Is there a way to completely disable the liquid glass functionality on iOS 26? I'm not going to get into a lengthy diatribe over why it's awful, I just want it gone.
iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 18
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:
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:
Every Report counts.
I ment 26.1 sorry about that, also that post just came in my email today. Didnt know it was in September.. i will check dates next time. Thanks
lobsterghost1 wrote:
Did you check your facts?
Facts? AI bots never check facts. They just make them up.
It’s hilarious that you assume they’re ai/used ai in that reply
Please remove liquid glass. Its too bubbly, to much round corners. The straight forward browser navigation and access is gone. Its horrible and looks like theme ios of windows 7 10 years ago.
It has nothing to do with liking it. Liquid Glass is an accessibility nightmare. The fixes are inadequate.
100% agree. Poorest interface design I’ve ever seen. There are so many people with different vision issues and this is a nightmare for anyone with one
Thank you so much for the answer to the question I didn't know I had. I was trying to figure out how to get used to liquid glass. Reducing transparency makes it much more readable.
Awesome! I never went into customize. Love the option of having the time displayed in solid instead of Liquid Glass. Thanks for the note.
This might help?
Thanks for the very clear instructions.
Reduce transparency was enough for me, but I'll look at the other settings and change them if I find I need to.
It’s so ugly, prescriptive and not clean
apple is losing the design edge
nflutter wrote:
It’s so ugly, prescriptive and not clean
That doesn't even make sense. But it doesn't matter what I think. Tell Apple:
Same. I'm so sick of the forced unnecessary display changes 😡
I can barely read the time on my lock screen and I can’t tell what apps are in some folders now. This is ridiculous.
I tried the accessibility changes and they don’t help at all.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256136970?answerId=261731477022#261731477022
here's my previous answer to this question.
How to disable liquid glass in iOS 26?
