Apple has started rolling out the first public beta of iOS 26.5, landing just days after the developer beta. The iOS 26.5 public beta adds a new ”Suggested Places” feature in Apple Maps, while Apple is also testing a broader ad push inside Maps and, once again, end-to-end encryption for RCS messages. That is a pretty clear sign of where Apple wants Maps to go next: less navigation tool, more search-and-discovery platform with monetization attached.
The public beta is available through the Apple Beta Software Program for anyone willing to sign up with an Apple account. As always, beta software is where Apple tries out features that may or may not survive the trip to the stable release, which means the interesting part here is not just what appears, but what sticks.
Suggested Places in Apple Maps
Suggested Places surfaces trending locations near you or places that match your search history. Apple says you can find it by tapping the search bar in Maps, which is a small interface change with a fairly obvious goal: keep people inside Apple’s own app instead of bouncing to a rival search or review service.
- Shows trending places to visit
- Includes restaurants and other establishments
- Appears near your location or based on search history
- Accessible from the Maps search bar
Ads are moving into Maps
iOS 26.5 beta also includes notifications that Apple is preparing ads for Maps. The ads will be based on location, search terms, and what users look up in Maps, and they will appear at the top of search results and in the Suggested Places list. Apple confirmed in March that it planned to expand ads beyond the App Store and Apple News, so this beta looks less like a surprise and more like the software version of an announcement you already knew was coming.
Apple says the ads will be clearly marked and tied to privacy protections: your current location and ad interactions will not be associated with your Apple Account, and your personal data will stay on your iPhone. That is the right answer for a company selling itself as privacy-first, even if users may still find promoted results in Maps a little too familiar for comfort.
RCS encryption is back in testing
Apple is also testing end-to-end encryption for RCS messages in iOS 26.5 beta, again. The company has not said whether the feature will make the stable release, which leaves messaging security in the same old holding pattern: good headline, no promise yet. If Apple does ship it, that would put more pressure on competing platforms to keep pace with modern defaults rather than treating encryption as an optional extra.
For now, the betas suggest Apple is polishing two very different parts of iPhone life at once: search and messaging. One is about making Maps more useful, and more profitable; the other is about making iMessage-adjacent communication harder to snoop on. Pick your favorite Apple contradiction.