iOS 26.1 Beta 1 Unveiled: Discover All the Latest Features Now!

With the launch of iOS 26, Apple has embarked on its usual update cycle. The anticipation for what iOS 27 might bring is already mounting. In this first update, Apple has taken us by surprise with a significant enhancement to Apple Intelligence.

Enhanced Multilingual Support in Apple Intelligence

Previously limited to a few languages, Apple Intelligence has now expanded its linguistic capabilities to include Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (from Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese. It will be particularly interesting to observe Apple’s technical implementations for Chinese, given the stringent scrutiny of AI functionalities and operations by the Chinese government.

Live Translation on AirPods Adds New Languages

As Apple Intelligence grows more robust, the live translation feature on AirPods now supports additional languages, including Japanese, Korean, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese (both traditional and simplified versions). Unfortunately, this feature has yet to roll out in Europe.

During a press briefing, Apple’s marketing chief, Greg Joswiak, expressed strong criticism towards Brussels for the absence of this feature in European countries. He stated, “They want to deprive us of this magic, the kind of seamless experience that only Apple can provide, making us look just like everyone else“. Clearly, European users will need to wait a bit longer.

Tweaks to Liquid Glass

Apple continues to fine-tune Liquid Glass, introducing subtle changes here and there. Notably, MacRumors reports that the phone dialer now employs Liquid Glass for displaying numbers.

Modifications have also been made to the video scrolling cursor in the Photos app, as well as the navigation bar, which now features a slightly more frosted effect, enhancing readability against light backgrounds.

In Safari, the tab bar located at the bottom is now broader with reduced spacing around the edges.

New Gesture for Apple Music

A new feature allows users to change tracks on Apple Music by simply swiping over the area where the song title is displayed. This gesture lets you skip to the next track or return to the previous one with ease.

Minor Updates to Calendar

While not a complete overhaul, Apple has made some minor updates to its Calendar app. Now, some views display events from different calendars with a full-color background.

For users, this update might not seem “revolutionary.” Beyond these visual enhancements, the major highlight continues to be the expanded language support in Apple Intelligence. It is also likely that the update addresses a range of bugs.