iOS 26.5 ― Bug Fixes, Changes, and Improvements

[gummybear2026]

Apple needs to find a way to fix bugs without constantly releasing updates.

Then what would the hamsters do that manage the QC team?

 

[baruch]

iOS 26.5​

Beta Release Date ― May 8, 2026
Public Release Date ― May 11, 2026
Build Number ― 23F77
Darwin Kernel Version ― 25.5.0: Thu Apr 23 20:39:55 PDT 2026; root:xnu-12377.122.4~1

This update introduces support for end-to-end encrypted RCS (beta) messaging and a downloadable Pride Luminance wallpaper, along with enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPhone

This update includes the following enhancements:

• End-to-end encrypted RCS messaging (beta) in Messages is available with supported carriers and will roll out over time. For more information visit: https://support.apple.com/109526
• Pride Luminance wallpaper that dynamically refracts a spectrum of colors, is available for download
• Suggested Places in Maps displays recommendations based on what's trending nearby and your recent searches

iOS 26.5 Beta Release Notes

New Issues
Remaining Issues
Resolved Issues
Features
Additional Notes

• Developers and testers can report bugs using the Feedback app. If you put your settings back on “None” for the betas, you can still open the app by entering the following URL in Safari:
• iOS 26 Overview
• iOS 26 Press Release
• iOS 26 Release Notes
• iOS Beta Release Notes
• iOS Security Updates

Spoiler: Modem Firmware

• iPhone 17 series: 1.60.02
• iPhone Air: 2.05.04
• iPhone 16 series: 2.60.00
• iPhone 16e: 2.02.03
• iPhone 15 series: 3.50.08
• iPhone 14 series: 4.51.04
• iPhone 13 series and iPhone SE (3rd gen): 5.51.02
• iPhone 12 series: 5.10.01
• iPhone 11 series, iPhone SE (2nd gen) and iPad Air (Cellular, 4th gen): 6.50.00

Spoiler: Carrier Version

Australia

• Optus - 64.5.8
• Telstra - 64.5.13
• Vodafone AU - 70.0

Belgium

• BASE - 33.0
• Orange B - 58
• Proximus - 45.0
• Telenet - 66.0

Brazil (info updated 26.5RC, last change in 26.5RC)

• Claro Brasil - 70.0
• Vivo - 70.0
• TIM -
• Oi - declared bankrupt in Nov 10th 2025

Canada

• Bell - 62.8
• Fido - 56.0
• Fizz - 53.0
• Freedom/Shaw Mobile - 54.8.6
• Mint Mobile - 58.0
• Public Mobile - 54.8.4
• Rogers - 70.0
• Telus - 54.8.8
• Videotron - 53.0
• Virgin Mobile - 50.0

Denmark

• 3 DK - 46.7.11
• TDC 69.5
• Norlys 69.5

Finland

• DNA - 58.5.7

France

• Bouygues Telecom - 40.0
• Orange France - 70.0
• Free - 70.0
• SFR -

Germany

• Vodafone.de - 70.0 and RCS enabled
• Telekom.de - 70.0 and RCS enabled
• o2-de - 61.6.1 RCS enabled

Greece:

• Cosmote - 38.0

Guatemala

• TIGO GT - 49.0

India

• Airtel - 58.5.18
• Jio - 69.0 (iPhone) and 58.5.18 (iPad)
• Vi India (Vodafone Idea) - 58.5

Ireland

• Eir - 33.5
• Vodafone IE - 38.0

Mexico

• AT&T - 57.0
• Telcel - 57.6

Morocco

• Orange - 50.0

Netherlands

• KPN - 70.0
• Vodafone NL - 68.0
• Odido - 68.0

Poland

• T-Mobile - 64.5.4
• Orange - 64.5.2
• Play - 61.0
• Plus - 61.0

Portugal

• Vodafone P - 40.0

Romania

• Orange RO - 55.0

Slovakia

• Orange SK - 57.6

Southeast Asia

• Singapore Singtel -
• Philippines Globe - 70.0
• Philippines Globe (iPad) - 38.0
• Philippines Smart - 70.0
• Thailand AIS - 53.0
• Thailand DTAC - 53.0
• Malaysia Umobile - 33.0
• Malaysia Maxis -33.0
• Malaysia Digi -
• Malaysia celcom -
• Hong Kong - 32.0
• Taiwan -

Spain

• Orange ES - 70.0
• DIGI ES - 54.8.4
• Vodafone ES - 54.8.8
• Movistar - 70.0
• Yoigo - 70.0

Sweden

• Comviq -
• Tre - 31.0

Switzerland

• Salt - 58.0
• Sunrise - 70.0
• Swisscom - 70.0

Turkey

• Turkcell (Lifecell) - 36.5.5
• Vodafone TR - 32.0
• Turk Telekom - 32.0

United Kingdom

• BT-UK (EE MVNO) -
• EE - 70.0
• Giffgaff (O2 MVNO) -
• iD Mobile (Three MVNO) - 69.5
• Lebara (Vodafone MVNO) - 67.5.1
• Lyca (EE MVNO) -
• Mozillion (EE MVNO) - 67.0
• O2-UK - 69.5.2
• Sky (O2 MVNO) - 69.5.1
• Three - 69.0
• Virgin Mobile (O2 MVNO) -
• Vodafone UK - 64.5.5
• Smarty (Three MVNO) - v70.0

United States

• AT&T - 70.0
• Boost - 57.0
• Cricket - 60.5.5
• FirstNet - 55.0
• FirstNet (iPad) - 41.7.6
• Metro (TMO MVNO) - 70.0
• Spectrum (VZW MVNO) - 70.0
• T-Mobile - 70.0
• TracFone/Straight Talk/Walmart Family Mobile - 63.5
• U.S. Cellular - 46.7.24
• Ultra/Mint Mobile (TMO MVNO) - 64.5.16
• Verizon - 70.0
• Visible (VZW MVNO) - 70.0
• Xfinity Mobile - 67.5.1

Other

• Docomo - 32.5.10
• AlwaysOnline -

Historical beta release chart

iOS Version History Chart

iOS version history chart

www.thinkybits.com

Crashed my iPhone 15 Pro, had to reinstall everything and of course some things did not reinstall properly. Ugh. Another faulty Apple update.

 

[katbel]

Crashed my iPhone 15 Pro, had to reinstall everything and of course some things did not reinstall properly. Ugh. Another faulty Apple update.

Sorry
I was going to update my iPhone 15 Pro from 18.7.7 but after reading these pages and your comment
I think it’s safe for me to wait

 

[ValerieDurden]

Hey here I was thinking over the weekend this was the smoothest iOS 26 has been, I was way wrong. Total lagfest in apps, it’s pathetic to the point I just want to punt my phone. Hard restart and restarted several times it’s beyond laggy doing everything. I am done with Apple from this point forward once this is paid off I am gone. Horrible buyer’s remorse.

 

[Artemiz]

Crashed my iPhone 15 Pro, had to reinstall everything and of course some things did not reinstall properly. Ugh. Another faulty Apple update.

Did you try to update using an IPSW?
And did it go into “trying to restore” screen?

 

[Greg_1984]

Anyone else having issues sending RCS messages to Android users after upgrading to 26.5?

I have no problem sending them from my iPhone 16 Pro (running 26.5), but when sending a RCS message via Messages on my Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch, it tries to send, but never shows up in Messages on my iPhone. Eventually, I'll get an error that the text message failed to send. This was NOT a problem yesterday before the update to 26.5. I have spent all day trying all the troubleshooting steps. Very frustrating. From searching online, this is not an isolated issue.

 

[Dust-by-Monday]

iOS 26.5 so far been great , noticed in the photos app where the navigation button was dark when tinted has been fixed and the whole ui with tinted on feels very much like iOS 18 which is love

Yeah I noticed that when you have Tinted mode enabled the controls no longer change color based on content under them for example changing to dark controls if you scroll over a dark image.

 

[baruch]

Did you try to update using an IPSW?
And did it go into “trying to restore” screen?

I just did the regular update, it did say "trying to restore" a few times, I turned the phone off, turned it on, it offwered to erase the phone and restore from backup and I did that and now it's ok.

 

[Artemiz]

I just did the regular update, it did say "trying to restore" a few times, I turned the phone off, turned it on, it offwered to erase the phone and restore from backup and I did that and now it's ok.

If it says trying to restore, just let it finish. It takes half hour or more to finish but your data would be completely intact.

I’ve only heard of this happening when you’re trying to update via IPSW using a Mac. Never with OTA update.

 

[DeanCorp]

Loving this update was there any differences between RC2 beta and GM?

 

[dk001]

Been running RC2 (on the Air) so no update. Today screenshots send from iOS to Android via RCS are showing up pixelated. Via 5G and WiFi both show the issue.

iPhone Air > Galaxy S25 Plus.

Pics sent from the S25P to iOS are fine. Issue is with the Air.

 

[BBDDVV]

Crashed my iPhone 15 Pro, had to reinstall everything and of course some things did not reinstall properly. Ugh. Another faulty Apple update.

no issues on 15 Pro here...

 

[one more]

Crashed my iPhone 15 Pro, had to reinstall everything and of course some things did not reinstall properly. Ugh. Another faulty Apple update.

Bad luck. Installed it OTA on iPhone 15, iPhone 17, iPad Air M1 and iPad Pro M5, all went smoothly.

 

[BrighterShades]

AirPlay to Sonos is broken after 26.5 on iPhone and iPad. Currently playing Apple Music on HomePods is correct on my spouse's devices, but not mine…even after multiple restarts of router, iPhone/iPad, HomePods. None of my Android friends show RCS E2EE despite confirming they are running the latest release of Google Messages.

 

[Travis299]

Bad luck. Installed it OTA on iPhone 15, iPhone 17, iPad Air M1 and iPad Pro M5, all went smoothly.

Ditto on 15PM & 16P.

 

[Reverend Benny]

AirPlay to Sonos is broken after 26.5 on iPhone and iPad. Currently playing Apple Music on HomePods is correct on my spouse's devices, but not mine…even after multiple restarts of router, iPhone/iPad, HomePods. None of my Android friends show RCS E2EE despite confirming they are running the latest release of Google Messages.

Airplay works fine with my Sonos One and Era 100s. Have two of each. The Sonos Ones required a power cycle to work (but they have been a bit unreliable in the past too, so not sure its the update). Tried it from my iPhone 16 pro and iPad Pro M1.

Also tried using Airdrop with a Google Pixel 10 today to share files, worked great both ways 🙂

 

[RSmith2023]

Forgive me if someone has noticed/mentioned this already…

Has anyone tried send a screenshot to an Android user (since Apple re-released the E2E encryption over RCS) , specifically using the “copy and delete” method?

I discovered that, at least for me, if I do that, the message gets delivered scrambled (see attached photo). But if I take the same screenshot, and save it to the camera roll then attach it to the message, it goes through just fine.

I have submitted feedback #FB22772554 for this.

 

[RSmith2023]

I’ve already grown tired of the stripes on the lock screen and Notification Center from the new pride wallpaper :/

View attachment 2628928

Reeeeeeeally wish there was a way to blur them like you can blur the Home Screen. Liquid Glass notifications just don’t look great with stripes behind.

That would be really nice.. 👍🏾

 

[RSmith2023]

View attachment 2629216

People ask me at work why I don’t use my work phone for personal items since it is paid for. This is reason 1 followed by reason 2 which is I still have a 15. Tried to do my 26.5 and of course I’m blocked.

Same here but mostly because I don’t want to be subject to company policies on a device I use for personal communication. Added to that, the company effectively “owns” my data/backups/etc.

 

[RSmith2023]

This build completely broke search within Health. Everything was fine until RC2, now basically nothing can be found by searching, but all data is there and can be accessed under Show All Health Data.

Wondering if maybe it reset the indexing?

 

[RSmith2023]

Anyone else having issues sending RCS messages to Android users after upgrading to 26.5?

I have no problem sending them from my iPhone 16 Pro (running 26.5), but when sending a RCS message via Messages on my Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch, it tries to send, but never shows up in Messages on my iPhone. Eventually, I'll get an error that the text message failed to send. This was NOT a problem yesterday before the update to 26.5. I have spent all day trying all the troubleshooting steps. Very frustrating. From searching online, this is not an isolated issue.

See my post at #119. Not quite the same as your issue, but an issue sending to Android over RCS…

Post in thread 'iOS 26.5 ― Bug Fixes, Changes, and Improvements'
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...hanges-and-improvements.2482104/post-34586191

 

[sbailey4]

Anyone else having issues sending RCS messages to Android users after upgrading to 26.5?

I have no problem sending them from my iPhone 16 Pro (running 26.5), but when sending a RCS message via Messages on my Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch, it tries to send, but never shows up in Messages on my iPhone. Eventually, I'll get an error that the text message failed to send. This was NOT a problem yesterday before the update to 26.5. I have spent all day trying all the troubleshooting steps. Very frustrating. From searching online, this is not an isolated issue.

No issues sending RCS to individuals or groups of Android users but so far no encryption has appeared. Spectrum to Verizon so both providers support encrypted RCS (beta) according to Apples document.

 

[zorinlynx]

Did the keyboard issues people were reporting since 26 came out ever get resolved?

Reduced accuracy, lag, etc... I'm still on iOS 18 and am wondering if it's time to jump soon. I kinda want the end to end encryption on texting with Android and other subtle improvements in the platform.

 

[Greg_1984]

No issues sending RCS to individuals or groups of Android users but so far no encryption has appeared. Spectrum to Verizon so both providers support encrypted RCS (beta) according to Apples document.

Thanks, sbailey4!

SO, here's what I've discovered since my post yesterday. The issue didn't matter what device I used because ultimately it has to use my iPhone to deliver the SMS/RCS messages.

If I go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options on my iPhone and TURN OFF 'Limit IP Address Tracking,' I can successfully send RCS texts again from my other devices (i.e., Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.). FYI: I'm using T-Mobile, so the issue is more than likely on their end.

I also notice that I'm unable to send even SMS messages to some Android users when the 'Limit IP Address Tracking' Option is enabled.

Go figure.

 

[Greg_1984]

See my post at #119. Not quite the same as your issue, but an issue sending to Android over RCS…

Post in thread 'iOS 26.5 ― Bug Fixes, Changes, and Improvements'
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...hanges-and-improvements.2482104/post-34586191

Hey RSmith2023,

Thanks for the reply. I was able to fix this issue. If I go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options on my iPhone and TURN OFF 'Limit IP Address Tracking,' I can successfully send RCS texts again from my other devices (i.e., Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.). I use T-Mobile, so the issue is more than likely on their end.

Go figure.