Apple iOS 26.5 public beta is now available

Apple released the first public beta of iOS 26.5 a few days after the developer beta.

iOS 26.5 adds a Suggested Places feature in Apple Maps that surfaces trending nearby locations.

Apple said it will place ads inside Maps based on location and search terms and that ads will be clearly marked and not linked to Apple Accounts.

The beta is also testing end-to-end encryption for RCS messages, and public beta access requires signing up on the Apple Beta Software Program website.