iOS 26 Beta 4: Apple Doubles Down on ‘Liquid Glass’ and AI-Powered News in a Stunning Visual Overhaul

Apple is making bold design and AI moves with iOS 26 Beta 4—refining its experimental Liquid Glass UI and cautiously reintroducing its controversial AI news summaries. The beta, now live for developers, previews what could be one of the most visually ambitious and AI-integrated updates in iOS history.

Here’s a full breakdown of what’s new, what’s back, and what Apple still needs to fix before the official release.

The Liquid Glass Interface: Beauty Meets Controversy

Forget flat design. Liquid Glass is now fully back in Beta 4—a dramatic shift from the scaled-down transparency seen in Beta 3. 

This updated look introduces:

• Translucent menus and widgets that adapt to wallpaper colors
• Depth effects and reflections resembling Apple’s visionOS
• A consistent glass-like layer across native apps like Photos, Weather, Music, and the App Store

According to MacRumors, Apple has refined the visual blending to look more immersive, yet some testers argue it sacrifices readability in certain conditions. Expect a “Reduce Transparency” toggle in settings to help with contrast concerns.

“Liquid Glass may be the most divisive design decision since skeuomorphism,” one developer posted on Threads.

AI News Summaries Are Back—with Warnings This Time

Apple is re-enabling AI-generated notification summaries for News and Entertainment categories after pulling the feature earlier this year due to misleading headlines and hallucinated facts.

Here’s how it works in Beta 4:

• Users now see an onboarding screen explaining that summaries might alter original headlines.
• Summaries are tagged with a disclaimer: “Summarized by Apple Intelligence.”
• You can now choose which apps or topics to allow summaries for, creating a layer of user control missing before.

According to The Verge, Apple wants to “balance AI convenience with journalistic integrity”—and this beta is their second attempt.

Comparison: iOS 26 Beta UI vs iOS 18

The change is not just cosmetic—it signals Apple’s design convergence across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro.

New Additions You Might Have Missed in Beta 4

Beyond AI and glass, Beta 4 includes:

• Dynamic wallpapers that shift based on the time of day
• Updated CarPlay themes and new iconography
• Smarter Siri prompts with less screen takeover
• More detailed battery and app usage analytics
• Notification grouping options based on urgency or app type

According to TechCrunch, Apple is polishing not just the visuals but the daily experience of interacting with your phone.

When Will iOS 26 Launch?

The timeline looks like this:

• Developer Beta 4: Now live
• Public Beta: Expected July 23 or shortly after
• Stable Release: Mid to late September, alongside iPhone 17

All major platforms (iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS) are following similar beta tracks.

Things Apple Still Needs to Fix Before Launch

While Beta 4 is smoother than earlier builds, here’s what testers are still flagging:

• Liquid Glass legibility issues on certain wallpapers or in sunlight
• AI summaries still occasionally oversimplify headlines
• No toggle to switch back to a classic UI for accessibility users
• Occasional app crashes in Music, Mail, and Home screen widgets

If Apple wants to win over both design lovers and practical users, final tuning of these areas is critical.

Final Verdict: A High-Risk, High-Reward Update in the Making

iOS 26 Beta 4 shows Apple isn’t afraid to experiment with form and function—bringing immersive visuals and AI convenience into one tightly packaged OS update. But the balance between beauty, clarity, and trust will determine whether this update is seen as visionary—or a misstep.

Whether you’re excited about the shimmer of Liquid Glass or cautious about AI-curated headlines, one thing’s certain: iOS 26 is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious and talked-about updates Apple has released in years.