iOS 26.6 Beta 2 ― Bug Fixes, Changes, and Improvements

[James6s]

26.5.1 has been the smoothest iOS 26 for me to date, it’s mostly enjoyable now.

It’s got better and better from where it started, but could be even better! iOS 26 hasn’t been the best release.

I’m still seeing frequent app redraws when I use tinted icons on 26.5.1, I don’t use them now. Hopefully 26.6 will be an even more polished version.

If Apple can maintain the stability of iOS 27 in future betas then I may jump on that train!

 

[roncron]

FWIW, I've been having a good experience on 26.6b2 on my 17 Pro. I installed it when it became available about 51 hours ago. A few minor stutters within the first couple hours; consistently smooth and snappy since then.

A bit early to draw conclusions about battery life, but so far my experience has been excellent - about 1 hour of active use per 10% battery drain. Battery life on 26.5 and 26.5.1 wasn't horrible for me, but was a bit worse than 26.4 and def worse than 26.6b2.

For the most part, it's not night-and-day improvement over 26.5.1, but the improvements while modest are noticeable and not placebo.

Of course, YMMV. And full disclosure, I'm a less sophisticated iPhone & iOS user than most of you, so if others here are posting different opinions than mine, please heed them.

 

[cigz]

Unfortunately for me the battery life hasn’t improved at all, I feel like it’s even worse than 26.5.1…
Just to compare, here’s 26.6 B2:

And here’s 26.3:

That’s pretty bad if you ask me. I have filed a feedback regarding this and it’s showing there’s more than 10 similar feedbacks.

Also the brightness bug is still not fixed.

Yesterday I was recording some short 4K60 videos and my 17 Pro was heating up like crazy, I changed to 1080p60 and it didn’t change anything.

On a positive note - it feels smoother than 26.5.1 and on previous versions CarPlay has been connecting, then disconnecting after few seconds and reconnecting again.
On 26.6 B2 it hasn’t happened to me yet.

 

[Robmcsp]

In my case, my iPhone 16 Pro was running iOS 26.5, and the phone would get quite hot just from using one or two apps, and sometimes while charging as well. It had never heated up like this before, and I didn't experience this during the first few weeks on iOS 26.5.

I decided to update because the amount of overheating simply didn't make sense. I don't usually install beta software, but I decided to give it a try. Since updating to iOS 26.6 Beta 2, the phone runs much cooler, battery life is noticeably better, and I'm getting around 4.5 hours of screen-on time with 50% battery usage, or roughly 10% battery drain per hour with a mix of Wi-Fi and mobile data.

Overall, the system feels just as stable as iOS 26.5, if not more so. I haven't experienced any crashes, RAM management seems good, apps aren't constantly reloading, and wired CarPlay works perfectly in my Hyundai.

Personally, I haven't noticed any issues with screen brightness calibration that I would consider annoying.

Of course, running a beta always carries some risk, but if you're experiencing overheating on iOS 26.5, I'd encourage you to give it a try—just make sure to back up your device first in case the beta causes issues for you after installation.

Hopefully things will continue to improve and not regress by the time the final version of iOS 26.6 is released.

 

[TwoBytes]

In my case, my iPhone 16 Pro was running iOS 26.5, and the phone would get quite hot just from using one or two apps, and sometimes while charging as well. It had never heated up like this before, and I didn't experience this during the first few weeks on iOS 26.5.

I decided to update because the amount of overheating simply didn't make sense. I don't usually install beta software, but I decided to give it a try. Since updating to iOS 26.6 Beta 2, the phone runs much cooler, battery life is noticeably better, and I'm getting around 4.5 hours of screen-on time with 50% battery usage, or roughly 10% battery drain per hour with a mix of Wi-Fi and mobile data.

Overall, the system feels just as stable as iOS 26.5, if not more so. I haven't experienced any crashes, RAM management seems good, apps aren't constantly reloading, and wired CarPlay works perfectly in my Hyundai.

Personally, I haven't noticed any issues with screen brightness calibration that I would consider annoying.

Of course, running a beta always carries some risk, but if you're experiencing overheating on iOS 26.5, I'd encourage you to give it a try—just make sure to back up your device first in case the beta causes issues for you after installation.

Hopefully things will continue to improve and not regress by the time the final version of iOS 26.6 is released.

That's good to know!

I'm on 26.5, and the overheating for anything the phone is doing is nuts and a killer on battery life. I can't wait for the official release. Whatever they introduced in 26.5 has been a drain compared to the previous update. I've even considered os27 that the battery and thermals are so bad!

 

[judgeFire]

Is this the release that's supposed to start pre-indexing stuff to have it ready in the new post-spotlight format for 27.0?

 

[iGeek2019]

Has anyone else noticed a change in directions when using Apple Maps?

I’ve just had a week off work and it used to say, for example: “at the roundabout turn left onto XXX” but both yesterday evening and this morning it’s gone “at the roundabout take the first left towards XXX”.

 

[kmf1]

Has anyone else noticed a change in directions when using Apple Maps?

I’ve just had a week off work and it used to say, for example: “at the roundabout turn left onto XXX” but both yesterday evening and this morning it’s gone “at the roundabout take the first left towards XXX”.

I hear that most of the time now. Take the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd exit.

 

[roncron]

Beta 3 is available for developers now. Build 23G5052D