Paying heed to the many complaints about the rather glitchy (even more so than usual) iOS 26, Apple has rolled out the iOS 26.1 beta for developers. The update brings a handful of improvements worth noting—some asked for and some not. Let’s take a look at these updates.
Expanded Language Support
Apple Intelligence and the Live Translation feature in AirPods now support even more languages. The total number of supported languages in Apple Intelligence now comes to 17, marking a significant language expansion for Apple. This comes as a solid step forward in making the ecosystem more inclusive and globally accessible. Here’s hoping that they include Hindi soon!
UI Refinements
Apple continues to fine-tune its interface in this newest upgrade. Subtle changes like a redesigned Photos scrubber, liquid glass keypad in the Phone app, colour-coded calendar events, and more have been introduced—offering a rather unique and better visual experience.
Apple Music Improvements
Apple Music users can now swipe left or right on the mini player to switch tracks, making it easier to navigate without tapping the control buttons. Does this simplify a task that did not need much simplifying to begin with? Yes. But we can count this as a welcome change, especially for the music enthusiasts.
There are also rumours of a third-party smartwatch support framework being developed, however, Apple has not specifically confirmed this to be true. This isn’t a particularly dramatic overhaul, but it’s more than just bug fixes. iOS 26.1 beta seems to be about refining what was already in motion— and preparing the ground for what might be coming next. The release time for the general public is yet to be announced, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that it comes soon.
