Updated Nov. 26 with further details of the upcoming software release.
Apple’s next major iPhone software release, iOS 26.2 is coming soon. The latest reports give us a clearer idea of exactly when and exactly what will be in it. It could include a change that Apple has never introduced before: the unprecedented capability to choose a voice assistant other than Siri.
iPhone 17 Pro line-up
Getty ImagesiOS 26.2 Release Date
Mid-December is the usual release date for the .2 version of each iOS cycle. I’ve previously said that I thought the update will land on Monday, Dec. 15 or Tuesday Dec. 16.
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The latest report from MacRumors suggests it could be sooner. “We’re expecting Apple to release iOS 26.2 in December, sometime between December 9 and December 16,” it said. Good news for the impatient.
That said, I’m still sticking to the dates I’m expecting the new release to arrive. If something happens to change this, such as a delay to releases in the beta schedule and I’ll report back.
iOS 26.2: Game-Changing New Feature
In the last few hours, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has commented on one of the most intriguing changes coming in iOS 26.2. The side button on the iPhone which launches Siri will allow users in Japan to choose a third-party voice assistant instead. Will it come to places outside Japan?
“Apple seems to be moving in that direction,” Gurman said. “The latest iOS 26.2 beta update brings a developer framework to enable third-party voice assistants to be triggered by the iPhone’s side button. Since the iPhone X launch in 2017, when Apple started shifting away from home buttons, Siri access has been relegated to the elongated button on the right side. Now, under pressure from regulators, Apple is opening up that button to third-party voice assistants, at least in Japan.”
Regulatory pressures in Japan needn’t mean changes elsewhere, surely? Gurman thinks it will bring this flexibility to third parties in the European Union as well. “While that isn’t happening in iOS 26.2, I still anticipate the change to come to those regions eventually. For those of us in the US, users can rely on the Action Button on the left side to quickly access ChatGPT or Gemini,” Gurman added.
Users in Japan will also be able to install alternative app marketplaces and choose their preferred search engine.
There’s a lot more to come in iOS 26.2. For a start, AirPods Live Translation will come to the EU for the first time. This arrived several months ago in the U.S. and U.K., among other places, in September. It works with the latest AirPods Pro 3 as well as AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation and requires an iPhone alongside to work. It was delayed in the EU because of ramifications of the Digital Markets Act.
There’s another change coming specifically for EU users, but this one isn’t such good news. Also to comply with the DMA, specifically interoperability requirements, Apple is removing Wi-Fi sharing between iPhones and Apple Watches for EU users. Some syncing between the two will still happen if both iPhone and watch are in the same place when a new network is joined for the first time.
Reminders will offer an option to set an alarm when a reminder is due. The look of Liquid Glass is still being tweaked, with new animations in menus, a slider for the lock screen and an addition to the way the Tinted option works in Liquid Gass, warning that it can’t work together with Reduce Transparency. Liquid Glass will also come to the Measure app.
AirDrop will add a new feature so you can generate a one-time code to share with someone who isn’t in your Contacts list. This is useful if you don’t want to turn AirDrop to Everyone. The Sleep Score will be readjusted — some felt it was too generous. A current score of 70-89 out of 100 falls into the High category, but in iOS 26.2 to earn a High rating you will need a score of 81-95.
Beyond that, Apple Music’s lyrics, that essential way to settle a bet on an obscure song, will be available offline for songs in your library.
CarPlay will see updates coming to iOS 26.2. It means that Widgets, which have only recently been added to CarPlay, are improved in the next release thanks to an expansion to the number of widget stacks that be onscreen at a time. It’ll now be three instead of two. Messages in CarPlay now supports pinned conversations. However, that’s not always the best way to see things when you’re driving so there will be a setting to disable pinned threads for a simpler layout, especially on smaller in-car displays.
The Games app will introduce new navigation capabilities so you can find and sort games more easily, and score updates will happen in real time. Podcasts will be able to generate chapters by AI and link to other podcasts with links. Apple News will see a new design with more links to different parts of the app.
There’s more than this, and it’s likely other innovations will appear before release.
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