- Apple has released iOS 26.1 Beta update
- This comes with a number of small but significant changes
- It includes a smart new gesture for the Apple Music app
Apple may have just launched iOS 26 and all its new features, but there is more on the table in the form of iOS 26.1 that Apple has just sent out to beta testers. And this beta update comes with a lot of small adjustments and features that can make a positive difference to your iPhone, especially if you lamented upgrade.
One of the nicest iOS 26.1 Beta addances has come to the Apple Music app. When you play something, you can now change tracks by pushing along the miniplayer. This is the small bar at the bottom of the Apple Music app that shows your currently playback of music. Run a finger to the left or right along it and you can jump your sound back or forward a track.
Apple Music is not the only app that benefits from the changes in iOS 26.1 Beta. Apple’s calendar app has been updated to change the way events from your calendars appear.
In some views, events will have a colored background whose tone depends on the calendar it originated from – blue to your family calendar and red for your social, for example – instead of just a small colored icon. It makes it much easier to distinguish between your separate calendar events with a moment.
What else is new?
There is also an adjustment of Apple’s floating glass design in the photos app. The navigation bar at the bottom of the screen has a more frosted look, making it easier to look at an easy background. This is not the first time Apple has fine -tuned liquid glass to make it more legible, and it probably won’t be the last time either.
IOS 26.1 Beta update comes with a number of other, minor changes. It includes a redesigned slider to scrub through your videos in the photos app, new languages for Apple Intelligence and AirPods Live Translation, a wider fan beam in Safari and more.
Generally speaking, the most significant changes Dem for music, calendar and photos-appticle improvements in the quality of life that should make it easier and more satisfying to use Apple’s apps and more satisfactory than before.
While you can download and install iOS 26.1 Beta, don’t do it on your main unit. Things can go wrong with the developer betas and you won’t end up losing your important files because the beta caused a problem with your phone. Make sure you back up your iPhone before installing, just to be sure.



