iOS 26 First Public Beta Launch Expected Next Week—How to Prepare for Liquid Glass Design

Apple’s biggest revamp to its software ecosystem was announced last month, introducing the new Liquid Glass design, which brings translucent, glass-like elements in a dynamic interface for interactive user engagement and environmental changes. It will be finally available to beta testers as part of iOS 26 public beta next week, which is also when the third developer beta will be released.

The new Liquid Glass design applies to the operating systems of the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, TV, and Vision Pro, but the spotlight is on iOS 26, which has already received mixed feedback for Liquid Glass.

iOS 26 was released for developers over a month ago, giving early adopters a feeling of what Liquid Design looks like in the real world and how it impacts the user experience. While some users appreciated the translucent appearance and glass-like fluidity in design elements, the unanimous feedback was that it was too cool to be practical. The design impacted legibility and made the text on screen difficult to read in certain scenarios. The successive beta builds for developers fixed these problems, but Apple was criticised for diluting the identity of the Liquid Glass design by over-implementing the feedback.

The first public beta could reveal what exactly will define Liquid Glass. Will it be the original translucent design that some appreciated but several others criticised, or will Apple play safe with more appealing frosted glass design elements? The public betas are aimed at regular users because they carry fewer bugs and more stability.

So, when is the first iOS 26 public beta build releasing?

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, iOS 26 will be widely available to beta testers on July 23 — the same day as the third developer beta. This is later than Apple’s usual timeline for public betas, sparking speculation that Apple may be taking time to finalise the essence of Liquid Glass design.

If you are anticipating the release, here are the things you can do to prepare your iPhone for it.

First, iOS 26 will be supported on the iPhone 11 series and higher models, including the second-generation iPhone SE and later.

Second, you need to decide whether you want unstable software on your daily driver. Even though public betas are less buggy than developer betas, they are still not stable enough to offer the best user experience. If you are doubtful about how apps will behave and the overall functionality of the iPhone after installing a public beta, consider skipping this version and waiting for the stable iOS 26 version, potentially till September.

Third, public betas can be downloaded only after you have switched to the public beta channel. You can make the necessary changes from the Software Update section of your iPhone settings. And the last thing, remember to back up your data on a separate machine.

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