Learn about the new features and changes in iOS 26 beta 4, released yesterday, ahead of Apple’s new operating system for the iPhone this fall.
iOS 26 beta 4 dials back some of the changes to the transparency effects brought in the previous beta to dial down some of the Liquid Glass design choices.
Menu bars in apps have less opacity to let more of the background color show through. Scrolling through notifications on the Lock Screen dims the wallpaper a bit to make notification text easier to read.
iOS 26 beta 4: All the changes and new features
AI summaries for news notifications are back
iOS 26 re-enables Apple Intelligence-powered notification summaries for the App Store apps in the News and Entertainment category.
Apple debuted the feature in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1, but the first impressions weren’t great, to say the least. Following a public backlash after the BBC covered the story, Apple temporarily turned off these AI notifications summaries for apps in the News and Entertainment category. After updating to iOS 26, you’ll see a screen where you can turn this feature on or off for different app categories.
To distinguish AI-powered notification summaries from other notifications, any notification summaries generated by Apple Intelligence are presented using italicized text with a special glyph prefixing the notification text. Moreover, such notifications have a ” Summarized by Apple Intelligence” label.
Camera app buttons
The built-in Camera app behaved strangely when swiping left and right to cycle through shooting modes other than Photo and Video, where the background would move and the button remains affixed in place. In iOS 26 beta 4, the button moves in both directions, making selecting shooting modes feel more natural.
The icon of the Camera app has also been tweaked slightly to reduce the bezel around the lens. Plus, there’s now a splash screen about the new design.
“A streamlined design elevates Photo and Video modes,” it reads. “Swipe left or right to access additional modes. Tap the control button on the top to access settings.”
iOS 26 Beta 4 features a slightly refreshed Camera icon. pic.twitter.com/DC56UJfFg8
— Beta Profiles (@BetaProfiles) July 22, 2025
Dynamic wallpapers
iOS 26 beta 4 brings a Dynamic option for the new wallpapers. When selected, the wallpaper will automatically change color over the course of the day.
CarPlay wallpapers
The update brings new CarPlay wallpapers to match the new iPhone and iPad wallpapers coming as part of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. Like their iPhone counterparts, these CarPlay wallpapers come the blue, brown, gray, green, purple and red versions, and support both Light Mode and Dark Mode. iOS 26 also removes older wallpapers that came with CarPlay.
Passwords app gains a toggle to contact websites
The Passwords app has picked up an Allow Contacting Websites option. Found in Settings > Apps > Passwords, this controls whether the Passwords app should display official names and custom icons for apps and websites and detect whether a website supports passkeys.
“Passwords can privately contact websites to show names and icons for apps and websites you have saved items for and to inform you when a website supports passkeys,” reads the feature’s description.
Weather forecast for places you may visit
In order to provide weather information for places that you’re likely to visit, the built-in Weather app has a new toggle in Settings > Apps > Weather. The Use Significant Locations switch in the Locations section controls whether the Weather app is permitted to access significant locations.
Significant locations are the places your iPhone learns you frequently visit, such as your home or workplace. Significant locations are used for features like slideshows in the Photos app, predictive traffic routing in Maps, and more accurate suggestions in Calendar and other apps.
Late Night Mode is Reduce Loud Sounds again
iOS 26 rechristened the Reduce Loud Sounds option in Settings > Sounds and Haptics as Late Night Mode. iOS 26 beta 4 renames the setting as Reduce Loud Sounds again. The setting “reduces audio volume range and creates softer sound effects, while maintaining the quiet details of the original audio,” reads Apple’s description.
New call screening options
iOS 26 brings call screening to your iPhone, and the fourth beta brings some additional call screening options in Settings > Apps > Phone.
Here, you can choose how to screen calls or turn the feature off entirely:
- Never: Calls from unsaved numbers will ring, and missed calls will be displayed on the Recents list.
- Ask Reason For Calling: Calls from unsaved numbers will be asked for more information before the iPhone rings. Calling and data rates may apply.
- Silence: Calls from unsaved numbers will be silenced, sent to voicemail, and displayed on the Recents list. Calling and data rates may apply.
In addition, the call filtering section has also gained a new Silence Spam Callers option, so now you can choose between:
- Move to Unknown Callers: Missed calls and voicemails from unsaved numbers will be silenced and moved to the Unknown Callers list.
- Silence Spam Callers: Calls identified by spam or fraud will be silenced, sent to voicemail and moved to the Spam list.
Changes for the better
There are other subtle changes and design tweaks that make iOS 26 more refined than earlier betas. For example, the sidebar in the Music app on macOS Tahoe 26 now partially shows the content beneath like the sidebar in the Apple Podcasts app.
Here is the Music app on macOS26 Beta 3 vs Beta 4!
Credit to @xezrunner who installed it before it got pulled! pic.twitter.com/1e4BTdLfou
— Minimal Nerd (@minimalnerd1) July 21, 2025
Also, the notification banner on macOS Tahoe now resembles the new visual style for notifications in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For more on iOS 26, read Apple’s press release and visit Apple’s website.
Notifications on macOS26 Beta 3 vs Beta 4!
Credit to @xezrunner who installed it before it got pulled! pic.twitter.com/hbhWQJciLB
— Minimal Nerd (@minimalnerd1) July 21, 2025
How are you liking the changes in iOS 26 beta 4? While we’re at it, what’s your favorite change? Let us know in the comments down below.