locked. Before iOS 18, those posts were held by the flashlight and camera buttons, with no way to change them.

In iOS 18, you can finally replace them with other buttons — or remove them entirely, a balm for folks who unknowingly activate the flashlight (believe me, there’s a better way to turn it on). You can add buttons to recognize music via Shazam, enable Dark Mode, set an alarm/timer, enable Airplane Mode, open your Wallet, send money via Tap to Cash and more.

Here’s how:

1. On the iPhone’s lock screen, touch and hold anywhere on the display until you see the Customize button. You’ll need to unlock the phone using Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. If it opens the home screen, swipe down from the center-top of the screen (not the right edge, which brings up Control Center.

2. Tap Customize and then choose Lock Screen.

3. Remove one of the buttons by tapping the – (minus) button on the icon.

4. To replace the button with another function, tap its space (now with a + icon) and then choose the one you want on the next screen. (You can also opt to leave that space empty with no button.)

5. Repeat those steps for the other button if you want to change it.

6. Tap Done when you’re finished.

7. Tap the lock screen again to exit the customize mode.

Remove a lock screen button by tapping the – (minus) button, and then choose a new control to replace it.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Get important alerts using Prioritize Notifications

For iPhone models that can run Apple Intelligence, a new option in iOS 18.4 is fast becoming one of my favorite AI features. Go to Settings > Notifications, and under Apple Intelligence, tap Prioritize Notifications. As new alerts come in — and some days feel like they arrive in floods — Apple Intelligence determines which ones are more likely to be important to you. For example, texts from people in your contacts could be flagged in favor of random scam messages. On that settings screen, you can enable or disable priority notifications for individual apps.

In iOS 18.4, Apple Intelligence can prioritize notifications to grab your attention.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Set up some of the new tasks available on the Action button

The Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16E and iPhone 16 Pro replaced the dedicated mute switch found on every earlier iPhone model with a configurable control. By default, it serves the same purpose — hold it to turn Silent Mode on or off — but you can configure it for other actions like opening the Camera app, performing multiple actions at once or even ordering coffee. The iOS 18.4 update adds Visual Intelligence as an option for the Action button. That makes the AI technology available on the iPhone 16E, which does not include the novel new Camera Control but is now an option for any iPhone with an Action button.

In iOS 18, the Action button gets new capabilities. You can bypass Control Center and choose a control of your choice, such as opening the Remote interface for navigating Apple TV or using Shazam to identify a song.

To choose a different action for the Action button, go to Settings > Action Button. Swipe sideways to select and activate one of the available actions. For the Controls, Shortcut and Accessibility options, tap the Choose button to pick which specific action to run.

iOS 18 now lets you program the Action Button with your favorite Control Center control.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Give your home screen a radical new look

You wouldn’t think that putting icons where you want is a radical new feature, but that’s because iOS has always had a locked arrangement. Apps get added from top to bottom, left to right. You could rearrange the order in which icons appear and move them to other screens, but that was about it.

In iOS 18, apps can be positioned nearly anywhere. You no longer need to deal with a wallpaper image of your kids or pets being obscured by icons. They still adhere to a grid — Apple isn’t about to sanction anarchy — but can be placed freely.

Also, Dark mode finally applies to all of the iPhone’s home screen, with options for coloring icons and affecting the brightness of the wallpaper image. Here’s how to customize the looks.

Arrange apps: Touch and hold the home screen to enter “jiggle mode,” and then drag the icons to new positions. It will still slide them around to fill spaces, but with patience, you can move them into the spots you want.

Position app icons where you want so this very good girl isn’t covered.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

You can also quickly turn compatible apps into widgets that display more information. Maps, for instance, can be a map of your current location with shortcut buttons to search for places or bring up a list of nearby places (such as dinner spots). Touch and hold the app icon and look for a row of resize buttons in the menu that appears. Once expanded beyond the standard icon size, you can drag the handle in the bottom-right corner of the new icon. To get it back to its single icon size you need to touch and hold again and choose the single-icon button

Some apps can be expanded into larger icons that act like widgets.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Set Dark mode: If you’ve ever subjected yourself to the retina blast of black text on a white background late at night in a darkened room, you will appreciate the new Dark mode option for the home and lock screens. iOS has previously included a Dark mode, where light backgrounds switch to black or dark gray, text switches to white or light gray and other interface elements are dimmed to coexist in a dark environment. That’s never been applied to the home and lock screens in any significant way — only the dock and some widgets — until iOS 18.

First, touch and hold the home screen to enter jiggle mode. Tap the Edit button in the top-left corner and choose Customize from the menu. At the bottom of the screen, choose a mode for the icons and background: Automatic, Dark or Light (I’ll get to Tinted in a moment). In Dark mode, the icons gain black backgrounds, and folders and the Dock become dark gray. (Developers have the option of making Dark mode icons for their apps. In the meantime, apps not yet optimized get a generally darker appearance.)

In the home screen’s Dark mode, icons and the background are given a darker treatment.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

In Dark mode, the background image also changes. Apple’s default iOS 18 wallpaper dynamically changes from light to dark as the day progresses, or you can choose colors that offer a light and dark option. If you use a photo, its overall exposure is reduced to dim the light output.

If you want dark icons but aren’t a fan of the dimmed photo treatment, tap the sun icon in the corner of the options sheet at the bottom of the screen to toggle back to Light mode just for the background.

Tinted icons: A new and different option is to tint all of the app icons so they share the same color. In the Customize options at the bottom of the screen, choose Tinted as the icon style. You can then adjust the Hue (the slider with the color spectrum) and Luminosity (the slider with the dark to light range) to choose the color tint you prefer.

Apply a universal tint to all app icons, with controls for adjusting the hue and luminosity.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

What if you want to match a color from a background image? Tap the eyedropper button and then drag the reticle to pinpoint the color you want — the border indicates the selected color.

The tint is applied not only to icons but to widgets as well. For a widget such as Photos, the images it displays show up as duotones to match the theme.

Large icons: Do the labels below each app icon seem redundant to you? Now you can remove the labels and increase the size of the icons with one setting. Open the Customize options as described above and tap the Large button.

Make the home screen icons larger and hide the app labels.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

After making any of these changes, tap anywhere on the screen to apply them and exit the Customize interface.

Change up how the Control Center looks

Control Center was once a convenient place to quickly access controls such as playback volume and Airplane mode but under iOS 18 it’s a configurable playground. You can position controls where you want, resize many to reveal more information and add new controls on multiple screens.

Swipe down from the top-right corner to reveal the Control Center (or swipe up from the bottom on the iPhone SE). To enter edit mode, touch and hold or press the + button at the top-left corner.

Just as with moving apps, drag a control to another slot on the screen to reposition it. Many of the controls also include a bottom-right handle that can resize the control — in most cases, it reveals the name of the control and its current status (such as Flashlight Off).

Rearrange the controls in Control Center and, for some, expand them to reveal more information (or just make the button a larger target for pressing).

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Control Center also now spans multiple screens. Swipe up to view controls for media currently playing, Home controls for smart lights and appliances and a page dedicated to the communication options that appear when you long-press the Connectivity block containing Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular and others. Look closely and you’ll see that those screens are actually individual controls expanded to occupy the entire Control Center area.

You can rearrange the order of those screens by moving their controls. Suppose you want Home controls to be the first swipe instead of Now Playing: In the editing mode, drag the large Home control up to the previous screen (Now Playing will shift to the right to make room).

Some controls get their own screens, such as Home. Normally it’s on the third screen, but here it’s been moved to the second screen.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

To remove controls, tap the – (minus) button that appears. You can also add other controls: Tap Add a Control and scroll through the available options ranging from starting a Screen Recording to a host of accessibility options.

Read more: All the new controls you can add to Control Center

Lock or hide any of your sensitive apps

Our phones carry some of our most sensitive data and yet it’s not uncommon to hand a phone to a friend to view photos or look up something online. That doesn’t mean they’re going to snoop but it doesn’t not mean they might be more curious than you’re comfortable with. For data you want to ensure stays out of sight or to add a layer of protection in front of sensitive information, iOS 18 adds the ability to lock and hide apps.

For example, let’s say you keep an ongoing set of lists of gift ideas for family members in the Notes app. You can lock individual notes, but that requires a separate step. Maybe a few ideas were made as individual quick notes or drawings. Instead of micromanaging access, you can lock the entire Notes app by doing the following:

Touch and hold the app icon you want to lock and choose Require Face ID or Require Touch ID (or Require Passcode if Face ID or Touch ID are not enabled) from the menu that appears. Confirm your choice by tapping Require Face ID (or similar) in the next dialog.

Lock individual apps.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

To remove the authentication step, touch and hold the app and choose Don’t Require Face ID (or similar).

Nothing outwardly indicates that an app is locked — you’ll find out when you try to open it. There’s one more level of app security available, which is to hide apps in a special locked folder. Touch and hold the app and choose Require Face ID and then tap Hide and Require Face ID in the dialog. Confirm the action by tapping Hide App on the next screen.

The app disappears from the home screen and gets slotted into a Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library (swipe left beyond your last home screen to view the App Library). To access apps there, tap the Hidden folder and authenticate with Face ID.

When you choose Hide and Require Face ID to protect an app, it gets put into the Hidden folder in App Library (top). Tap the folder and authenticate to access the app (bottom).

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

iOS 18 imposes some limitations on hidden apps. Some, such as many of the built-in ones like Notes or Reminders, can only be locked and cannot be hidden at all. Also, the Hidden folder locks itself when you launch an app or swipe away from the App Library.

Turn off Loop Videos in the Photos app

Many apps have implemented a small but annoying (to me) feature, and now Photos under iOS 18.2 has it too: Videos automatically replay when you watch them until you tap the Pause button. That can be fun once or twice, or when viewing short clips. I’m not a fan of having to take action to make them stop each time.

Now I can take action once. Go to Settings > Photos, scroll down until you see Loop Videos and turn the option off. A video will play on its own but then stop at the end as it should.

Turn off Loop Videos to stop every video from replaying automatically.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

If you’d rather the video didn’t play at all until you tap the Play button, also turn off Auto-Play Motion in the same Settings screen.

Adjust the view of your calendar

Big new features like locking and hiding apps are great additions but so are the tiny changes that you encounter every day. The Calendar app includes two new ways to view your schedule.

In iOS 18, when you’re in the Month view in portrait orientation, pinch with two fingers to view more or fewer details. As you “zoom in,” individual events appear as colored bars and then as labeled events with times, all while keeping the monthly grid of days and weeks.

In the Calendar app’s Month view, pinch to zoom in and see more details.

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

The Day view, which breaks down your day hour by hour, now has a new Multi Day view that shows two consecutive days to give you context for what’s coming without turning the phone into landscape orientation and viewing the Week view. Tap the View button at the top of the Single Day view and choose Multi Day from the popup menu.

The new Multi Day view in the Calendar shows two days at once (right).

Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Improve movie and TV show dialogue in the TV app

Trouble hearing dialogue in movies and television shows isn’t a new problem — for example, the Apple TV has had a feature for a while where you can ask Siri, “What did she say?” and it will automatically back up a few seconds, turn on subtitles and replay that section of the video. You can even buy soundbars that can overcome muffled TV speech. There are a lot of reasons it’s harder to hear dialogue but the TV app in iOS 18 includes a high-tech workaround to make dialog easier to discern.

While you’re watching a video in the TV app, tap the More (…) button and then expand the Audio heading in the menu that appears; if the phone is in horizontal orientation, tap the Audio Adjustments button. Tap Enhance Dialogue and choose Enhance or Boost. They each dampen background noise and raise the dialogue’s audio.

Turn on Enhance Dialogue in the TV app to discern characters’ speech better in noisy scenes.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

These are just a few new features and changes in iOS 18. Check out our broader coverage of Apple Intelligence, more impressions of the system after using it for months and how these all work together with the iPhone 16 models.

Apple’s iPhone 16, 16 Plus Show Off Bolder Colors and Buttons

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Forget iOS 26, Jump on These 6 Apple Intelligence Features Right Now
Gaming Gear

Forget iOS 26, Jump on These 6 Apple Intelligence Features Right Now

by admin


Apple didn’t have a lot to say about Apple Intelligence at last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, focusing instead on iOS 26 and the new Liquid Display interface that will extend to the iPhone and all of its devices. But even if it had, we’d still be waiting for the new operating systems to be released in the fall to take advantage of them (unless you want to live on the edge and install the first developer betas now).

CNET

I sat down to figure out just which of the current Apple Intelligence features I actually use. They aren’t necessarily the showy ones, like Image Playground, but ones that help in small, significant ways. Admittedly, Apple Intelligence has gotten off to a rocky start, from misleading message summaries to delayed Siri improvements, but the AI tech is far from being a bust. 

If you have a compatible iPhone — an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16E, iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro (or their Plus and Max variants) — I want to share six features that I’m turning to nearly every day.

More features will be added as time goes on — and keep in mind that Apple Intelligence is still officially beta software — but this is where Apple is starting its AI age.

On the other hand, maybe you’re not impressed with Apple Intelligence, or want to wait until the tools evolve more before using them? You can easily turn off Apple Intelligence entirely or use a smaller subset of features.

Get alerted to priority notifications

This feature arrived only recently, but it’s become one of my favorites. When a notification arrives that seems like it could be more important than others, Prioritize Notifications pops it to the top of the notification list on the lock screen (with a colorful Apple Intelligence shimmer, of course). In my experience so far, those include weather alerts, texts from people I regularly communicate with and email messages that contain calls to action or impending deadlines.

To enable it, go to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and then turn the option on. You can also enable or disable priority alerts from individual apps from the same screen. You’re relying on the AI algorithms to decide what gets elevated to a priority — but it seems to be off to a good start.

Apple Intelligence can prioritize notifications to grab your attention.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Summaries bring TL;DR to your correspondence

In an era with so many demands on our attention and seemingly less time to dig into longer topics … Sorry, what was I saying?

Oh, right: How often have you wanted a “too long; didn’t read” version of not just long emails but the fire hose of communication that blasts your way? The ability to summarize notifications, Mail messages and web pages is perhaps the most pervasive and least intrusive feature of Apple Intelligence so far.

When a notification arrives, such as a text from a friend or group in Messages, the iPhone creates a short, single-sentence summary.

Apple Intelligence summarized two text messages.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Sometimes summaries are vague and sometimes they’re unintentionally funny but so far I’ve found them to be more helpful than not. Summaries can also be generated from alerts by third-party apps like news or social media apps — although I suspect that my outdoor security camera is picking up multiple passersby over time and not telling me that 10 people are stacked by the door.

Nobody told me there’s a party at my house.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

That said, Apple Intelligence definitely doesn’t understand sarcasm or colloquialisms — you can turn summaries off if you prefer.

You can also generate a longer summary of emails in the Mail app: Tap the Summarize button at the top of a message to view a rundown of the contents in a few dozen words.

In Safari, when viewing a page where the Reader feature is available, tap the Page Menu button in the address bar, tap Show Reader and then tap the Summary button at the top of the page.

Summarize long articles in Safari in the Reader interface.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Siri gets a glow-up and better interaction

I was amused during the iOS 18 and the iPhone 16 releases that the main visual indicator of Apple Intelligence — the full-screen, color-at-the-edges Siri animation — was noticeably missing. Apple even lit up the edges of the massive glass cube of its Apple Fifth Avenue Store in New York City like a Siri search.

Instead, iOS 18 used the same-old Siri sphere. Now, the modern Siri look has arrived as of iOS 18.1, but only on devices that support Apple Intelligence. If you’re wondering why you’re still seeing the old interface, I can recommend some steps to turn on the new experience.

Siri under Apple Intelligence looks like a multicolor halo around the edges.

James Martin/CNET

With the new look are a few Siri interaction improvements: It’s more forgiving if you stumble through a query, like saying the wrong word or interrupting yourself mid-thought. It’s also better about listening after delivering results, so you can ask related followup questions.

However, the ability to personalize answers based on what Apple Intelligence knows about you is still down the road. What did appear, as of iOS 18.2, was integration of ChatGPT, which you can now use as an alternate source of information. For some queries, if Siri doesn’t have the answer right away, you’re asked if you’d like to use ChatGPT instead. You don’t need a ChatGPT account to take advantage of this (but if you do have one, you can sign in).

Invoke Siri silently without triggering everyone else’s devices

Perhaps my favorite new Siri feature is the ability to bring up the assistant without saying the words “Hey Siri” out loud. In my house, where I have HomePods and my family members use their own iPhones and iPads, I never know which device is going to answer my call (even though they’re supposed to be smart enough to work it out).

Plus, honestly, even after all this time I’m not always comfortable talking to my phone — especially in public. It’s annoying enough when people carry on phone conversations on speaker, I don’t want to add to the hubbub by making Siri requests.

Instead, I turn to a new feature called Tap to Siri. Double-tap the bottom edge of the screen on the iPhone or iPad to bring up the Siri search bar and the onscreen keyboard. 

Double-tap the bar at the bottom of the screen to bring up a voice-free Siri search.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

On a Mac, go to System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and choose a key combination under Keyboard shortcut, such as Press Either Command Key Twice.

Yes, this involves more typing work than just speaking conversationally, but I can enter more specific queries and not wonder if my robot friend is understanding what I’m saying.

Remove distractions from your pictures using Clean Up in the Photos app

Until iOS 18.1, the Photos app on the iPhone and iPad lacked a simple retouch feature. Dust on the camera lens? Litter on the ground? Sorry, you need to deal with those and other distractions in the Photos app on MacOS or using a third-party app.

Now Apple Intelligence includes Clean Up, an AI-enhanced removal tool, in the Photos app. When you edit an image and tap the Clean Up button, the iPhone analyzes the photo and suggests potential items to remove by highlighting them. Tap one or draw a circle around an area — the app erases those areas and uses generative AI to fill in plausible pixels.

Remove distractions in the Photos app using Clean Up.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

In this first incarnation, Clean Up isn’t perfect and you’ll often get better results in other dedicated image editors. But for quickly removing annoyances from photos, it’s fine.

Stay on task with the AI-boosted Reduce Interruptions Focus mode

Focus modes on the iPhone can be enormously helpful, such as turning on Do Not Disturb to insulate yourself from outside distractions. You can also create personalized Focus modes. For example, my Podcast Recording mode blocks outside notifications except from a handful of people during scheduled recording times.

With Apple Intelligence enabled, a new Reduce Interruptions Focus mode is available. When active, it becomes a smarter filter for what gets past the wall holding back superfluous notifications. Even things that are not specified in your criteria for allowed notifications, such as specific people, might pop up. On my iPhone, for instance, that can include weather alerts or texts from my bank when a large purchase or funds transfer has occurred.

To enable it, open Control Center, tap the Focus button and choose Reduce Interruptions. 

The Reduce Interruptions Focus mode (left) intelligently filters possible distractions. Turn it on in Control Center (middle). When something comes in that might need your attention, it shows up as a notification marked Maybe Important (right).

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

For more on Apple Intelligence features, check out how to create Genmoji, how to use Image Wand and, if you want to scale things back, how to disable select Apple Intelligence features.

Watch this: Apple Intelligence Impressions: Don’t Expect Radical Change

09:05

Your iPhone Wants These 11 Essential Accessories in the New Year

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Apple's iOS 26 Developer Beta is Here: How to Get It on Your Device
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Apple’s iOS 26 Developer Beta is Here: How to Get It on Your Device

by admin


Apple wrapped up WWDC 25 earlier this week, and the very first developer beta of iOS 26 is now here. This early release gives developers (and the most impatient enthusiasts) their first hands-on encounter with features the company previewed on stage at Apple Park: a major redesign and AI upgrades for the iPhone software.

The biggest new feature is Liquid Glass, Apple’s new cohesive design language across all its devices, with a transparent, lenslike aesthetic. Live Translation is integrated into Messages and FaceTime to help you communicate across languages. Call Screening, an evolution of Live Voicemail, picks up unknown numbers on your behalf, asks why callers are calling and shows a live transcript so you can decide whether to jump in or let it roll to voicemail. Its sidekick, Hold Assist, listens to the hold music for you and pings you the instant a real person comes on the line. And there’s a lot more.

By jumping straight from iOS 18 to iOS 26, Apple is syncing its mobile OS naming with the rest of its platforms and signaling a generational leap rather than the usual annual tune-up. It’s the biggest OS update since iOS 7, with updates and enhancements to pretty much every part of the iPhone.

If you want to try out any of these features, you can do so right now. Here’s how you can download iOS 26.

Watch this: I’m Impressed With iOS 26. Apple Just Made iPhones Better

05:40

A quick warning before you download iOS 26

Yes, the iOS 26 developer beta is free, but remember it’s meant for developers, not day-to-day use. Early builds often carry bugs that can crash apps, drain your battery, overheat your phone and generally make your device feel sluggish. Unless you need to test software against Apple’s next release, it’s smarter to stick with the public beta, which will be released next month, on your main iPhone.

The iPhone 17, when it’s announced, will support iOS 26.

Viva Tung/CNET

Which iPhone models support iOS 26?

As long as you own an iPhone 11 or newer, you can download iOS 26. That means the iPhone XR/XS generation is out, while every A13 Bionic handset forward, including the forthcoming iPhone 17 models, are included. Here’s the full list of compatible iPhone models that can run iOS 26:

Apple Intelligence works only on compatible phones, which include any iPhone 16 model and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

What you need to know before you download the iOS 26 developer beta

Before you get too excited and start installing the iOS 26 developer beta, there are a few things you need to do:

  • Check your hardware first. This beta runs only on iPhone 11 and newer. If you want the headline Apple Intelligence features, you’ll need an iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max or anything in the forthcoming iPhone 17 lineup.
  • Update to the latest public release. Make sure your phone is already on the most current stable build (right now that’s iOS 18.5). This helps prevent any issues that arise from updating with outdated software.
  • Have a good Wi-Fi connection. You want the install to go flawlessly, which means you should be connected to some pretty decent Wi-Fi.
  • Have enough space on your phone. You need at least 15GB of space on your phone to download the iOS 26 developer beta.
  • Archive a backup. A normal iCloud backup can be overwritten; you need one that can’t. On your Mac, connect your iPhone, open Finder, select your device, hit Back Up Now > Manage Backups, right-click the new backup and click Archive. On Windows, it’s pretty similar. Open iTunes, click Back Up Now, locate the backup in Preferences and archive it.
  • Know the escape hatch. If the beta breaks your phone for any reason (this has never happened to me), you’ll have to put the phone in Recovery Mode, restore iOS 18.5, and then pull that archived backup back onto the device.

Once you’ve followed these steps, you’re pretty much ready to go.

How to install the iOS 26 developer beta on your iPhone

Apple now lets anyone install developer betas without paying the $99 annual fee. To do so, visit the Apple Developer site on the device you plan to update, open the ☰ menu, choose Account, and sign in with that device’s Apple ID. Agree to the terms, tick the required boxes, and tap Submit. You may also need to enable Developer Mode in Settings > Privacy and Security.

Now you can install the iOS 26 developer beta on your phone as an over-the-air update:

  1. After you sign up for the Apple Developer program, you should see the option to download the iOS 26 developer beta in your settings.
  2. On your device, open Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates and choose the iOS 26 Developer Beta.
  3. Go back and tap Download and Install under the new “iOS 26 Developer Beta” option that appears.

The iOS 26 developer beta is 15.28GB in size.

Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Finally, punch in your passcode, accept the T&C, and let the installer do its thing. On a decent Wi-Fi connection, the download-and-reboot routine should take roughly 10 to 15 minutes, but that may vary. When your iPhone powers back on, you’ll be running the iOS 26 developer beta.



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Google completely remade its Snapseed iOS photo editor
Gaming Gear

Google completely remade its Snapseed iOS photo editor

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After several years, Google has released a major update to the iOS version of its Snapseed photo editor. Version 3.0 is the program offers a complete redesign of both the iPhone and iPad apps. All of the images that have been edited with the tool are displayed in a grid. Navigation has been rearranged into three tabs, with a new Faves section for the photo tools that you want to quickly use on the regular. It boasts more than 25 different tools and filters for altering photos, including some newly added film filters. Snapseed also has a refreshed its logo with a more streamlined look.

Google acquired Snapseed all the way back in 2012. The new take on the app is a surprise, since Snapseed hadn’t received any major updates on iOS since 2021. One thing has not changed: the app is still free and has no advertisements. For now, the listing for Snapseed in Google Play is still a version from last year; it’s unclear if or when 3.0 will arrive on Android.



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Apple will let you play video in CarPlay with iOS 26
Gaming Gear

Apple will let you play video in CarPlay with iOS 26

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Apple’s days of blocking you from watching video through CarPlay appear to be coming to an end. The upcoming iOS26 update will allow people to project video from their phones onto the center display of their vehicle through AirPlay. This will enable users to “watch their favorite videos from iPhone right on their CarPlay display when they aren’t driving,” Apple says.

The new capability, which was first noticed by MacRumors, falls under the “video in the car” category on Apple’s developer site, alongside “Automaker apps” and “car keys.” The company invites automakers and developers who are “interested in supporting CarPlay, CarPlay Ultra, AirPlay video, or car keys in your vehicle system” to join its MFi Program.

Apple says that automakers will need to add support for CarPlay with AirPlay video, so it won’t be available to everyone right away. Most automakers are a little risk-averse when approaching new tech that has the potential to be a distraction from driving, so they’re likely pushing for assurances that videos can only be played while the vehicle is parked. They’re also wary about handing over too much control of their screens to Apple, which is why Aston Martin is the only automaker that has come out in support of the company’s new CarPlay Ultra.

Apple says that automakers will need to add support for CarPlay with AirPlay video, so it won’t be available to everyone right away.

A spokesperson for Apple didn’t immediately respond to questions about automaker support or hardware requirements.

A lot of vehicles, especially EVs, already offer some version of video streaming or gaming capability while parked. Some automakers, especially those with Google’s built-in Android-based operating systems, have started adding native YouTube apps to their infotainment displays. Tesla has a Theater mode that supports Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and other services. Other car manufacturers with passenger or seatback screens support various video streaming services.

There have already been a number of unauthorized ways to watch video through CarPlay through third-party adapters or jailbreak tweaks.



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Gaming Gear

Adaptive Power in iOS 26 Is About to Make Your iPhone Much Smarter About Charging

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Usually, I’m the one adapting my behavior based on the power remaining in my iPhone, but starting this fall, I can ask my iPhone to do more of the adapting. A new Adaptive Power setting in iOS 26 can extend battery power by intelligently trimming energy usage in small ways that add up to extend the time before you need to recharge.

See also: Adaptive Power in iOS 26 Could Save the iPhone 17 Air From This Major Pitfall

Currently, the iPhone uses as much power as it needs to perform its tasks. You can extend the battery life by doing a number of things such as decreasing screen brightness and turning off the always-on display. Or, if your battery level is starting to get dire, you can activate Low Power Mode, which reduces background activity like fetching mail and downloading data in addition to those screen adjustments. Low Power Mode also kicks in automatically when the battery level reaches 20%.

If Low Power Mode is the hammer that knocks down power consumption, Adaptive Power is the scalpel that intelligently trims energy savings here and there as needed. Based on Apple’s description that accompanies the control, the savings will be felt mostly in power-hungry situations such as recording videos, editing photos or perhaps even playing games:

“When your battery usage is higher than usual, iPhone can make small performance adjustments to extend your battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to take a little longer. Low Power Mode may turn on at 20%.”

Adaptive Power is not on by default and you’ll need to opt-in to use it. In iOS 26, you’ll find the Adaptive Power toggle in Settings > Battery > Power Mode. 

In iOS 26, turn on the Adaptive Power option to help extend battery life. (IOS 26 developer build shown here.)

Screenshot by Patrick Holland/CNET

Since Adaptive Power appears to be using AI in deciding which settings and processes to adjust, I suspect the feature will be available on iPhone models that support Apple Intelligence, which include the iPhone 15 Pro and later. A Reddit thread about Adaptive Power suggests this is the case, with commenters noting it does not show up in iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro models with the beta installed.

Adaptive Power sounds like an outgrowth of Gaming Mode, introduced in iOS 18, which routes all available processing and graphics power to the frontmost app and pauses other processes in order to deliver the best experience possible — at the notable expense of battery life.

Although we all want as much battery life as possible all the time, judging by the description it sounds as if Adaptive Power’s optimizations will not always be active, even if you leave the feature on. “When your battery usage is higher than usual” could include a limited number of situations. Still, considering that according to a CNET survey 61% of people upgrade their phones because of battery life, a feature such as Adaptive Power could extend the longevity of their phones just by updating to iOS 26.

I also wonder whether slightly adjusting display brightness could be disruptive. But because the feature is also selectively de-prioritizing processing tasks, it suggests that the outward effects will be minimal.

We’ll know more about how well Adaptive Power works as the iOS 26 beta program nears the expected release date in September or October — battery optimizations are often the last tweaks to be made to operating systems in development just before shipping. If you want to start giving iOS 26 a spin, you can download the first developer beta now; a public beta is expected in July. Just remember that beta software carries risks, especially these first iterations that have recently been set loose from Apple’s labs.

Watch this: I’m Impressed With iOS 26. Apple Just Made iPhones Better

05:40



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Apple Wallet's iOS 26 update scans your emails for package delivery tracking
Product Reviews

Apple Wallet’s iOS 26 update scans your emails for package delivery tracking

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One of the upcoming changes to Apple Wallet is bound to become one of its most useful features if you frequently shop online and get deliveries. When you get iOS 26 on your iPhone, your Wallet app will start using Apple Intelligence’s capabilities to automatically scan your emails and identify order tracking details sent by merchants or couriers. The app will then summarize and display those deliveries as cards. As MacRumors has noted, Wallet can already do that for purchases made using Apple Pay. With the update, you’ll be able to keep track of all your deliveries from one place and get progress notifications.

At the moment, access to the feature is still limited to developers who’ve installed the beta version of iOS 26. The feature itself is still in beta, and you will have to enable it by going to the Wallet and Apple Pay section in Settings, heading into Apple Pay Defaults and switching on Orders Found in Mail under Order Tracking.

Apple announced its upcoming mobile platform at WWDC 2025, revealing an interface that has gone through a massive redesign. It features a “Liquid Glass” UI that’s defined by icons, toolbars and tab bars with a see-through appearance. In addition to being able to track orders, the iOS 26 version of Wallet will allow you to create a Digital ID with a US passport and will also come with more detailed boarding passes. iOS 26 isn’t coming out until this fall, but Apple plans to start rolling out public betas in July.

If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.



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iOS 26 Might Be Apple’s Riskiest Redesign Yet
Gaming Gear

iOS 26 Might Be Apple’s Riskiest Redesign Yet

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It’s official, Apple’s big software redesign is here, and all of your devices are about to look a lot different. At WWDC 2025 Apple unveiled “Liquid Glass,” which is its own Apple way of saying, “Your iPhone is getting a lot more bubbly.” The big visual overhaul changes the look of the UI inside Apple devices across the board, including your iPhone, MacBook, Apple Watch, and even your Apple TV 4K streaming box.

And while the full gamut of Apple products is affected by the visual vibe shift, it’s iOS that will probably catch the most attention—and for good reason. For one, lots and lots of people use iPhones in America, and even the slightest tweak to the UI can affect people on a mass scale. Secondly, from what I can tell without seeing the redesign for myself, iOS seems to be the most heavily impacted by the new design. I mean, seriously, check this out:

Today, we’re announcing our most beautiful software design change yet with Liquid Glass. And for the very first time, it’s coming to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26 at once! pic.twitter.com/p8pr8o1EmM

— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) June 9, 2025

While Apple doesn’t state it explicitly, the redesign seems to be heavily influenced by what some designers might call “glassmorphism,” which is a visual style in UI that incorporates lots of opaque menus and, unlike Apple’s current flat “neumorphic” design, adds a bit of shape to icons that were previously kind of 2D. See (ironically) other operating systems from, *cough, cough* Microsoft, if you want another example of what glassmorphism might manifest as. Someone more knowledgeable than I could probably nerd out over the new look with a few thousand words, but a design maven I am not. When I look at Liquid Glass, I see things in a simpler light. I see mostly one thing: risk.

On one hand, that risk is exciting. I think Apple’s UI is due for an update. By Apple’s own estimation, the last visual overhaul was way back in iOS 7, when iPhones still had a physical home button and “Obamacare” was still a topic of political discussion. Not only that, but Apple, for good reason, has been accused a lot in recent years of not attempting to push the boundaries like it once did under the leadership of Steve Jobs and Jony Ive. A good way to show people you’re not afraid to try something new is to, well, try something new. That’s exactly what Apple did; it took a risk on a redesign that changes some pretty core elements of your iPhone’s UI—icons, menus, you name it.

But just like any bold new endeavor, there are going to be some tradeoffs. One of those tradeoffs, in this case, may be accessibility. As many of you have already noted, there are some visual quirks to Apple’s glassmorphic era, and legibility may be at stake.

Say fucking goodbye to accessibility #WWDC25 pic.twitter.com/CKCIwv2sns

— Ilya · イリア (@ilyamiskov) June 9, 2025

As much as I actually like the look aesthetically of Apple’s new Liquid Glass overhaul, I think there are going to be some big haters, and I can’t exactly blame them. Having clear windows may look future-forward, but when that design encounters, say, I don’t know, text on a page, things can get a little messy. What you get, at times, is a visually muddled menu that conflicts with other elements on a page. I’m not jumping to any conclusions yet since I haven’t really seen the redesign for myself or how it interacts with web pages or apps, but objectively, it seems like there isn’t as much contrast as Apple’s previous look. One thing I’ve definitely noticed so far is that subtle differences in where a menu lands in an app or web page can make a huge impact. For instance, check out this picture.

apple just introduced “Liquid Glass” design in iOS.

it’s beautiful, futuristic… and completely unreadable.

what are we doing here? 😵‍💫 pic.twitter.com/ybw8SIxtqh

— Kalash (@amikalash) June 9, 2025

I don’t know about you, but what I see is a blurry, visual disaster. But, if you check out the video this screenshot is pulled from, just a second makes all the difference. Here’s the same visual demonstration, but the menu is offset just slightly on the text underneath.

© Apple / Screenshot by Gizmodo

I feel like there’s a pretty big difference in legibility here. It’s not perfect by any means, and I certainly wouldn’t call it accessible, but it looks a lot better. This is all to say that I think there will be subtle differences that determine whether you’re seeing something clear, pleasing, and visually distinct or if you’re looking at a garbled glassmorphic mess. From what I can tell, there will also be different Liquid Glass styles to choose from, which may affect the accessibility of menus. There’s also the fact that this redesign doesn’t officially launch until the fall, so anything could change.

How you feel about Liquid Glass is obviously up for debate, but one thing is clear (pun intended), and that’s that whatever Apple is doing with the iOS redesign and Liquid Glass writ large is definitely a bigger risk than past overhauls. To risk accessibility or legibility on a platform as big as iOS takes some real vision—whether good or bad. Let’s just hope that the vision, for the sake of everyone out there with an iPhone, isn’t quite as blurry or illegible as some of these early looks might suggest.





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Litecoin Powered Nexus Wallet Launches For Android And Ios
Crypto Trends

Litecoin Powered Nexus Wallet launches for Android and iOS

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The Litecoin Foundation has just announced the Nexus Wallet, making it possible for enthusiasts to download it both on Google Play and on the iOS App Store. When announced on June 7, 2025, via the Litecoin Foundation’s official tweet, the Litecoin Wallet 2.0 became a reliable and useful tool for those using LTC.

Nexus Wallet, especially for Litecoin, offers various useful features to benefit users and make the service easy to use. It features atomic swaps between BTC and LTC, fully supports SegWit, and offers MWEB for improving the level of privacy. 

In addition, users can make fast transactions using Lightning Network, pay easily at many U.S. shops with Flexa Pay, and send their LTC to Unstoppable Domains. This means Nexus is useful for daily activity as well as more complicated crypto operations.

The launch, which was first announced during the Litecoin Summit 2025, is now creating a buzz among people in the crypto space. The partnership with Flexa reveals that instant and safe spending of LTC at stores across the U.S. will be possible. Lightning and many in the community urge people to download the authorized wallet.

In every country, the Litecoin Foundation shows its commitment to innovation and growth with Nexus Wallet. People who use cryptocurrency globally can now choose a reliable Litecoin wallet, which highlights the strength of LTC among other altcoins. Gain more information by accessing the Litecoin Foundation’s materials or by downloading Nexus Wallet at this moment.

Also Read: Yago Reveals Why Litecoin’s LitVM is a Step Ahead of Bitcoin



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