Image: Foundry
A day after the wide release of iOS 26.1, Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.2. This release is again expected to focus primarily on polish, tweaking, while adding quality-of-life enhancements rather than any big new features.
Update December 12, 2025: Apple has released iOS 26.2 for everyone.
iOS 26.2 release notes
Here are Apple’s official release notes for iOS 26.2:
Apple Music
- Favorite Songs playlist appears in Top Picks on the home tab
- Offline lyrics for downloaded songs so you can view them without an internet connection
Podcasts
- Automatically generated chapters make it easier to navigate episodes
- Links to mentioned podcasts let you see and follow other podcasts mentioned in the episode you’re listening to directly from the player and transcript
Games
- Filters in the Games library let you find games by category, size, and more
- In-game challenge score banners provide realtime updates when someone new has taken the lead
- Improved support for connected controllers such as Backbone and Razer
This update also includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
- Additional Lock Screen time customization option lets you further adjust its appearance, giving the Liquid Glass material more or less opacity
- Enhanced Safety Alerts can inform you about imminent threats such as floods, natural disasters, and other emergencies, with rich information like a map of affected areas and links to additional safety guidance (available in the U.S.)
- Alarms for Reminders help you stay on top of urgent tasks, and provide snooze and Live Activity support if you’re not ready to check the reminder off
- AirDrop codes offer an additional layer of verification when using AirDrop with unknown contacts by providing a code on the receiver’s device that the sender must enter to complete the transfer
- Apple News Section links at the top of the Today feed offer easy navigation to popular topics like Sports, Politics, Business, and Food
- Multipack accessory pairing in the Home app lets you use the same setup code to easily enroll multiple accessories when sold together
- Flash for alerts in Accessibility Settings offers the additional option to have the device screen flash when you receive a notification
- Tables in Freeform can hold text, images, documents, and drawings, with cells that intelligently resize to fit, bringing structure to the infinite canvas
- Fixes an issue where pre-release albums in the Apple Music library were not immediately playable at their release time
- Fixes an issue where a Privacy and Security setting may incorrectly be marked as managed by an enterprise organization
iOS 26.2: What’s new
We will continually update this list as the beta progresses and more changes are added and discovered by the community.
Measure app: The Measure app gets a new Liquid Glass design.
Games app: New library filtering, improved controller navigation, and challenge scores that update in real time.
Updated Sleep Score ranges: Apple has adjusted what the various Sleep Score ranges mean, making it require higher scores for the better descriptions. For example, “High” used to be a score of 70-89, and is now 81-95.
Lock Screen Liquid Glass slider: The clock control for the Lock Screen how has a slider to adjust how transparent/glassy the time readout should be. This replaces the old “clear or tinted” toggle.
Apple News design: The design of Apple News has been tweaked, with four quick-select categories at the top. These appear to be based on your previous activity.
Podcasts improvements: The Podcasts app gets auto-generated chapters along with the ability to more easily follow mentioned podcasts or follow up on links mentioned in a podcast episode.
Set Alarms and Timers for Reminders: If you set a reminder as “urgent” you will be asked if you wish to create and alarm or timer for it.
Freeform app: You can now insert tables into your boards.
iOS 26.2: How to install
Your iPhone will eventually prompt you to install iOS 26.2, but that can take a while, even if you have “Automatic Updates” turned on. To get it now, follow these steps:
- Open Settings.
- Tap General.
- Tap Software Update.
- Make sure you have the intended version of iOS selected if necessary, and follow the on-screen instructions.
Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor, Macworld
Jason has written about technology for more than 25 years – first in the gaming press, then focusing on enthusiast PCs and general technology. He enjoys learning how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.
