- The third beta of iOS 26.2 is now available
- Includes a new way to use AirDrop with people who aren’t in your contacts
- It also hints at the possibility of changing the default voice assistant, although only in Japan so far.
Apple has released the third beta version of iOS 26.2 and while most of the changes and additions here are minor, there is one pretty substantial new feature.
Now, as MacRumors discovered, you’ll be able to use AirDrop to share files with someone without having to first add them as a contact or enable AirDrop for everyone nearby. Instead, you can generate a code that, once shared with someone, will allow you both to exchange files via AirDrop for 30 days. So this works even if you have your AirDrop set to contacts only.
If you want to remove your AirDrop privileges before the 30 days are up, or simply see a list of those with whom you shared said code, you can do so from Settings > General > AirDrop > Manage Known AirDrop Contacts.
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The other changes in this iOS 26.2 beta are relatively minor, but worth knowing about. For example, third-party medical apps will now be able to access hypertension notifications from the Apple Watch, and Apple has further modified the design of the Level in the Measure app, giving it a new Liquid Glass in the previous beta version.
Most of the other additions simply give you information about changes that were added in previous beta versions. For example, there’s now text in the Reminders app that makes it clearer that you can add an alarm to a reminder if you set it to urgent; The ability to add alarms was added in an earlier beta version of iOS 26.2.
Similarly, a warning has now been added to the Liquid Glass settings screen, alerting you that you cannot use the previously added ‘Tinting’ option in combination with the ‘Reduce Transparency’ and ‘Increase Contrast’ accessibility settings.
A Japan-exclusive Siri replacement
However, there is one last thing that might be important, except that it is currently limited to Japan, as there are signs in this beta that users in Japan will soon be able to choose a different default voice assistant that they will be able to launch by long pressing the side button.
It’s unclear why this would be Japan-only, but if Apple ever expands it to the rest of the world, then it could be a great update for anyone not interested in Siri.
In any case, as with previous beta versions of iOS 26.2, we don’t necessarily recommend downloading it, especially since the final version will probably be out very soon. But if you just can’t wait, here’s how to download iOS beta versions.
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