iOS 26.1 Beta 3 Now Available With Several New Features
Apple's beta cycle for iOS 26.1 continues with the arrival of iOS 26.1 beta 3 for developers. Alongside the third version of the iPhone's upcoming operating system update, Apple also seeded beta 3 of iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, watchOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1. So far, the most notable change to these future software updates has been the reintroduction of Slide Over for iPadOS.
Despite that, most of the new features are part of iOS 26.1. With the previous beta, Apple added a new "Slide to Stop" alarm feature. With this change, whenever users want to stop an alarm from the Lock Screen, they have to slide their finger across the display, an interesting nod to the old "Slide to Unlock" feature of the original iPhone.
Apple is also adding the ability to create custom workouts through the company's Fitness app. This is likely part of Apple's revamp to this app after it introduced a heart rate sensor on AirPods Pro 3. With iOS 26.1 beta 3, developers can create custom workouts by adding the type of workout, estimated Active Calories, effort, duration, and start time.
Apple continues to polish Liquid Glass
With the past two iOS 26.1 betas, Apple continued to tweak the Liquid Glass experience. From adding an iOS 26 wallpaper to the Display & Brightness settings to adding a Liquid Glass sheen to the keypad on the Phone app, the company is focused on making this all-new experience even better. Apple has also changed the alignment of icons and text in Settings, improved the light refraction effect around apps with darker icon colors or background colors, and updated the Photos app interface for managing several photos at once.
Other tweaks include the ability to swipe on the miniature Apple Music "Now Playing" icon to play the next song or the previous one. Besides that, Apple continues to work on support for more Apple Intelligence languages for the platform in general but also for the recently-introduced Live Translation feature. We will let you know what's else is new in iOS 26.1 beta 3 as we learn more about it.