iOS 26.5 Beta 4 Released Alongside iPadOS 26.5 Beta 4

Apple has today released the fourth beta version of iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5, bringing both updates ever closer to the final version that will be made available for the public to download.

The new betas are both available for developers to download and install on their test devices. However, as ever, we don’t recommend installing beta software on devices that are relied on for day-to-day use.

While we don’t yet know for sure what Apple has changed, if anything, in this new beta, we do know what the update as a whole is expected to bring to the public.

Apple’s next update will add a stock Maps app Suggested Places feature for recommending locations to visit nearby based on trends and user searches, for example. The company is also working to improve end-to-end encryption of the RCS messaging feature.

For users in the European Union, Apple is also pushing users towards the proximity pairing feature. Notification forwarding and Live Activities features for third-party wearables like smartwatches are also part of that initiative, giving users options other than the Apple Watch.

There are two ways to download the above releases. First, you can head over to Settings > General > Software Update section of the device itself and grab the OTA update for your device from there. Alternatively, head to developer.apple.com and download the firmware before installing it via iTunes on a Windows PC or the Finder on a Mac.