Feedback on the new Liquid Glass design – Give us an option to opt out

Hi, iOS 26 and Liquid Glass are simply the design Apple has chosen to go with, for now. The iPhone User Interface has had several major redesigns in its near 20 year history. The last major redesign was iOS 7, back in 2014. We all somehow managed to get through them all. 

Apple and Apple Support do not participate here. We’re all fellow users and don’t represent Apple.

You may want to review the information in the article I linked to below. It explains the adjustments you can make to mitigate the effects of Liquid Glass that you’re experiencing. 

Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community

Apple’s installed user base is over 1.5 billion users. Making a single user interface perfectly compatible for every user is literally impossible. Apple will make changes (or not make changes) based partially on the feedback they receive through their official channel, linked below and good luck.

Product Feedback - Apple

Thank you for responding with your concerns, IngridML.

There is an old saying:

"Never complain, never explain".

According to Apple:

After a software update is installed for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS, it cannot be downgraded to the previous version.

What you can do about this:

Open Settings ➢ Accessibility ➢ Display & Text Size, then toggle Reduce Transparency = on.

Also in Settings ➢ Accessibility ➢ Motion, then toggle Reduce Motion = on.

Also in Settings ➢ Display & Brightness ➢ Liquid Glass ➢ Tinted.

When you create a custom iPhone Lock Screen, you can → change the look of the clock. ⏰

A very useful user-tip by lobsterghost1 ▶︎ Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's Here To Stay is recommended reading. 👍🏼

In addition, you can provide ⇢ Product Feedback.

If enough requests are made, your feedback might help with future development, like a toggle in the settings (to disable the Liquid Glass effect).

Good luck! 👋🏼😉

Bcuug wrote:

Jeff Donald wrote:

Making a single user interface perfectly compatible for every user is literally impossible.

For whom does liquid glass render the UI more "compatible"? Prettier, perhaps, but I simply cannot see any way in which it improves functionality. This has the hallmark of a change for the sake of change.

A change I quite like. And Android has also implemented Material Design 3 and if you visit the Androids forums, you'll see many of the same complaints. The reality is we're seeing a new way to display things on flat screens. It's skeuomorphic and it will become more sophisticated over time, but it's what the future holds.

It doesn't change functionality. What you do on your iPhone hasn't changed from what you could do on your phone before Liquid Glass. it just looks a bit different.

And this has been posted, but I wrote this for those people who may not appreciate Liquid Glass as much as I do --> https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250010041

Hi, do you realize this scenario plays out every year in the community? Last year it was iOS 18 is the worst ever, and the year before that, iOS 17 was an abomination and on and on. Some people accept change and some don’t. I suspect you don’t do well with change and this upgrade was not compatible with your style and needs for using an iPhone. But people do post on the community that they love the UI. I suspect it’s more compatible with their needs and style of using their iPhone. There’s no right or wrong. It’s simple, you can’t make 1.5 billion people happy.

I’m sorry this UI isn’t your cup of tea. I’ve used every single iPhone OS since it was introduced in 2007. I’ve liked some more than others, but I’ve managed all the iOS changes every year. Come June, I'll be beta testing iOS 27 and providing feedback from what my personal experience is and what other users have experienced. It’s what I do. Good luck with the choices you have to make. Apple’s made their’s, I’ve made mine and you’ll have to make yours.

Jeff Donald wrote:

Making a single user interface perfectly compatible for every user is literally impossible.

For whom does liquid glass render the UI more "compatible"? Prettier, perhaps, but I simply cannot see any way in which it improves functionality. This has the hallmark of a change for the sake of change.

Bcuug wrote:

For whom does liquid glass render the UI more "compatible"? Prettier, perhaps, but I simply cannot see any way in which it improves functionality. This has the hallmark of a change for the sake of change.

Lots of people like it.

Smilin-Brian wrote:

There is an old saying:

"Never complain, never explain".

-UK Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli