How to disable liquid glass in iOS 26?

danuke wrote:

Oh gee, too bad that OP is not a user. Typical "I'm so enlightened" truly useful response. Ya been using Apple products for so long after all.

Certainly long enough to know that Apple has always, especially when Mr. Jobs was at the helm, done things the way Apple thought they should be done, not necessarily the way people thought they wanted it.

“Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”

Liquid glass is awful. I would strongly recommend a full switch off mode in the next update. For both desktop and iphone. It is beyond disgusting. It’s offensive. It’s like a kids toy interface. My first computer!

Thank you. I’m in Australia and the IOS update has only become available to me yesterday and abruptly changed the appearance of my Home Screen so much. I’m not a fan of Liquid Glass and yes, in fact I fall into the category of users who hate it. I would love to be able to turn it off. Your suggested changes have helped, especially turning off the animated motion. I don’t believe the new Liquid Glass is user friendly and will bother the many people who wear glasses or have vision impairment, probably 50% of Apple users.

It's not just about the accessibility issues discussed all over the worldwide web, Apple's new design is a step back in graphic design!!! The inconsistent sizing and outlining of visual elements is distracting and confusing. Apple has always been a leader in the simplicity of visual design. I don't know how this haphazard mess of confusion was ever approved by Apple's design team! As a person with a disability, the visual confusion makes navigating my device quite difficult. Executing tasks is a lot more confusing and mentally draining for me than before.

I am very disappointed in this new update and wish I had the option to remove it. I have been considering moving away from iPhone for a good year or so, as competitors have stepped up in matching iPhone's intuitiveness and functionality. The visual confusion and reduced accessibility, as well as the distraction and frustration of ugly graphics is definitely a motivator in abandoning my iPhone the next time I'm ready for an upgrade.

Apple just lost their edge in the battle for superiority! I fully expect a significant drop in sales in 2026.

jumel wrote:

Thank you. I’m in Australia and the IOS update has only become available to me yesterday and abruptly changed the appearance of my Home Screen so much. ...

FWIW, The Liquid Glass update was available world-wide in late September 2025, and to beta testers in June 2025.

First, don't like Liquid Glass, but thank you for these tips. I tried several combinations, but the issue now is the TIME as it is displayed on the Lock Screen when you wake up the phone (tap the screen or press the R side button). It used to be Solid White. Now it has various amounts of transparency and even Reduced Transparency ON did not completely fix this. We did turn on Borders, which helped a little. Any way to get that back to a Solid Color?

lobsterghost, thanks. I had seen a few of these in my journey since being infected with Liquid Glass, but not this particular one, that breaks down Lock Screen and many other specific issues. It'd be great if you put that together into a pdf that people could download and save. In the meantime though, I will use my PC to Print-Save to PDF.

Thanks again!

I'm glad it helped you. I can't actually make the user tip I wrote a PDF, as it's forever loaded here on the forum as a User Tip. But you can bookmark the user tip, or even copy it and save it in any format you'd like on your computer or device. Again, I'm glad it helped you. I wrote this by the way because while I really like Liquid Glass (I know, blasphemous to some posting here), I recognized not everyone shared the same opinion, so I wrote this to help people make some easy adjustments to help them.

Thanks again. As to the latter part, I just think some people get something, get used to the way it works/looks, it does what they need. And they just don't like whatever that is, to be changing. I'm closer to that side of the spectrum vs the change anything, it's all good side. I think because I keep so much in my head on how to do so many things, it throws me off when unwelcome and unasked for changes come along. I have adapted to quite a lot over the years. First computers I worked with were MS-DOS. Then original Windows, then Windows for Workgroups, then NT, then Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and all the changes since then.

QuiGonJohn wrote:

Thanks again. As to the latter part, I just think some people get something, get used to the way it works/looks, it does what they need. And they just don't like whatever that is, to be changing. I'm closer to that side of the spectrum vs the change anything, it's all good side. I think because I keep so much in my head on how to do so many things, it throws me off when unwelcome and unasked for changes come along. I have adapted to quite a lot over the years. First computers I worked with were MS-DOS. Then original Windows, then Windows for Workgroups, then NT, then Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and all the changes since then.

You hit the nail on the head here. If I've learned anything from this and other threads on iOS 26, it's clear many simply don't adapt well to things changing. But in technology and for Apple, if they don't introduce new features, they're accused of no longer innovating. And if they innovate, which Liquid Glass is one of the best (and I mean this sincerely) examples of innovation, some people will complain. And complain vociferously at that. We 'have' to accept that technology will continue moving forward. Whether we want or can move forward with it is up to the user. Personally, I don't want to ever be an old dog who can't learn new tricks!

This is the first year of Liquid Glass. As time moves on, people will likely not only adjust but come to appreciate it. And Apple is learning from user feedback (as long as the feedback is constructive and given where someone at Apple will actually read it --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple), we will undoubtedly see improvements made as time marches forward.

Thanks for the nice discourse. I do really want to help people here.

Have a great weekend.

emrecio wrote:

While this might be in iOS, I am not upgrading to Tahoe for a similar UI reason, also to stay away from AI's intrusiveness? In any case, will these tricks work in the MacOS too are there equivalents?

You have to turn on Apple Intelligence. If you don't, there is no "AI's intrusiveness."

Liquid Glass is has far less of an impact in macOS.

Why make the text see through? I don’t see the point and I don’t see my clock or other items without an hour on forums to see how to change all my setting back (now more difficult because names and location changed like it’s a hidden secret). I see what’s behind them. Not to mention scrolling is no longer smooth so the screen jumps.

Ppppppppq wrote:

Why make the text see through? I don’t see the point and I don’t see my clock or other items without an hour on forums to see how to change all my setting back (now more difficult because names and location changed like it’s a hidden secret). I see what’s behind them. Not to mention scrolling is no longer smooth so the screen jumps.

To quote from my esteemed colleague, KiltedTim:

"Your opinion has been noted and ignored.

You are not talking to Apple. Apple will not see your complaint here. This is a user forum. We are all Apple customers. We do not have the ability to alter reality."

You can let Apple know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Twiscordia wrote:

Yeah it's excessive and not needed. Of course they work on the GUI because they've reached the point of diminishing returns don't even have anything to add.

It's not even atheistically pleasing.

That is YOUR opinion. It is not everyone else's, however. I like Liquid Glass as do many many other people.

You are another person who responded to the first post, which likely means you didn't read past it. There are 36 pages of this thread, so yes, a lot, but there are posts which give you ways to customize Liquid Glass to better meet your needs, like this, for example --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community

A quick Google search and I found this....To disable or reduce the "glass effect" (Liquid Glass) in iOS 26, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and turn on Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast, and Settings > Accessibility > Motion to turn on Reduce Motion, which removes the frosted glass look, making UI elements solid and improving readability and contrast across apps and the system. While there's no single "off" switch, these settings effectively hide the transparency.