Apple’s iOS 26.5 is expected to arrive this May after more than a month of beta testing. As anticipated, the update is relatively minor, which makes sense as Apple begins shifting its attention toward iOS 27.
iOS 26.5 prepares the ground for end-to-end encryption support for RCS in the Messages app and introduces ads in the Apple Maps app. It also adds a new “Pride Collection” wallpaper along with a handful of other small changes.
Joe Rossignol for MacRumors:
End-to-end encryption for RCS is a security feature that ensures that messages sent between supported iOS 26.5 and Android devices are encrypted and cannot be intercepted and read by a third party while they are being delivered.
In March, Apple announced that localized ads are coming to the Apple Maps app on the iPhone and iPad in the U.S. and Canada starting “this summer,” and there is evidence of Apple preparing for that within iOS 26.5’s code.
Apple says businesses in the U.S. and Canada will be able to place local ads in search results and at the top of a new “Suggested Places” section.
“Ads on Maps will appear when users search in Maps, and can appear at the top of a user’s search results based on relevance, as well as at the top of a new Suggested Places experience in Maps, which will display recommendations based on what’s trending nearby, the user’s recent searches, and more,” says Apple.
MacDailyNews Take: In the iOS 26.5 beta, Apple is also working to extend several iPhone features — including notifications, Live Activities, and AirPods-like seamless pairing — to third-party smartwatches and headphones in the EU, as mandated by the Digital Markets Act.
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