iOS 26 Beta 3 update released for iPhones: Here's everything that's changed
New Delhi: Apple has released iOS 26 Beta 3 to developers and beta testers officially, which offers a slew of visual enhancements and interface improvements to supported iPhones. It is the successor to the Beta 2 release that was put out in June, and it perfects the new Liquid Glass interface of Apple and provides new wallpaper backgrounds to make the entire iPhone experience a lot better.
One of the most prominent adjustments is the darker colour used on the Liquid Glass interface, which is meant to enhance the readability of texts, particularly in media apps such as Apple Music and Podcasts. Apple has also provided additional colour options to the stock home and lock screen wallpapers so as to make the customisation process more dynamic on the part of the user.
In 2025, at WWDC, the Liquid Glass design was unveiled with the purpose of making the interface appear translucent and glass-like. Nonetheless, initial reviews showed readability problems, especially on light wallpapers. Apple has responded to this by polishing the UI with every beta release. Beta 3 intensifies the colour scheme with better contrast, and content is easier to read on a range of system applications.
New wallpaper options and dark nodeiOS 26 beta 3 featuring Diluted Glass
— Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo)
iOS 26 Beta 3 introduces four new colour variations of wallpapers (Shadow, Sky, Halo and Dusk). The styles provide a visual contrast, which is even greater when the Dark Mode is turned on. The new features offer more control over the appearance of iPhone screens to the users.
Dock and icon layout improvementsApple has also responded to the complaints of users about the position of app icons. In this update, the icons on the iPhone dock are still centred when less than four apps are added as opposed to the previous version, which moved to the left. Similar minor changes have been done on system icons such as Files and Photos apps.
iOS 26 Beta 3 is a free over-the-air (OTA) update that is available to developers and beta testers who have already registered with iPhone 11 and newer models. Nevertheless, some important features of Apple Intelligence are not available in any other line of phones, except the iPhone 16, iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. iOS 26 is likely to be released to the general audience in the second half of the year.