Apple on Monday seeded the third betas of its upcoming iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 updates to developers for testing. The new betas come one week after the second seeds.
Registered developers can download the new iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 beta software using the Software Update section of the Settings app.
Apple continues testing secure messaging between Android and iOS devices in the betas of iOS 26.5, iPadOS 26.5. It didn’t make the public release of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, but the feature is back in the iOS 26.5 beta. In the Messages section of the Settings app, the End-to-End Encryption toggle is back in the RCS options, and like before, it is enabled by default.
The Maps app now boasts 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.
As noted by MacRumors, in the European Union, Apple is testing proximity pairing, notification forwarding, and Live Activities for third-party wearables like earbuds and smartwatches.
As usual, MacTrast and Apple both warn users to not install any betas on their daily driver iPhone or iPad. Instead, only install betas on a device set aside for testing purposes.