{"id":292989,"date":"2025-11-15T10:17:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T10:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/292989\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T10:17:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T10:17:13","slug":"ios-26-2-adds-these-new-features-to-your-iphone-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/292989\/","title":{"rendered":"iOS 26.2 adds these new features to your iPhone"},"content":{"rendered":"

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iOS 26.2<\/a> is now available for beta testing. The update brings more new features and changes for iPhone users. There are new Apple Podcasts upgrades, improvements to Reminders, and more.<\/p>\n

Head below for our full guide on all the new iOS 26.2 features. This includes all the new additions from this week\u2019s iOS 26.2 beta 2 release<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Last updated November 14, 2025: Added new changes from iOS 26.2 beta 2. <\/p>\n

iOS 26.2 new features<\/p>\n

Reminders<\/p>\n

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iOS 26.2 adds a highly-requested new feature to the Reminders app. With this update, you can now choose an \u201cUrgent\u201d option that will set an alarm on your iPhone for when the task is due. It\u2019s essentially another way to make sure you don\u2019t forget to do something on your task list.<\/p>\n

Apple Music<\/p>\n

Apple Music\u2019s robust lyrics feature is getting even better with iOS 26.2. Now, you can access lyrics for songs in your Apple Music library even when you aren\u2019t connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data. This includes the full breadth of lyrics features, such as translations and beat-by-beat syncing.<\/p>\n

Apple Podcasts<\/p>\n

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iOS 26.2 adds three new features<\/a> to Apple Podcasts. First, the app will now automatically generate chapters for podcast episodes with artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Podcast producers can continue to supply their own chapters for each episode, and those will override the AI-generated chapters created by Apple.<\/p>\n

Second, the update brings a new Podcast Mentions feature. \u201cSee and follow mentioned podcasts right from the player and transcript,\u201d Apple explains. This means that if you\u2019re listening to one podcast and the hosts reference a different podcast, Apple Podcasts should automatically add a link to that other show in the episode\u2019s description for easy access.<\/p>\n

Sleep Score<\/p>\n

Along with watchOS 26.2, iOS 26.2 also includes refinements<\/a> to the Apple Watch\u2019s Sleep Score. In response to people who said the Sleep Score feature was too forgiving, Apple has increased the criteria for each of the classification levels.<\/p>\n

Here were the previous levels:<\/p>\n

Very Low: 0-29 points<\/p>\n

Low: 30-49 points<\/p>\n

OK: 50-69 points<\/p>\n

High: 70-89 points<\/p>\n

Excellent: 90-100 points<\/p>\n

And here are the updated levels as part of watchOS 26. and iOS 26.2:<\/p>\n

Very Low: 0-40 points<\/p>\n

Low: 41-60 points<\/p>\n

OK: 61-80 points<\/p>\n

High: 81-95 points<\/p>\n

Very High: 96-100 points<\/p>\n

Apple News<\/p>\n

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To accommodate the growing breadth of the Apple News service, iOS 26.2 makes key design changes to the News app. On the \u201cToday\u201d view, you\u2019ll now find four dedicated buttons for quicker access to Sports, Puzzles, Politics, and Food sections of the app.<\/p>\n

Additionally, there\u2019s a new \u201cFollowing\u201d tab in the bottom navigation bar of the News app, which includes things like your favorites, saved stories, history, and more. The \u201cSearch\u201d tab has been simplified to focus more on discovery.<\/p>\n

iOS 26.2 EU changes<\/p>\n

iOS 26.2 has good and bad news for iPhone users in the European Union. The good news is that iOS 26.2 expands Live Translation with AirPods to EU users for the first time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This feature launched as part of iOS 26, but was delayed in the EU due to regulatory uncertainty of the Digital Markets Act. With iOS 26.2, Apple has seemingly received the go-ahead from regulators that it can release Live Translation with AirPods in the EU.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2 will remove a key feature in the EU. Due to interoperability requirements under the Digital Markets Act, Apple is removing Wi-Fi network syncing<\/a> from the iPhone and Apple Watch.<\/p>\n

This means that saved Wi-Fi networks from your iPhone will no longer automatically sync to your Apple Watch. Instead, you\u2019ll need to manually sign in to each network.<\/p>\n

Liquid Glass<\/p>\n

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iOS 26.1 added a new system-wide Liquid Glass toggle<\/a> for choosing between \u201cClear\u201d and \u201cTinted\u201d designs.<\/p>\n

iOS 26.2 adds yet another way<\/a> for people to customize Liquid Glass. On your iPhone\u2019s Lock Screen, there\u2019s an updated slider that lets you adjust the transparency of the clock. It\u2019s available for all different font options, and you can choose between designs that are even more transparent or opaque than before.<\/p>\n

In the Measure app, Apple has updated the Level tool<\/a> with an incredibly fun Liquid Glass design. Check it out in action here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Throughout iOS 26.2, Apple has added new Liquid Glass animations<\/a> for popup menus and controls. There is more whimsy to these animations. <\/p>\n

CarPlay updates<\/p>\n

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iOS 26.2 includes two notable tweaks for CarPlay users. First, you can now disable Pinned Conversations<\/a> in the Messages app. You can find this option in the Settings app on your CarPlay screen. <\/p>\n

Second, iOS 26.2 appears to expand<\/a> the number of widget stacks available for some cars. It\u2019s not really clear what the threshold is here, but some users who previously had two widget stacks are now available to create a third. Your mileage will vary.<\/p>\n

And more\u2026<\/p>\n

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Other small changes to iOS 26.2 include: <\/p>\n

A new \u201cEnhanced Safety Alerts<\/a>\u201d menu in Settings for toggling switches for earthquake alerts and imminent threat alerts. You also have the choice to share \u201cyour approximate location with Apple to improve the timeliness and reliability of Enhanced Safety Alerts.\u201d <\/p>\n

Support for tables in Freeform<\/a> <\/p>\n

A new \u201cExcluded Websites\u201d menu in the Passwords app<\/p>\n

There is a new Accessibility setting for \u201cFlash to Alerts\u201d that makes your screen flash<\/p>\n

The Games app\u00a0adds<\/a>\u00a0sorting and filtering to library, controller navigation, and score updates<\/p>\n

iOS 26.2 wrap up<\/p>\n

iOS 26.2 is currently available to developers<\/a> and public beta users<\/a> for testing. It will likely be released to everyone<\/a> sometime in mid-December. So far, Apple has released two betas. It\u2019s possible that future betas will have even more changes, so we\u2019ll keep this guide up to date as testing progresses.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite change in iOS 26.2? Let us know down in the comments.<\/p>\n

My favorite iPhone accessories:<\/p>\n

Follow Chance:\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0Mastodon<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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