iOS 26.4 will bring several minor but important usability improvements to your iPhone. The update adds 11 new Pride-themed wallpapers, a suggested places section in Apple Maps, and a new payment option for yearly app subscriptions.
Here are all the new features you can look forward to trying in iOS 26.5, which could arrive as early as today.
Everything new in iOS 26.5
iOS 26.5 is Apple’s fifth major point release for the iPhone operating system. Unlike iOS 26.4, it does not bring a ton of new features. Instead, it focuses on minor improvements and bug fixes. This is understandable as Apple is now likely focusing on iOS 27, which it will unveil at WWDC26 in June.
Table of contents: New features in iOS 26.5
- Suggested places in Apple Maps
- New Pride wallpapers
- Monthly subscription payment option
- Encrypted RCS messaging
- Smarter Reminder alerts
Suggested places in Apple Maps
Apple Maps gets a new “Suggested Places” section in iOS 26.5. As the name suggests, it recommends places nearby worth visiting based on your location and recent searches.
Apple will also use suggested places to show ads in Apple Maps to users in the United States and Canada from later this year. They will have an “Ad” label to distinguish them from organically recommended places.
New Pride wallpapers
Photo: Apple
Every year with the spring update, Apple adds a new Pride-themed wallpaper to the iPhone and iPad. This year, it’s introducing 11 new Pride wallpapers with iOS 26.5.
Even better, there’s a builder, so you can manually select the colors and create your own Pride-themed wallpaper. Apple lets you pick up to 12 colors to create vibrant wallpapers.
Monthly subscription payment option
iOS 26.5 introduces a new payment option for subscriptions. Developers can offer a monthly payment option for their annual subscriptions. So, if an app’s yearly subscription costs $99, developers can break it down into 12 monthly payments.
This is a great option for users who can’t afford to pay for a yearly subscription upfront. Typically, the monthly subscription tier of such apps is significantly higher than the yearly one.
Unfortunately, Apple will not bring the new subscription payment option to the United States and Singapore.
Encrypted RCS messaging
Photo: Rajesh Pandey/CultofMac
iOS 26.5 brings a small but important improvement to the Messages app: support for encrypted Rich Communication Services messaging. For now, the feature is available in beta and will only work with “supported carriers.” A wider rollout will happen over time, likely with iOS 27 later this year.
While iMessage conversations have always been end-to-end encrypted, RCS messages have not. However, RCS messaging, which Apple introduced in iOS 18 in 2024, delivers a superior cross-platform experience between iPhone and Android users. RCS supports high-quality media sharing, typing indicators, read receipts and improved group chats.
Smarter Reminder alerts
iOS 26.5 makes one key improvement to alerts from the Reminders app. Instead of snoozing an alert to this afternoon or evening, the alert will show precise times.
So, you will now see options like “Remind Me in 1 hour” or “Remind Me Tomorrow.” That’s much better than the current “Afternoon” or “Evening” options.
If you heavily rely on the Reminders app to manage your tasks, this small change should make a big usability difference.
You can find everything new in the previous iOS 26 updates below.
- Everything new in iOS 26.4
- Everything new in iOS 26.3
- Everything new in iOS 26.2
- Everything new in iOS 26.1
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
