My First Impressions After Spending 5 Days With iOS 26

My First Impressions After Spending 5 Days With iOS 26

I have spent five days with the iOS 26 developer beta, and my first impressions are cautiously optimistic. While certain features like the new group messaging options are unavailable and there are plenty of bugs to be found, the developer beta provides a first look at what’s coming next for iPhone. From Liquid Glass giving everything the look of visionOS to a new Games app and Apple Intelligence features, here’s what you can expect from iOS 26 so far.

Notable Bugs In iOS 26 Developer Beta

There’s a reason you shouldn’t install a developer beta on any of your primary devices. Whenever I install a beta for the first time, my first “test” is to ensure that everything I need works properly. For iPhone, this usually entails things like phone and messaging, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and any of the apps I’m currently addicted to. Fortunately, the developer beta is good to me, but remember that mileage may vary.

In terms of bugs that I personally experienced, battery drain would be my largest issue. Though this is pretty typical for a developer beta. This time around the battery drain was so extreme Apple released a patch for it already (for 15 and 16 models). Retrieving mail over Wi-Fi can also be a lot slower than usual, with my phone taking up to several minutes to load email. I also experienced a rather puzzling issue where my keyboard would randomly switch to the Japanese keyboard I had installed, forcing me to uninstall it.

On Reddit, users are experiencing non-functioning cameras and there are reports that wireless charging is not working in the first developer beta. Wireless charging works for me, but I don’t know if this is something that was patched in the second beta, or if some folks are simply unlucky.

Essentially, if you like having a device that is fully working, developer betas are not for you. They are experimental, and you are taking a risk installing them on any device.

See Through the Fog: Taking a Look at Liquid Glass

Now that bugs are out of the way, we can start looking at the features of iOS 26. With Apple unifying release numbers with this version, the company is also unifying the look of all their operating systems with the Liquid Glass UI. Modeling itself off of visionOS, Apple promises that the new UI “reflects and refracts its surroundings” promising a clearer experience.

Everything has a glassy look to it, which is why some are already complaining that certain elements like notifications are too clear. After spending some time with the UI, it’s growing on me slightly. Though I had much more excitement for the Lock screen refresh in iOS 16 than I do for anything going on within iOS 26, I no longer have disgust for iOS 26 as I did when I first installed it. As many third-party companies have yet to update their apps, there is the issue that your Home screen is going to look like a mishmash of old and new icons, yet some icons still look rather wonky to me.

My major ire with iOS 26 currently is the revamped keyboard. So far, it only appears in Apple-specific apps such as Messages or Notes, but I am not a fan. While it reacts the same as the past keyboard, certain things about it are noticeably smaller. Here’s hoping it gets some tweaks before it sees public release.

Considering Apple is really pushing the Vision Pro, it makes me curious about what lies ahead for that device. However, in its current state, I don’t see why the iPhone needs to adopt the aesthetics of the Vision Pro. If anything, it should be the other way around. Whether you love it or hate it, Liquid Glass is here.

New Features in iOS 26: Phone and Messages

Currently, my favorite new “feature” would be the small animations that are prevalent throughout iOS 26. While subtle (and buggy), I highly prefer them over other design decisions found in this release. With luck, Apple will continue to tweak the animations alongside the look of iOS 26.

Either the new group chat features are still not present, or I’ve yet to see when any of my friends are typing in the window. The option to have Polls in a group chat is also missing. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if the group messaging features were some of the last things to be added before the public release.

The Phone app also gets a pretty hefty redesign, with the bottom bar now displaying Calls, Contacts, Keypad, and Search. Accessing voicemails and your list of missed calls is now done from the top-right corner. This is also where you can switch to a “Classic” view, which makes things feel more familiar.

You can enable Call Screening from the top-right menu in the Phone app, and the feature seems to do rather well. I was unable to test the new Call Hold feature, as the only call I took that offered it was too important for me to be testing things. However, I really like the new offerings so far.

Additional Features in iOS 26: Apple Intelligence and Games App

Along with revamping the Phone app and adding new functionalities to group messaging, Apple Intelligence is getting some new tweaks as well. This includes additions to Image Playground and Genmoji. I must say, the ability to blend emojis together with Genmoji is way more fun than it should be. The new Styles within Image Playground also create some interesting images, but I’ll leave it up to the reader concerning their thoughts on AI in general.

The new Games app is exciting, though obviously how much you get out of it depends largely on how much you game. You can quickly access a list of games you play frequently, and the app also makes recommendations from the App Store. For those who have a lot of Apple gaming friends, I imagine the Play Together tab will be rather nifty, as you can invite friends and choose games to play from this category.

There’s still a lot more I’ve yet to play with fully, including new additions to Apple Maps, new Accessibility features, and changes to Apple Wallet. While the Liquid Glass UI isn’t going to be for everyone, the functionality of iOS may be better than ever. Plus, more features will arrive with additional rollouts.

Should I Install iOS 26?

Right now, you should most certainly not download the developer beta. Unless you truly love the look of Liquid Glass, I don’t think there is anything present in these early releases that’s worth potentially sacrificing the usability of your iPhone. Should you update, be sure to make a backup, as there’s still time to downgrade if things go south.

It’s hard not to feel a bit let down by the overall design of iOS 26. The pessimist in me has me feeling like I’m holding a Samsung phone whenever I look at it, which feels pretty bad. Considering some folks are comparing Liquid Glass to Windows Vista, I guess I’m not alone. Something about Liquid Glass just feels so hollow, and I find myself accepting the changes with reluctance more than embracing them. Apple must really believe that the Vision Pro is the future, though I’m still hoping for some design changes before this release hits the public.

iOS 26 running on iPhones
Image credit: Apple

While my conclusion may sound bleak, I’m still looking forward to the public release of iOS 26 in Fall 2025, even if at minimum it means I don’t have to run beta software for a little bit.

It really seems like Apple is heading in the same direction as other tech companies, wherein the motto “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is completely out the window.

I don’t think the general public is going to take to the Vision Pro the same way it took to the iconic iPhone. Apple pushing the looks of visionOS onto the rest of its lineup feels like a “here comes the airplane!” moment during a child’s supper, and here’s hoping I’m wrong.

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