Some iPhones running iOS 26 Developer Beta 1 are experiencing frustratingly slow performance. If you’re one of those who decided to ignore the warnings about installing beta software and thought, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ well, I have the answer for you. Installing the first Developer Beta of a new iOS version is always a risk, and it’s even more so than usual with this release. The downside? The features you use every day might not work properly, and battery life can be a real pain.
Still, there’s a silver lining-by installing the beta early, you get first dibs on all the new features, which is pretty great if you’re like me and need to be ahead of the curve for work.
Last night, my iPhone 15 Pro Max froze completely. I couldn’t swipe through my home screen, access the recent apps carousel, or even toggle the device off. Fortunately, I still had my Pixel 6 Pro set up with Helium Mobile’s Zero Plan, which gives me 3GB of data, 100 minutes of talk time, and 300 texts every month for the unbeatable price of $0. With this setup, I could still use my Pixel for calling and texting, thanks to T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network, while letting my iPhone play guinea pig for the latest iOS beta bugs.
Now, some of you might wonder, ‘If the iOS 26 Developer Beta is causing all these issues, why not just roll back to iOS 18.5?’ The thing is, doing so requires wiping your phone clean, which means you’ll lose all your apps. Sure, if you backed up your data before diving into the beta, you could restore it, but wiping the device and starting fresh is still a hassle. It’s definitely a trade-off. But if you are running iOS 26 Developer Beta and your iPhone suddenly becomes unresponsive, don’t panic-there’s a fix. A simple restart often resolves these frozen screen issues. After restarting, most of the problems should disappear.
If you’re holding out hope that the iOS 26 Developer Beta will get better, the good news is that the iOS 26 Public Beta is expected to be released in July. This version could include patches to fix some of the bugs currently plaguing the Developer Beta, so there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
For those who rely on their iPhones working flawlessly, perhaps skipping the beta might be a smarter move next time. Take this as a warning: if you’re asked to install a beta version of iOS, think twice and maybe pass on it.
So, if you’re facing performance issues with your iPhone on iOS 26, try shutting it down and restarting. It’s a simple trick that might just save you some frustration.
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