Looking at the home screens, the primary difference you'll find is that in iOS 26 the background of the dock and the search option that sits in between the dock and the home screen icons are more transparent and have a sheen to the edges, whereas in iOS 18, these are slightly darker.

Apple tones down its new Liquid Glass aesthetic in iOS 26 beta 3, making interface elements more readable after user complaints.

Apple released the third beta for iOS 26 last week. It's a minor update, but does ship with some interesting new features and changes.