Apple Seeds First Public Betas of tvOS 26 and watchOS 26

Apple today seeded the first public betas of tvOS 26 and watchOS 26 to Apple TV and Apple Watch users who have signed up for the public beta program. The new tvOS 26 and ‌watchOS 26‌ public betas are the same as the fourth public betas that launched earlier in the week.

General visionOS watchOS and tvOS Betas Feature Redux
‌watchOS 26‌ and tvOS 26 can be downloaded through the Settings app on each device after you sign up on Apple's beta website.

The two updates both adopt Apple's Liquid Glass aesthetic, which is also coming in macOS Tahoe and iOS 26. Liquid Glass focuses on transparency and a more rounded look for menus and other interface elements.

‌watchOS 26‌ includes Workout Buddy, an Apple Intelligence feature meant to motivate you during your workouts. The Workout app interface has been redesigned, the Smart Stack has more actionable suggestions, the Messages app offer Live Translation and better Smart Replies, and the Phone app features like Call Screening and Hold Assist are available on the watch. Apple also brought the Notes app to the Apple Watch, so you can create notes and view existing notes right from your wrist.

watchos 26 main
tvOS 26 supports a new Apple Music Sing feature that uses the iPhone as a microphone, plus there are new lyric translation and pronunciation tools. FaceTime has been updated with incoming call notifications and contact posters, there are new aerial screen savers, and there's an option to set an AirPlay speaker as a permanent speaker for an ‌Apple TV‌.

tvOS 26
Apple is not providing public beta testers with a visionOS 26 beta ahead of when the software launches, but there will be an opportunity to install the new AirPods beta firmware to test new AirPods functionality. Apple also plans to provide testers with HomePod 26 software.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Centered 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 16 New Features

Tuesday July 22, 2025 5:00 pm PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models, as of July 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Iridescent 1

Foldable iPhone's Display Sizes Leaked

Tuesday July 22, 2025 6:00 pm PDT by
Apple's first foldable iPhone will be equipped with a 7.8-inch inner display, and a 5.5-inch outer display, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo already mentioned those same display sizes for the foldable iPhone in March, meaning there are now multiple sources backing those sizes, so long as TrendForce is not simply copying what Kuo said. ...
Apple AppleCare One hero

Apple Announces 'AppleCare One' Subscription Plan for Multiple Devices

Wednesday July 23, 2025 5:06 am PDT by
Apple today announced AppleCare One, a new subscription plan for customers to cover multiple devices with a single plan. AppleCare One starts at $19.99 per month for up to three products, with the ability to add more for $5.99 per month for each additional device. The plan incudes all of the benefits that come with AppleCare+, such as unlimited repairs for accidents, priority support,...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 4

Tuesday July 22, 2025 3:56 pm PDT by
Apple released the fourth beta of iOS 26 today, and the company has continued making changes to the way that Liquid Glass looks. There are also new features, including the return of Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries for news. This beta is of particular interest because it's likely the beta that public beta testers will get in the not too distant future. Liquid Glass Changes Liquid...
iphone 16 pro models 1

18 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Tuesday July 22, 2025 8:10 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is now less than two months away, so we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you...
Liquid Glass Realistic

Apple Improves Liquid Glass in iOS 26 Beta 4, Reversing Some Beta 3 Changes

Tuesday July 22, 2025 11:21 am PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26, Apple has again made changes to the Liquid Glass design that's available across the operating system, tweaking how the menus and buttons appear in apps. In response to criticism about too little Liquid Glass in beta 3, Apple has upped the translucency in several areas. Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right Navigation bars in apps like Photos, Music, the App ...
iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

When Is iPhone 17 Coming Out?

Thursday July 24, 2025 9:11 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 series is expected to debut in September 2025. This release follows Apple's recent trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. To unveil the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple is expected to hold its annual iPhone announcement event during the week of September 8, 2025, with September 9 or 10 emerging as the most likely...

Top Rated Comments

topsache Avatar
1 day ago at 10:52 am
working well on my Apple TV 4K 3rd gen
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CouldBeWorse Avatar
22 hours ago at 12:27 pm
WatchOS updates are so painfully slow.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bondr006 Avatar
21 hours ago at 01:19 pm

WatchOS updates are so painfully slow.
Funny forum name for someone who's complaining about nonsense. You know...it could be worse.?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sarcasticgamer Avatar
21 hours ago at 01:40 pm

Are you in the US? I just updated my TV 4K. I had both public beta 1 and developer beta 4 available to me.
I'm not in the US, I only see the tvOS 26 developer beta...is the public beta US only for now??
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)