iOS 26 Beta 4 Now Available With 9 New Features

By José Adorno
iPhone 16 Pro Max running iOS 26 José Adorno for BGR

A couple of weeks after releasing iOS 26 beta 3, Apple is now making beta 4 available to developers. This new build should continue to improve the general experience, stability, and battery drain present in the previous builds. As we expect the first public beta version to be available soon, here's everything you need to know about this upcoming software update.

It's possible that Apple is still working to find a good balance between readability and the new Liquid Glass design. With the previous two betas, the company has made the navigation bar in Control Center, Apple Music, App Store, and other apps more opaque. Apple is making the Liquid Glass UI more like a "Frosty Glass," but it's likely to change in the upcoming versions.

Besides that, the previous beta added new wallpaper options, as the new background introduced in iOS 26 adds new colors. They're also more distinct in Dark mode. Apple also made Commute Delays available in Apple Maps. This feature was unveiled during the WWDC 2025 keynote but it took Apple a few betas to get it into the hands of testers.

Before that, Apple added a new ringtone, the order tracking feature within the Wallet app, and a Recovery Assistant mode where users don't need to connect their iPhone to a Mac. For the Messages app, iOS 26 beta 4 continues to improve the new backgrounds for chats and polls. If you have an Apple Intelligence-powered iPhone, the Messages app will suggest polls based on your messages. Live Translation is another feature available within Messages, Phone, and FaceTime. Apple is also working on several new Apple Intelligence features.

iOS 26 supported devices

iPhone 16 Pro Max Home Screen on iOS 26 José Adorno for BGR

Apple no longer supports the iPhone XR and iPhone XS lineup. These are the devices that will be able to run iOS 26 once it's released to all users:

  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (2nd gen)
  • iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13
  • iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
  • iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
  • iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
  • iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
  • iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
  • iPhone 16e

Beta 4 of iOS 26 is available alongside the fourth test versions of iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. We also expect the first public betas of these upcoming OS updates to arrive this week.

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