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Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 Betas to Developers

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming two weeks after Apple released updated first betas.

iOS 26
Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update.

iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 do not include new Siri capabilities, suggesting any ‌Siri‌ updates are being held until iOS 27. The Maps app has a Suggested Places feature for recommending locations to visit nearby based on trends and recent searches, plus Apple is laying the groundwork for ads in the Apple Maps app.

Apple is continuing to test end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and Android users. Apple included the feature in the iOS 26.4 beta, but removed it before the update launched to the public.

In the European Union, Apple is testing proximity pairing, notification forwarding, and Live Activities for third-party wearables like earbuds and smartwatches. The functionality will allow third-party wearables to have many of the same features as the Apple Watch and AirPods.

More detail on what's new in iOS 26.5 can be found in our iOS 26.5 beta features guide.

Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26
Related Forum: iOS 26

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Top Rated Comments

WarmWinterHat Avatar
4 days ago at 10:11 am
I don't normally run betas, but ads in Maps is too hot to pass up. 😍
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BarrettF77 Avatar
4 days ago at 11:23 am
I feel like with every ear release of software from Apple. They’re trying to drive their customers away by inserting ads into every damn thing they make. We already pay way too much for your products. Why do we want ads in them?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DocMultimedia Avatar
4 days ago at 10:10 am
My AI sniffer says...no. Maybe 26.6. Or 27.9.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dr McKay Avatar
4 days ago at 01:45 pm

I don't normally run betas, but ads in Maps is too hot to pass up. 😍
I cut out the middleman and mail money directly to Tim Apple at the Mothership every time I use a system app.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4 days ago at 11:01 am

I must have gotten this update last week.
No last Friday was 26.5 re release, update 2 has only been out an hour
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Octavius8 Avatar
4 days ago at 10:12 am
2 years of delays of a new Siri… and people says “x company copied Apple…” we have no reason to think that new Siri will be useful as promised. Zero trust. Even the keyboard lag big in iOS 26 took forever to be kind of fixed (still bad).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)