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:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Software Update.
4. Make sure you have the intended version of iOS selected if necessary, and follow the on-screen instructions.