amdc101 wrote:
There is a serious issue around accessibility with the Liquid Glass display, it’s not just an aesthetic issue. I do personally think it’s an unnecessary overlay, and don’t like it, but part of that is that I work for a charity for blind people and in terms of apples usual excellence with accessibility this is a huge fail.
iOS/iPadOS 26.1 introduced a new setting that subtly charges the appearance of Liquid Glass:
Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass - select Clear or Tinted
Sadly, for iPad, this new setting makes very little difference for those that struggle with both the appearance and overlapping screen elements introduced with Liquid Glass - an issue that is often not understood by those that have perfect eyesight.
If you are experiencing difficulty with the new Liquid Glass UI, there are other settings that can significantly improve the appearance and suppress the majority of unwanted effects:
- Settings > Accessibility > [Vision] Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency - set to ON
- Settings > Accessibility > [Vision] Display & Text Size > Increase Contrast - set to ON
- Settings > Accessibility > [Motion] Reduce Motion - set to ON
Each if these settings can be used individually, or in combination. Setting Reduce Transparency alone (1) will likely suppress the majority of your issues. The Reduce Motion setting (3), if used, will eliminate the "lensing" effects of the Liquid Glass UI. Experiment; you should find a combination that works for you.
I suggest that you begin with setting Reduce Transparency to ON - and then, if needed, experiment with additional use of one or more of the other options.
NB: The new Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass setting can only be changed/toggled while Reduce Transparency is set to OFF. You might find that setting Liquid Glass to Clear, prior to enabling Reduced Transparency to ON, may give the best result.
Liquid Glass is here to stay - and will likely evolve throughout the lifespan of iOS/iPadOS 26. Hopefully, Apple will provide additional controls over time with which to selectively eliminate aspects of the new UI to better meet the functional and visual needs of the wider user population. Liquid Glass is very "pretty" - but for some is arguably form over function, reducing legibility and usability for some users.
You - and anyone else that has an issue with the Liquid Glass implementation - should submit constructive comments via Apple's Product Feedback portal. For iPhone:
Feedback - iPhone - Apple
Every Report counts.
