Apple has released iOS 26.1 RC to beta testers ahead of the official release of the software update. Here are the changes coming to iPhone in iOS 26.1.
Liquid glass replacement
The biggest news from iOS 26.1 is the Liquid Glass switch. Apple is adding the option to choose between clear design (current design in iOS 26) and colorful. The colored option changes the opacity level behind things like notifications and tab bars. Other visual elements of Liquid Glass such as optional clear app icons are still present.
You can find the toggle in Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass on iPhone and iPad. The Mac also gets a toggle in Settings > Appearance > Liquid Glass, though the differences in macOS aren’t as pronounced.
The new preference comes in addition to already existing accessibility settings like increase contrast, reduce transparency, and more.
Swipe lock screen
iOS 26.1 introduces a second toggle that more users may welcome. For the first time in years, it’s possible to disable the swipe gesture to open the camera on the iPhone lock screen.
The new toggle is found in Settings > Camera > Lock Screen Swipe to unlock the camera.
The shortcut started out as an up swipe gesture before later becoming the swipe from right gesture in iOS 10. Starting with the iPhone
Newer iPhones also include a camera control button, adding a third way to operate the camera. Before that, the action button offered another way.
Although the swipe option remains, including the ability to turn it off in settings, this can eliminate accidental swipes that inadvertently launch the camera app.
more
More changes discovered in previous versions of iOS 26.1 are related to Apple Intelligence, AirPods Live Translation, Apple TV, and iPad Slide Over.
Apple intelligence Supports Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
AirPods live translation Adds support for Chinese (Simplified and Traditional Mandarin), Italian, Japanese, and Korean. The feature was launched with iOS 26 AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3and AirPods 4 With support for US and UK English, French, German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain).
Apple is renaming its video streaming service from Apple TV+ to just Apple TV. According to Apple, the rebranding will be accompanied by a “vibrant new identity.” The first sign of vitality comes with the new icon for the Apple TV app.
The Settings app now includes a Local Capture section under General. The setting allows you to change where local capture files are saved. You can also toggle local capture to include audio only.
iOS 26.1 also improves how you dismiss alerts through the Slide to unlock interface, adds a swipe gesture to change songs in the Music app, and more.
Availability
iOS 26.1 RC is available to developer beta testers now. The official version is likely to be released within one week.
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