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Release record

iPadOS 26.0

Full article
Public release
Recorded milestones
14
Beta cycle
98d
Average interval
8d
Public release
Sep 15, 2025

Release notes

Overview

Editorial synthesis with inline references and a source ledger when citations are available.

iPadOS 26 paired Apple’s new design with a major multitasking redesign built around resizable windows, familiar controls, tiling, Exposé, and a menu bar. Files, background tasks, local recording, Preview, Journal, and Phone expanded the iPad’s productivity range.[1][2]

Apple Intelligence features remain subject to supported hardware, languages, and regions; their presence in the version does not imply availability on every compatible iPad.[3][4]

Source ledger

References

Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.

  1. About iPadOS 26 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-29 · iPadOS 26

    Back to text ↑
  2. New Versions of Apple’s Software Platforms Are Now Available

    Apple Newsroom · 2025-09-15T00:00:00.000Z · iPadOS 26

    Back to text ↑
  3. About iPadOS 26 Updates

    Apple Support · 2026-07-29 · Feature availability notes

    Back to text ↑
  4. iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes

    Apple Developer Documentation · Apple · 2026-07-29 · Overview and availability notes

    Back to text ↑
  5. About the Security Content of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26

    Apple Support · 2026-07-29 · iOS 26 and iPadOS 26; released September 15, 2025

  6. iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes

    Apple Developer Documentation · Apple · 2026-07-29

Documented & observed

Changes in this version

Source-linked features, fixes, known issues, removals, and community-observed behavior recorded across this version’s appearances and verified builds.

Release changes

Changed in this release

Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.

developerApi · introduced

StoreKit offer merchandising APIs

documentedconfirmed

StoreKit added a one-time offer payment mode, JWS-signed promotional offers, and SubscriptionOfferView merchandising.

Recorded at Beta 1

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-1 snapshot · StoreKit — New Features; 142501142, 143395736, 145251635

developerApi · introduced

HealthKit medication and dose-event APIs

documentedconfirmed

HealthKit added APIs for reading a user’s medications and logged medication dose events with authorization.

Recorded at Beta 1

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-1 snapshot · HealthKit — New Features; 114279172

feature · introduced

App Store Accessibility Nutrition Labels

documentedconfirmed

App Store product pages gained an Accessibility section describing supported accessibility features before download.

Recorded at Beta 1

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-1 snapshot · App Store — New Features; 138344118

developerApi · introduced

Workout session APIs on iPhone and iPad

documentedconfirmed

HKWorkoutSession and HKLiveWorkoutBuilder became available to apps on iOS and iPadOS for live workout tracking.

Recorded at Beta 1

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-1 snapshot · HealthKit — New Features; 125746390

removal · removed

Legacy IKEv2 algorithms removed

documentedconfirmed

IKEv2 VPN configurations could no longer use DES, 3DES, SHA1-96, SHA1-160, or Diffie-Hellman groups below 14.

Recorded at Beta 1

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-1 snapshot · NetworkExtension — Deprecations; 148767790

other · introduced

Beta 1 seed

documentedconfirmed

iPadOS 26 Beta 1 appeared on 2025-06-09 as build 23A5260n.

Recorded at Beta 1

  1. [1] iPadOS 26.0 beta 1 (23A5260n) · iPadOS 26.0 Beta 1; build 23A5260n

developerApi · introduced

On-device Foundation Models access

documentedconfirmed

The Foundation Models framework opened direct developer access to the on-device large language model used by Apple Intelligence.

Recorded at Beta 1

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-1 snapshot · Apple Intelligence — New Features; 139996377

feature · introduced

Journaling Suggestions sync to iPad

documentedconfirmed

Journaling Suggestions created on iPhone could sync through iCloud to the Journal app and participating journaling apps on iPad.

Recorded at Beta 1

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-1 snapshot · Journaling Suggestions — New Features; 152322897

bugFix · fixed

Background Assets download stability

documentedconfirmed

Apple fixed stalled or failed asset-pack downloads, missing status updates, and delayed TestFlight asset refreshes while retaining a large-pack installation limitation.

Recorded at Beta 2

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-2 snapshot · Background Assets — Resolved and Known Issues; 143281558, 151498902, 151647839, 151942388, 153128086

developerApi · introduced

Immediate passkey registration availability

documentedconfirmed

AuthenticationServices could limit passkey-registration UI to cases where the device was immediately able to create a passkey.

Recorded at Beta 2

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-2 snapshot · AuthenticationServices — New Features; preferImmediatelyAvailableCredentials; 150688929

developerApi · changed

Inline sidebar and inspector titles

documentedconfirmed

In the regular size class, iPadOS sidebars and inspector titles defaulted to inline presentation with an API override.

Recorded at Beta 2

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-2 snapshot · SwiftUI — New Features; 150891824

developerApi · changed

NavigationSplitView link indicators

documentedconfirmed

Navigation links in a regular-width NavigationSplitView content column hid chevrons by default and gained an indicator-visibility API.

Recorded at Beta 3

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-3 snapshot · SwiftUI — New Features; 151646790

bugFix · fixed

Public Generable types and model reliability

documentedconfirmed

Foundation Models fixed public Generable declarations and several rate-limit and guided-generation reliability problems.

Recorded at Beta 3

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-3 snapshot · Foundation Models framework — Resolved Issues; 152681332, 153216183, 153216632

enhancement · introduced

Low-texture Object Capture model

documentedconfirmed

Object Capture added a downloadable reconstruction model that improved photogrammetry quality for low-texture objects.

Recorded at Beta 3

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-3 snapshot · Object Capture — New Features; 145220451

knownIssue · knownIssue

Foundation Models prompt and guardrail limitations

documentedconfirmed

Some prompts could produce unexpected responses or erroneous guardrail-violation errors in the Foundation Models framework.

Recorded at Beta 4

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-4 snapshot · Foundation Models framework — Known Issues; 152318091, 155273863

knownIssue · knownIssue

10-key Return key rotation issue

documentedconfirmed

The Return key could stop responding on Japanese and Chinese 10-key keyboards after rotating from landscape to portrait.

Recorded at Beta 4

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-4 snapshot · Keyboards — Known Issues; 154163977

developerApi · introduced

Multilingual content tagging

documentedconfirmed

The Foundation Models content-tagging use case expanded beyond English and exposed supported-language discovery.

Recorded at Beta 5

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-5 snapshot · Foundation Models framework — New Features; 155801948

developerApi · introduced

Foundation Models prompt prewarming

documentedconfirmed

LanguageModelSession.prewarm() began caching instructions and prompt prefixes to reduce time to the first generated token.

Recorded at Beta 5

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-5 snapshot · Foundation Models framework — New Features; 152381043

regression · regression

Alphanumeric passcode entry regression

documentedconfirmed

Some devices with alphanumeric passcodes could show a single-digit entry screen that prevented the correct passcode from being entered.

Recorded at Beta 5

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-5 snapshot · Passcode — Known Issues; 156070293

developerApi · introduced

Foundation Models refusal and raw-content APIs

documentedconfirmed

Guided generation added explicit refusal handling, raw generated-content access, and a permissive mode for supported text transformations.

Recorded at Beta 5

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-5 snapshot · Foundation Models framework — New Features; 156086748, 156351123, 156721060

removal · removed

Deprecated Core Data ubiquitous-store options removed

documentedconfirmed

The iOS and iPadOS 26 SDK removed long-deprecated ubiquitous-store option keys superseded by NSPersistentCloudKitContainer and SwiftData.

Recorded at Beta 5

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-5 snapshot · CoreData — Deprecations; 157297746

developerApi · changed

Core Data concurrency annotations

documentedconfirmed

The Beta 5 SDK revised Core Data Sendable and isolation annotations, surfacing warnings for code that violated established context-concurrency rules.

Recorded at Beta 5

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-5 snapshot · CoreData — Known Issues; 153848710

bugFix · fixed

Foundation Models asset-download guardrail errors

documentedconfirmed

Foundation Models stopped reporting guardrail violations caused by model assets that had not fully downloaded.

Recorded at Beta 6

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-6 snapshot · Foundation Models framework — Resolved Issues; 156223847

bugFix · fixed

SwiftUI popover environment-object crash

documentedconfirmed

SwiftUI popovers stopped crashing when they accessed environment objects declared outside the popover content.

Recorded at Beta 9

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — beta-9 snapshot · SwiftUI — Resolved Issues; 156906038

bugFix · fixed

UISymbolContentTransition compiler crash

documentedconfirmed

The Swift compiler stopped crashing when a project initialized UISymbolContentTransition.

Recorded at RC

  1. [1] iOS & iPadOS 26 Release Notes — rc snapshot · Swift Compiler — Resolved Issues; 150858005

other · changed

RC seed

documentedconfirmed

iPadOS 26 RC appeared on 2025-09-09 as build 23A340.

Recorded at RC

  1. [1] iPadOS 26.0 RC (23A340) · iPadOS 26.0 RC; build 23A340

enhancement · changed

Files and default-app workflow upgrades

documentedconfirmed

Files added new organization and customization options, folders could be placed in the Dock, and more app categories supported a chosen default.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · Files and default apps

feature · introduced

Live Translation and intelligent Shortcuts

documentedconfirmed

Live Translation expanded communication tools, while Shortcuts added supported intelligence actions and model-assisted workflows.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · Live Translation and Shortcuts

feature · introduced

Preview, Journal, Games, and Phone on iPad

documentedconfirmed

Preview, Journal, Games, and Phone broadened the set of built-in iPad applications and workflows.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · Apps

feature · introduced

Local recording and background-task visibility

documentedconfirmed

The release added audio-input controls, local recording tools, and Live Activity visibility for supported background tasks.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · Audio, recording, and background tasks

feature · introduced

Resizable windowing system

documentedconfirmed

Apps could be resized and arranged with window controls, tiling, Exposé, and a menu bar, substantially changing iPad multitasking.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · Multitasking and windows

feature · introduced

Liquid Glass interface

documentedconfirmed

Liquid Glass reshaped system controls, navigation, and app surfaces throughout iPadOS 26.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · Design

Milestones

Release history

Every recorded channel appearance in chronological order. Open an appearance for any available build, scope, notes, and sources.

  1. Developer beta

    Beta 1

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 1 (23A5260n) has 8 source-supported milestone deltas plus exact build and channel metadata.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    11 linked
    Open this appearance
  2. +14 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 2

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 2 (23A5276f) has 7 source-supported milestone deltas plus exact build and channel metadata.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    10 linked
    Open this appearance
  3. +14 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 3

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 3 (23A5287g) has 5 source-supported milestone deltas plus exact build and channel metadata.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    8 linked
    Open this appearance
  4. +15 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 4

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 4 (23A5297i) has 3 source-supported milestone deltas plus exact build and channel metadata.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    6 linked
    Open this appearance
  5. +2 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 4 v2

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 4 v2 (23A5297m) preserves exact prerelease identity and evidence limits without inventing a revision-specific or cumulative change list.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    3 linked
    Open this appearance
  6. +0 days

    Public beta

    Public Beta 1

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Public Beta 1 (23A5297m) preserves exact prerelease identity and evidence limits without inventing a revision-specific or cumulative change list.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    4 linked
    Open this appearance
  7. +12 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 5

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 5 (23A5308g) has 10 source-supported milestone deltas plus exact build and channel metadata.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    13 linked
    Open this appearance
  8. +6 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 6

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 6 (23A5318c) has 5 source-supported milestone deltas plus exact build and channel metadata.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    8 linked
    Open this appearance
  9. +3 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 6 v2

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 6 v2 (23A5318f) preserves exact prerelease identity and evidence limits without inventing a revision-specific or cumulative change list.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    3 linked
    Open this appearance
  10. +4 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 7

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 7 (23A5326a) preserves exact prerelease identity and evidence limits without inventing a revision-specific or cumulative change list.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    4 linked
    Open this appearance
  11. +7 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 8

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 8 (23A5330a) preserves exact prerelease identity and evidence limits without inventing a revision-specific or cumulative change list.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    4 linked
    Open this appearance
  12. +8 days

    Developer beta

    Beta 9

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 Beta 9 (23A5336a) has 2 source-supported milestone deltas plus exact build and channel metadata.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    5 linked
    Open this appearance
  13. +7 days

    Release candidate

    RC

    Full articleEditorially verified

    iPadOS 26 RC (23A340) has 2 source-supported milestone deltas plus exact build and channel metadata.

    Build
    23A340
    Availability
    available
    Sources
    5 linked
    Open this appearance
  14. +6 days

    Public release

    Public

    Source-linked recordEditorially verified

    The public iPadOS 26 release paired a redesigned interface with a new windowing model and broader productivity and communication tools.

    Build
    23A341
    Availability
    available
    Sources
    8 linked
    Open this appearance

Historical context

Cycle comparison

Pace, intervals, and duration compared with earlier releases on the same platform.

Historical avg for major releases

99 days, 11.8 milestones

Based on 4 previous iPadOS .0 releases

Cycle vs. platform average

98d (avg: 49d)

49 days longer than the iPadOS average

Duration ranking

#3 of 46

One of the longest iPadOS beta cycles

Longest gap in this cycle

15 days

Between Beta 3 and Beta 4

Previous .0 releases (iPadOS)

Previous comparable iPadOS releases
VersionYearCycleMilestonesAvg. Interval
iPadOS 18.0202498d129d
iPadOS 17.02023105d139d
iPadOS 15.02021105d1211d
iPadOS 14.0202086d1010d

Scroll horizontally to compare every historical field.

Official release notes