Apple has rolled out the first developer beta of iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, just a week after the public launch of iOS 26. While the update doesn’t introduce sweeping new features, it refines several existing elements and expands language support across Apple’s AI and translation tools.
One of the most visible tweaks comes in the Photos app. The scrubber now has a frosted, translucent design, making it easier to distinguish while scrolling through large photo libraries. The update also refreshes other navigation buttons within Photos for better visual consistency.
The Phone app has been given a small but noticeable update as well, with its keypad adopting Apple’s “Liquid Glass” design language, blending more seamlessly with the overall iOS interface.
Apple Intelligence, which debuted with iOS 26, is expanding its reach in this beta. The AI assistant now supports additional languages, including Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Turkish. This makes the feature more accessible to a wider group of users, particularly as Apple continues to push its AI-powered functions deeper into the OS.
Apple Music has added a simple but practical gesture: users can now swipe on the currently playing song’s title to skip forward or backward in their queue. It’s a small change, but one that streamlines everyday use.
AirPods’ Live Translation feature is also being broadened, gaining support for Japanese, Korean, Italian, and both Traditional and Simplified Chinese. This makes real-time translations more versatile and useful for travelers and multilingual users.
As with previous point releases, Apple is expected to push out several more beta builds before the stable iOS 26.1 update arrives for the public, likely in mid to late October. The focus for now is on polish, usability improvements, and extending Apple Intelligence’s reach rather than introducing entirely new functionality.
