- The first iOS 26.3 public beta is out now
- It includes an easier way to move to an Android phone
- It also includes new weather wallpapers and the framework for another feature
Less than a week on from the launch of iOS 26.2, the first public beta for iOS 26.3 is now available, and while it doesn’t include as many features as the previous update, there are still several potentially significant changes here.
Arguably the biggest of these – as spotted by MacRumors and others – is a tool that makes it easier to transfer from iOS to Android.
With this, you’ll be able to transfer content such as photos, messages, notes, apps, passwords, and your phone number, just by putting your iPhone next to an Android device. This is done wirelessly with no separate apps needed, though health data and protected items such as locked notes will not be transferred.
This isn’t just a one-way thing, though, as Google is implementing a similar feature that makes it easy to move from Android to an iPhone, so this should be good for everyone.
Weather wallpapers and notification forwarding
As well as that, this iOS 26.3 beta also includes changes to the wallpaper gallery.
Now, the ‘Weather & Astronomy’ section has been split into two sections, one for ‘Weather’ and the other for ‘Astronomy’. That weather section has also gained some new wallpapers.
Finally, as spotted by 9to5Mac, this beta also includes an interface for notification forwarding, so that third-party devices can access your notifications.
This change is specifically for users in the EU, as a new rule there requires this function to be possible, so that non-Apple smartwatches will work better with iPhones.
The feature isn’t fully live yet, but based on the interface visible in this beta, we can see that you’ll only be able to forward notifications to one paired accessory at a time, and that notifications won’t appear on a paired Apple Watch while notification forwarding is active.
So far, that’s all that’s been found in this beta, though it’s possible other features are yet to be uncovered. But usually, the betas Apple releases at this time of year are quite light on features, perhaps because it’s almost the holidays, so they don’t want to have to deal with too many bugs.
That timing also means we probably won’t see the next iOS 26.3 beta – or a rollout of the finished version – until early next year.
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