iOS 26.2 beta brings changes to Sleep Score, Apple News, and more

Macworld

A day after the wide release of iOS 26.1, Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.2. This release is again expected to focus primarily on polish, tweaking, while adding quality-of-life enhancements rather than any big new features.

iOS 26.2: What’s new

We will continually update this list as the beta progresses and more changes are added and discovered by the community.

Updated Sleep Score ranges: Apple has adjusted what the various Sleep Score ranges mean, making it require higher scores for the better descriptions. For example, “High” used to be a score of 70-89, and is now 81-95.

Lock Screen Liquid Glass slider: The clock control for the Lock Screen how has a slider to adjust how transparent/glassy the time readout should be. This replaces the old “clear or tinted” toggle.

Apple News design: The design of Apple News has been tweaked, with four quick-select categories at the top. These appear to be based on your previous activity.

Podcasts improvements: The Podcasts app gets auto-generated chapters along with the ability to more easily follow mentioned podcasts or follow up on links mentioned in a podcast episode.

Set Alarms and Timers for Reminders: If you set a reminder as “urgent” you will be asked if you wish to create and alarm or timer for it.

Freeform app: You can now insert tables into your boards.

iOS 26.2: How to install

If you want to test the iOS 26 beta releases but are not a registered developer, follow these steps:

Click Sign Up on the Apple Beta page and register with your Apple ID.

Log in to the Beta Software Program.

Click Enroll your iOS device.

Open the Settings app, tap General, then Software Update.

In the Beta Updates section, select the iOS Public Beta.

It may take a few moments after registering for the beta option to appear in Software Update.

iOS 26.2: How to install the developer beta

You’ll need to be registered as an Apple developer, but a free developer account will do. You can get one via Xcode or the Apple Developer app in iOS. Here’s how to do it via the Apple Developer app:

Download the Apple Developer App from the App Store.

Open the app.

Tap on Account.

Sign in using your usual Apple ID.

Find out everything you need to know about iOS 26 in our iOS 26 superguide.