Here’s What’s New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1 [VIDEO]

Apple released iOS 26.1 beta 1 yesterday, bringing a handful of new features, fixes, and design tweaks. According to a breakdown from zollotech on YouTube, the update is a full reinstall of iOS at around 16 GB on the iPhone 17 Pro Max and carries build number 23B5044L.

Here’s the full breakdown of what’s new in iOS 26.1 beta 1:

• Apple Intelligence Languages: Now supports Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese.
• Translate App: Adds Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese to live translation.
• Music App: New swipe gestures with haptic feedback for skipping songs, plus smoother full-screen album art animations.
• Photos App: Updated video scrubber makes playback easier to control.
• Accessibility: High contrast mode has clearer menu changes.
• UI Updates: Wi-Fi toggle gets the Liquid Glass effect; phone dialler updated with a more transparent look.
• New Hello Screen: Displays after installing the update.
• Security Updates: Apple is reintroducing rapid security patches under a new name, “Background Security Improvements.”

Zollotech notes that known issues have dropped from 37 in iOS 26 to just five in this beta. Safari runs smoother, and Wi-Fi issues reported on the iPhone 17 lineup may be addressed. Early testing shows better battery life and heat management on the iPhone 17 Pro Max compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Apple is also expected to push out iOS 26.0.1 soon as a bug fix update, with iOS 26.1 beta 2 likely arriving in early October.

Check out zollotech’s full video below: