Smartphone Industry Shake-Up: Massive Launches, Leaks, and a Global Tech Showdown (July 23–24, 2025)
Apple’s iOS 26 Enters Public Beta: Apple is on the cusp of a major software release. On July 22, it seeded iOS 26 beta 4 to developers, bringing refinements to the new “Liquid Glass” design language and re-introducing AI-powered news summary notifications Techcrunch Techcrunch. This rollout came just ahead of the first iOS 26 public beta, expected around July 23 for all brave testers Techcrunch. Apple’s beta program will let iPhone users try iOS 26’s features – like the revamped Notification Center with dynamic tinting and the updated Siri and Camera interfaces – a couple months before the official fall launch Techcrunch Techcrunch. Google’s Android 16 Nears Completion: On the Android side, Google is in late-stage testing for Android 16. The final beta releases rolled out earlier in July, and Google is now squashing bugs in Quarterly Platform Release betas that include the July security patch Androidcentral. Android 16’s official launch is anticipated toward the end of the summer. In the meantime, current Pixel phones got July software updates focusing on bug fixes – though one update reportedly caused some battery drain and backlighting quirks, prompting Google to address those in a patch Reddit Gadgethacks. No dramatic new features dropped
