iOS 26 adds a new Recovery Assistant feature to all compatible iPhones, and it can help return the device to a working state, with no Mac or PC required.
Recovery Assistant was introduced in the first iOS 26 beta, but Apple only mentioned the feature in its release notes for the second iOS 26 beta today.
"Recovery Assistant is a new way to recover your device if it doesn't start up normally," says Apple. "It can look for problems and attempt to resolve them if found."
Apple says an iPhone running iOS 26 will boot into a Recovery mode if the device has "encountered an issue while starting."
Here is what Recovery mode says on the iPhone's screen: "This iPhone encountered an issue while starting. To aid in diagnosing and resolving it, it has booted into Recovery. Recovery will look for any problems and attempt to resolve them if found."
According to a Reddit post, Recovery Assistant can help you return an iPhone to a working state with help from another Apple device, such as an iPad. This process can be initiated through the menu in the top-right corner of the Recovery mode on the affected iPhone. On the other Apple device, you can follow the on-screen steps to download and install a newer iOS version on the iPhone that is in Recovery mode, to help revive it.
This seems to expand on a recovery feature that debuted on iPhone 16 models last year.
