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Apple has launched iOS 26.1, its first updates since the iOS 26 launch in September.
Compatible with iPhone 11 series and later and the second-generation iPhone SE devices, this update brings with it a number of quality-of-life changes, including new language support in Apple Intelligence, better live translation support, and improved gesture controls in a range of apps and services, among others.
Apple’s iOS 26 debuted with an overhauled Liquid Glass visual design to give the latest iPhone OS a wonderfully uniform look. Call screening and hold assist were really useful additions, and the Spatial Scenes can make a real difference to wallpapers and photos. If we had any complaints, it’s that there were some obvious bugs and the interface needed just a few tweaks here and there. Update 26.1 may fix most of our concerns.
The new update brings improvements to Apple Intelligence language support, adding Danish, Dutch, Norweigian, and Turkish, among others. It’s also added Chinese (both simplified, and traditional) to Live Translation on AirPods, as well as Italian, Japanese, and Korean. Elsewhere, Apple has left-aligned text and icons for more comfortable interface viewing and navigation, and there’s a new video scrubber in photos to slide through the few frames of animation.
Liquid Glass has been updated with a new option to choose between the default clear look, or a tinted look that can increase opacity in certain apps and notifications on the lock screen, making them easier to read. There are also new toggles in the Settings menu for haptic feedback, single-touch actions, and lock-screen swipe to open to camera.
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In a tweak of its gesture support, Apple added “Slide to Stop” swipe actions to Alarms and Timers (so everyone stops turning off their alarm when they’re trying to snooze) and the Music MiniPlayer now supports swipes to go to next and previous track.
The Fitness app has been updated to add support for custom workouts, letting you set your own exercise regime, and Apple has improved FaceTime audio quality in low-bandwidth conditions, so if you don’t have great signal, you should at least be able to hear who you’re speaking to, even if the video quality isn’t excellent.
To better protect younger iPhone users, too, Apple has instigated a new Communication Safety and Web content filter system that will automatically limit adult website access on child accounts for ages 13-17 (although the specific ages do vary by region).
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The new update also introduced Apple’s Security Improvements feature via a revamped Rapid Security Responses toggle. You can turn this off and on in the Settings menu, but it effectively means security updates are installed automatically, speeding up your device’s protective measures so you are never caught out.
You can update your device by going to Settings > General > Software Update. The update is available for all iPads and iPhones that are compatible with the iOS 26 update.
Apple today also released the 26.1 versions of iPadOS, macOS Tahoe, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS. As MacRumors notes, iPadOS 26.1 revives Slide Over, a multitasking feature that Apple axed in iPadOS 26.
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Jon Martindale
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Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.
Jon covers the latest PC components, as well as how-to guides on everything from how to take a screenshot to how to set up your cryptocurrency wallet. He particularly enjoys the battles between the top tech giants in CPUs and GPUs, and tries his best not to take sides.
Jon’s gaming PC is built around the iconic 7950X3D CPU, with a 7900XTX backing it up. That’s all the power he needs to play lightweight indie and casual games, as well as more demanding sim titles like Kerbal Space Program. He uses a pair of Jabra Active 8 earbuds and a SteelSeries Arctis Pro wireless headset, and types all day on a Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard.
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