Apple iOS 26.1: 10 New Features For Your iPhone And How To Install Them
iOS 26.1 gives you greater control over your iPhone’s Liquid Glass aesthetic.
Apple has rolled out the iOS 26.1 update, which adds several fresh capabilities to iPhones. To install iOS 26.1, you can head to Settings, tap General, then choose Software Update. Select Update Now and proceed with the on-screen instructions.
Here are 10 new features arriving with iOS 26.1 for your iPhone and how you can install them.
1. Liquid Glass Customisation
iOS 26.1 gives you greater control over your iPhone’s Liquid Glass aesthetic. You can navigate to Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass to switch between Clear or Tinted modes. For Home Screen tweaks, press and hold on the screen, hit Edit, and select Customise. Here, set your app icons to Clear or Tinted, and pick Light, Dark, or Auto from the bottom menu to refine the Liquid Glass effects. Alternatively, you can visit Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and enable the Reduce Transparency switch.
2. Alarm Improvements
iOS 26.1 makes it tougher to dismiss alarms by mistake. Now, you’ll need to swipe to silence them rather than tapping a button, which may be helpful for ensuring you’re fully awake.
3. Prevent Unintended Camera Launches
A toggle to avoid accidentally activating the Camera from the Lock Screen has been added. You can find it in Settings > Camera, then scroll down to the Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera toggle.
4. Automatic Security Updates
A practical new security option in iOS 26.1 enables your iPhone to automatically fetch and apply Security Improvements. You can access it via Settings > Privacy & Security > Background Security Improvements.
5. Expanded Live Translation Support
Live Translation, launched with iOS 26 for iPhones and AirPods, gains more languages in this update. These include Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin, simplified), and Chinese (Mandarin, traditional).
6. Expanded Apple Intelligence Language Support
For devices with Apple Intelligence, iOS 26.1 extends AI capabilities to these languages: Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Portuguese (Portugal), Turkish, Swedish, Vietnamese, and Chinese (traditional).
7. Control For Call Haptics
Introduced in iOS 26, there’s now a setting to disable vibrations when calls connect or end, preventing confusion with incoming notifications. You can turn off Haptics by going to Settings > Apps > Phone.
8. New Accessibility Feature
iOS 26.1 offers a new preference for single-tap actions instead of swipes on the screen. You can do it in Settings > Accessibility > Touch, at the bottom of the list.
9. Local Capture Settings
Local Capture simplifies recording high-quality video and audio during calls on your iPhone. iOS 26.1 adds a dedicated menu for it in Settings > General > Local Capture. You can choose a storage spot for recordings and opt for audio-only mode.
10. Song Switching In Apple Music
With iOS 26.1, you can swipe left or right on the song title in the music player to skip tracks, whether in full-screen mode or with the mini-player at the screen’s bottom. The title even animates with a little hop when switching.
