With the fourth beta of iOS 26, Apple has again made changes to the Liquid Glass design that's available across the operating system, tweaking how the menus and buttons appear in apps.


In response to criticism about too little Liquid Glass in beta 3, Apple has upped the translucency in several areas.



Navigation bars in apps like Photos, Music, the App Store, Podcasts, are slightly clearer, allowing more of the background color to show through.



Apple cut down on the frosted glass look, but the changes are small enough that text remains readable, so it appears to be more of a balance between beta 2 and beta 3.



Control Center, the Lock Screen, and the Home Screen look largely the same, so most of the transparency changes are focused on app navigation bars and buttons. On the Lock Screen, though, the background darkens as you scroll through notifications.


Apple will likely continue to make small changes to Liquid Glass based on user feedback, and we won't see the finalized version of the design until ‌iOS 26‌ is released in the fall.
This article, "Apple Improves Liquid Glass in iOS 26 Beta 4, Reversing Some Beta 3 Changes" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iOS 26 beta 4 is available now, and the public beta is expected soon too. Besides adding more liquid back into the Liquid Glass design, the new beta also introduces a new Dynamic wallpaper option. Here are the details.

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Alongside new design changes, iOS 26 beta 4 also re-enables Apple Intelligence notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category of apps.

As you may remember, Apple disabled this feature in January after a handful of botched summaries went viral…

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iOS 26 beta 4 has just been released, and one of the biggest question on many testers’ minds has been answered. After dialing back its redesign in beta 3, Apple has now infused more ‘liquid’ into the Liquid Glass design once again.

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With the fourth betas of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26, Apple has re-enabled Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries for apps in the News and Entertainment categories.


After installing the betas, there is a pop up for enabling notification summaries across these and other categories. Users can opt-in or opt-out of notification summaries on a per-category basis.

Apple says that it has improved notification summaries in ‌iOS 26‌, addressing issues that could cause confusion with news headlines.

All notification summaries for News and Entertainment apps that are generated with ‌Apple Intelligence‌ will be italicized and will be annotated with a "Summarized by ‌Apple Intelligence‌" notice.

Apple plans to further test and refine ‌Apple Intelligence‌ summaries for news articles during the rest of the ‌iOS 26‌ beta testing process, and there is an option for users to report a concern directly if there is an issue with a notification summary.

Notification Summaries for the News and Entertainment category were removed in the iOS 18.3 update in January, following criticism over some misleading news headlines created by ‌Apple Intelligence‌.

‌Apple Intelligence‌ Notification Summaries are available on devices that support ‌Apple Intelligence‌. The feature groups multiple notifications from the same app together, providing a one-sentence overview of the content. The short summaries were causing issues when AI pulled the wrong details from news stories, but Apple's improvements should help fix the issue.


This article, "iOS 26 Beta 4 Reintroduces Notification Summaries for News Apps" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iOS 26 beta 4 is out now for iPhones on the developer beta release cycle. Below we’re collecting all of the iOS 26 beta 4 changes compared to the previous version.

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Update 2:29 p.m. ET: After initially launching the beta exclusively on its developer website, Apple has now begun rolling out the OTA version as well.

Apple has released a new batch of developer betas for the systems it announced during WWDC25, including macOS Tahoe 26. Here’s what’s new.

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Apple today provided developers with the fourth beta of macOS Tahoe 26 for testing purposes, with the update coming two weeks after the third beta.


Registered developers can download the new beta software through the System Settings app.

macOS Tahoe features Apple's Liquid Glass redesign, which extends across all of the new updates this year. Apple also brought the Phone and Journal apps to the Mac for the first time, and introduced a new cross-platform Games app.

With the update, Apple overhauled how Spotlight works, enabling new functionality that allows it to be used to complete all kinds of actions like sending emails without having to open up an app. There are also changes to a number of apps, including Messages, Safari, and Notes.

All of the new features that are included in macOS Tahoe are outlined in our dedicated roundup.

macOS Tahoe is set to launch this fall.
This article, "Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of macOS Tahoe to Developers" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Two weeks after releasing the third batch of developer betas for the operating systems announced during WWDC25, Apple has released the fourth batch, including for visionOS 26. Here’s what’s new.

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Apple has released watchOS 26 beta 4 for developers, debuting new software a little more than two weeks after the last beta and ahead of the public beta’s arrival.

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tvOS 26 beta 4 is now available for developers on both Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. Here’s what to expect from the latest beta.

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Apple today provided developers with the fourth betas of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 for testing purposes, with the updates coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas.


Registered developers can download the new beta software using the Software Update section of the Settings app.

‌iOS 26‌ and ‌iPadOS 26‌ feature Apple's new Liquid Glass design aesthetic, with a focus on translucency and glass-like interface elements. The design extends to the Lock Screen, Home Screen, and Control Center, along with menus and buttons in apps.

Apple's software includes features for apps like Messages, Phone, Shortcuts, and Apple Music, along with new Apple Intelligence features, a revamp for CarPlay, and more. In ‌iPadOS 26‌, there's a whole new multitasking system that supports multiple app windows for a more Mac-like experience.

For more on the features in ‌iOS 26‌, we have a dedicated iOS 26 roundup and a separate iPadOS 26 roundup. Several new features were found in beta 2 and we rounded them up, plus we did the same thing for beta 3.
This article, "Apple Seeds Fourth Developer Betas of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple changed a few Liquid Glass elements in iOS 26 developer beta 3 and got a lot of online feedback. Now we’re on to iOS 26 beta 4, which will surely be compared under the microscope in as much detail in this season of change.

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Apple has just released iPadOS 26 beta 4 to developers. Today’s release will likely also be the build that gets shipped as the public beta soon. Here’s what to expect.

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Apple today provided developers with the fourth betas of watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26 for testing purposes, with the betas coming two weeks after the third betas were released.


The software updates can be downloaded through the Settings app on each device. A developer account is required.

‌watchOS 26‌ and tvOS 26 adopt new Liquid Glass design changes inspired by visionOS, much like iOS 26 and macOS 26. watchOS has a new AI-powered Workout Buddy for motivation and the Smart Stack incorporates more personal context for better suggestions. There's also a new Notes app and support for Live Translation.

tvOS 26 supports karaoke using an iPhone as a microphone, improvements for using AirPlay speakers with a TV, new Aerial screen savers, and support for quicker logins to apps at setup thanks to Apple Account syncing.

visionOS 26 adds support for spatial widgets that can be placed anywhere in the space around you, along with refinements to make personas more lifelike and support for shared spatial experiences between two Vision Pro users.
This article, "Apple Seeds Fourth watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26 Developer Betas" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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With the last remaining part of the Apple tax windfall paid to the Irish government recently, we are today learning what the country plans to do with the €14.25B ($16.5B).

The country’s prime minister has promised “unprecedented” investment in the country’s ailing infrastructure, with Apple’s money to be spent mostly on electricity and water projects …

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The European Union is set to accept the June updates that Apple made to its App Store to comply with the Digital Markets Act, reports Reuters. As a result, Apple will not face daily fines for non-compliance.


Apple changed its ‌App Store‌ fee setup and removed its anti-steering rules to meet the demands of the European Commission. Developers can now direct customers to purchase options outside the ‌App Store‌ and even accept payments for digital goods in their apps using third-party payment options.

At the European Commission's direction Apple has split its ‌App Store‌ services options to let developers opt out of certain features for a lower fee. There are now two tiers that developers can pay for. The cheaper one eliminates ratings and reviews, ‌App Store‌ featuring and marketing, search suggestions, automatic app updates, and automatic app downloads across devices. The more expensive tier includes all current ‌App Store‌ features and functionality.

Tier 1 store services cost five percent of an app's revenue, and Tier 2 store services cost 13 percent (10 percent for Small Business Program participants). Apple also charges a two percent initial acquisition fee and a five percent Core Technology Commission (CTC). The CTC replaces the CTF, a controversial fee that charged developers €0.50 per app install after one million installs per year.

Right now, there's a split CTC and CTF system for developers who use external links and those who don't, but by January 1, 2026, Apple will have a single business model that includes the services fee, the initial acquisition fee, and the CTC. At maximum, developers will pay 20 percent, and per-install billing won't exist. Developers who choose limited ‌App Store‌ functionality will pay a 12 percent maximum fee. Small Business Program participants will pay between 10 and 15 percent.

If Apple had not changed its ‌App Store‌ fee structure and linking rules, it could have been fined up to five percent of its average daily worldwide revenue (about €50 million) each day. The European Commission is expected to accept the ‌App Store‌ updates "in the coming weeks," but timing could change.

Apple was already fined €500 million for allegedly violating the Digital Markets Act, but the company has filed an appeal. Apple is protesting both the fine and the new anti-steering rules that the European Commission required.

This article, "Apple's Latest App Store Changes Satisfy EU, No More Fines Coming" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Last month, Apple announced another set of major changes to the App Store in the European Union, as part of its ongoing back-and-forth with regulators about the Digital Markets Act.

According to a new report from Reuters, Apple’s latest changes just might be enough to satisfy the European Commission.

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Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break deals are starting with a new Amazon all-time low on the 1TB M3 iPad Air – the 11-inch Cell model is now just shy of $250 off to deliver the lowest price we have tracked to date. From there we move over to a couple Mac models that are now even lower than yesterday with the 24GB M4 Pro Mac mini at $152 off the Apple price and the Midnight 15-inch 24GB M4 MacBook Air at $180 off. Head below for even more including a look at the all-new PowerBug. 

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Apple could offer at least six different iPhone models in 2027, according to a proven leaker on Weibo.


According to a post from the leaker known as "Instant Digital," there may be at least six new ‌iPhone‌ models to choose from in 2027. From the unveiling of the iPhone 18 and ‌iPhone‌ 18e in the first half of 2027 until the fall announcement of the first ‌iPhone‌ 19 models, the lineup could look like this:




Earlier this year, Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple plans to split new ‌iPhone‌ lineups between two launch windows annually. The ‌iPhone 18‌ Pro models and the first foldable ‌iPhone‌ will arrive in the second half of 2026, while the standard ‌iPhone 18‌ and the ‌iPhone‌ 18e will follow in the first half of 2027.

Apple is also highly likely to keep some other, older ‌iPhone‌ models on sale. Today, it still offers the iPhone 15 and ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus alongside the five iPhone 16 models. Until February, it also still sold the ‌iPhone‌ 14 and ‌iPhone‌ 14 Plus. As a result, this year's iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air will probably stick around in 2027, meaning that there could be the biggest ever variety of new ‌iPhone‌ models available from Apple at a single time.
This article, "Apple Could Offer Six Different New iPhone Models in 2027" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple TV+ keeps getting even better for comedy lovers, and shows no signs of slowing. The latest: Maya Rudolph’s Loot just got a season 3 release date.

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Daily puzzle games are on the rise, including in Apple News+. And another new game just arrived on the App Store that pairs daily puzzles with cuteness and chill vibes: Pokémon Friends is here.

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Setting custom ringtones on your iPhone is dramatically easier in iOS 26. Apple has eliminated the need for the cumbersome process of exporting a track from the GarageBand app, and now provides a simple four-step process that works directly from the Files app.


The new streamlined approach means you can transform any MP3 or M4A audio file that's less than 30 seconds into a personalized ringtone in a just a few taps. Whether it's a favorite song snippet, a voice memo, or a sound effect you've downloaded, the process is now as straightforward as sharing a photo. Here's how to set up your custom ringtone without opening an additional app in iOS 26 (currently in beta).

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.


2. Long press an MP3 or M4A audio file that's less than 30 seconds long.


3. Tap Share in the pop-up menu.


4. Scroll down to the actions menu and choose Use as Ringtone.

The change will be made immediately. You'll be sent to Settings ➝ Sounds & Haptics ➝ Ringtone, where you'll see the custom ringtone selected. From here, you can delete the ringtone (swipe left, then tap Delete) or choose another one in the default ringtones that's more to your liking.

Note that the Use as Ringtone option also appears for audio files in select other apps, including Voice Memos. Unfortunately, it's not possible to set Apple Music songs as custom ringtones for free, even with a subscription. Apple still sells 30-second song ringtones for $1.29 each through the iTunes Store app.
This article, "iOS 26: Set a Custom iPhone Ringtone in Seconds" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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You may have never heard of them, but Apple sends “threat notifications” to users when it believes they’re being targeted by cyber attacks. Earlier this year that happened with several Iranians in the lead-up to the Iran-Israel war, per a new Bloomberg report. Here are the details.

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