People all around the globe are waiting for the official iOS 26 public beta, but if you’re ready to put in a little additional work, you can get the latest version of the beta version of the newest operating system for your iPhone right now via Apple’s developer program. The next version of iOS will have a fresh look and additional capabilities that use AI.
Today, Apple sent out the fourth developer beta. It adds a few new design changes and brings back AI-powered notification summaries.
Liquid Glass is Apple’s new design language that works on all of its devices. This is the major announcement in iOS 26. There are also two long-awaited phone features. Call Screening picks up calls from unknown numbers for you, asks why the caller is calling, and displays you a live transcript so you can decide whether to respond. Hold Assist listens to hold music for you and lets you know as soon as a real person is available.
Apple is changing the names of its mobile operating systems to match those of its other platforms by going directly from iOS 18 to iOS 26. This is a hint of a generational leap rather than the normal yearly update. This is the largest upgrade to the iPhone’s operating system since iOS 7. It adds new features and improvements to almost every part of the phone.
You may test out any of these features right now if you want to. This is how you can get the iOS 26 developer beta.
Be careful: Downloading the iOS 26 developer beta is at your own risk.
Yes, the iOS 26 developer beta is free, but keep in mind that it is not designed for everyday usage. Early versions typically include issues that may crash applications, deplete your battery, make your phone too hot, and make it seem slow in general. If you don’t need to test software against Apple’s next release, it’s better to stay with the public beta, which should be out shortly, on your primary iPhone.
What iPhones can run iOS 26?
You may download iOS 26 if you have an iPhone 11 or later. That implies that the iPhone XR/XS generation is no longer available, but all A13 Bionic phones, including the next iPhone 17 models, are. This is the complete list of iPhone models that can run iOS 26:
How to get your iPhone ready to install the iOS 26 developer beta
Before you get too enthusiastic and start downloading the iOS 26 developer beta, you need perform these things:
First, check your hardware. You can only use this beta on iPhone 11 and later. You need an iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, or anything in the new iPhone 17 series to get the Apple Intelligence capabilities that are in the headline.
Get the most recent public release. Make sure your phone is on the most recent stable build, which is iOS 18.5 at the moment. This helps prevent problems from happening when you update with old software.
Make sure your Wi-Fi works well. You want the installation to proceed well, therefore you should be linked to some good Wi-Fi.
Make sure your phone has adequate space. To download the iOS 26 developer beta, your phone needs at least 15GB of free space.
Make a backup and save it. You can overwrite a conventional iCloud backup, but you need one that can’t. To back up your iPhone on your Mac, connect it to your Mac, open Finder, choose your device, and then click Back Up Now > Manage Backups. Then, right-click the new backup and choose Archive. It’s pretty much the same on Windows. Open iTunes and select “Back Up Now.” Then, go to Preferences and find the backup to save it.
Know where to go to get out. If the beta damages your phone for any reason (this has never happened to me), you’ll need to put it in Recovery Mode, restore iOS 18.5, and then put the archived backup back on the phone.
You’re almost ready to depart after you’ve done these things.
How to put the iOS 26 developer beta on your iPhone
Anyone may now install developer betas from Apple without having to pay the $99 yearly charge. To accomplish this, go to the Apple Developer site on the device you want to update, open the ☰ menu, click on Account, and sign in using that device’s Apple ID. Agree to the conditions, check the items that need to be checked, and then hit Submit. You may also need to turn on Developer Mode under Privacy and Security in Settings.
You may now install the iOS 26 developer beta on your phone as an over-the-air update:
When you join up for the Apple Developer program, you should be able to download the iOS 26 developer beta from your settings.
To get the iOS 26 Developer Beta, go to Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates on your device.
Under the new “iOS 26 Developer Beta” option that opens, go back and touch
Download and Install.
Finally, enter your passcode, agree to the terms and conditions, and let the installation do its job. If you have a good Wi-Fi connection, the download-and-reboot cycle should take around 10 to 15 minutes, although this might change. When your iPhone turns back on, it will be running the iOS 26 developer beta.