Making Mobile Simple | iOS 26 beta - your questions answered

As of last week, iOS 26 beta is public. I've had a few questions about it, so I thought it would be helpful to share the answers.

Should I install iOS 26 beta on my main phone?

In a word, no. Here's some reasons why not:

It's early days, there will still be problems with it.
Apps not built by Apple don't support iOS 26 yet, so may not work.
Battery management won't be optimised yet, so you could find your battery draining quickly.
Although you can uninstall the beta, it takes a full erase and restore - not ideal on your main phone.

Should I install iOS 26 beta on a test device?

Yes, if you've got a spare. But don't install it over an older version of iOS that you need for testing - if you remove iOS 26 beta you can only go back to the latest major release, i.e. iOS 18.

How will the public beta impact my apps?

If you're developing apps, be aware that end users might start reporting issues with your app on iOS 26. So check the iOS version before heading into panic mode for issues! Collect the feedback, it will be useful when you get your app into shape for iOS 26.

Should I test my apps against the beta?

Yes, now is a good time to start doing that. However don't rush to fix issues, as Apple are still ironing out problems, and it might be them rather than you. For now, search to see if others are experiencing similar issues, and log problems to check against the next beta.

Should I try building my app against iOS 26?

Yes, you should be doing this now to make sure you're ready for the release by September. Download the beta of Xcode 26, and you're good to go. This year they've changed the UI design significantly with 'liquid glass', there's a reasonable chance your UI will look funky and need some sorting out.

If you want to keep track of the betas as they come out, you can find them on Apple's Releases page / RSS feed. And you can get a nice view of the full iOS landscape on my Platform Watch page.