iOS 26 looks new and modern. And for once, how Apple describes it — liquid glass — makes sense: it’s a lot of layers of transparent elements overlapping and, in places, the animations are quite… liquidy. Menus and buttons will respond to your touch, with some of them coalescing around your finger and sometimes separating out into new menus.

As always, remember that the iOS 26 beta is... a beta. So, back up your phone before making the switch. And as Apple says in its Beta Program FAQ, "Beta software may contain errors or inaccuracies and may not function as well as commercially released software. We encourage you to submit feedback when you encounter these issues.

OS 26 is changing a ton of iPhone features, from messaging to the photos app. Here's what to expect when it ships in the fall.