Apple on Tuesday seeded the second public beta of its upcoming iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are equal to the first developer betas, which were released earlier this week.
Public beta testers can download the iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 public betas by going to the Settings app, then tapping on “General” -> “Software Update” and choosing the iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 Public Beta options on their iPhone and iPad devices after opting into the beta through Apple’s public beta testing website.
What’s New So Far
iOS 26.3 beta one makes it easier for iPhone users to transition to an Android smartphone by offering a new transfer tool allows an iPhone user to place their device next to an Android device to initiate a transfer process. Users can opt to move over photos, messages, notes, apps, passwords, phone number, and more. However, health data, paired Bluetooth devices, and protected items like locked notes are not transferred over to the new smartphone.
The new tool can be found in the Settings app, under General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Transfer to Android. It is available worldwide.
There is a dedicated section for Weather wallpapers, with three preset options available to choose from. To access them, tap and hold on the Lock Screen and tap on the plus sign in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
In the EU, the iOS 26.3 beta also brings a new “Notification Forwarding” setting that allows incoming notifications on an iPhone to be forwarded to a third-party device. The setting can be found in the Notification section of the Settings app under a new “Notification Forwarding” option. It also adds AirPods-like proximity pairing for third-party accessories like earbuds and smartwatches.
Apple was required to make these changes to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
As usual, MacTrast and Apple both warn users to not install any betas on their daily driver iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac. Instead, only install betas on a device set aside for testing purposes.
