After keeping things low key with iOS 26.3, Apple rolled out a sizable update for iOS 26.4—especially for Apple Music users. That app’s UI now matches the art of the album you’re checking out; you can use AI to generate new playlists, and find upcoming concerts by the artists you’re listening to directly in the app. Combined with other new changes, like eight new emojis and the new “Urgent” section in Reminders, iOS 26.4 was actually quite a feature-filled update.
iOS 26.5, on the other hand, appears to be another quiet one—at least based on what we can tell from its first beta, which Apple released Monday. Don’t expect any massive new features or changes here (despite some rumors to the contrary, Apple really does appear to be saving its AI Siri for the launch of iOS 27) but there are some interesting updates to call out—and not necessarily in a good way.
Just note: As Apple is currently testing iOS 26.5, this is a rolling list of features, and it may change as Apple releases new beta updates. You can try iOS 26.5 right now if you enroll your iPhone in Apple’s beta program, but be sure you understand the risks of installing unfinished software on your devices. Make full backups of important data to a computer before installing any beta, in case you need to restore your iPhone.
Apple Maps gets ads
This is perhaps the headlining feature of iOS 26.5: Apple Maps is getting ads. It’s part of Apple’s push to introduce ads into more of its apps and services in order to boost its revenue. (What’s a $3.7 trillion company to do?) These ads will appear when you search in Apple Maps, based on relevance, as well as at the top of a “Suggested Places” screen that is also new to iOS 26.5.
You should easily be able to distinguish between ads and suggested locations: Apple says it’s placing a blue “Ad” icon on any paid location that appears in search or Suggested Places. It’s possible these ads could even be useful, if they really are relevant: If you’re looking for a specific type of food in a particular city, perhaps the top ad really is the way to go. On the other hand, the fact that it was paid to be up there could be a red flag.
The addition of ads isn’t a shock: We first heard rumblings of this news last year, and Apple confirmed it last week. Because this is Apple, the company is assuring users that its ad placements take privacy into account, as the app “doesn’t know which stores, neighborhoods, or clinics you visit.” When you interact with an ad, that data is tied to a “random identifier” that changes multiple times an hour, so theoretically, no one should be able to tie your ad interactions to you personally.
RCS end-to-end encryption testing
With iOS 26.5, Apple is back to testing end-to-end encryption for RCS support—one of the last big limitations the protocol has on iOS. The company started to test encryption support with iOS 26.4, but said it wouldn’t roll out with that release. If it does indeed ship with the final build of iOS 26.5, iPhone users should be able to text their Android friends directly without leaving their messages out in the open in plain text.
You can quickly pair Magic Accessories to your iPhone
If you have one of Apple’s “Magic” accessories, like a Magic Keyboard, you can quickly pair it to your iPhone in iOS 26.5. You’ll just plug your iPhone into the accessory via USB-C to pair, as you do on macOS, rather than fiddling with Bluetooth settings.
What do you think so far?
Messages attachment settings for iPhone to Android transfers
This year, Apple and Google announced a joint effort to make it easier to transfer data between iPhone and Android, which simplifies switching devices and ecosystems. With iOS 26.5, Apple appears to be testing a new setting that lets you choose a time range for transferring messages attachments, including “All,” “1 year,” or “30 days.”
iOS now supports the Inuktitut keyboard layout
Apple is testing a new keyboard layout for Inuktitut, a language spoken in the Canadian arctic.
EU-only testing in iOS 26.5
Apple is testing also some EU-only features in this latest update. The EU has cracked down on Apple for locking other companies out of its ecosystem, and as a result, it is forcing the company to open up more of its platforms and services.
With iOS 26.5, Apple is testing Live Activities support for third-party devices, which would allow those devices to display Live Activities on their displays—though there’s no indication at this time about what those devices may be. Apple is also testing “proximity pairing” for third-party devices, like earbuds, which could get the same easy pairing system Apple reserves for its own AirPods and Beats. Finally, the company is also continuing to test notification forwarding to third-party devices, like smartwatches.
