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
This has nothing to do with the operating system.
WRONG
There are 9+ pages of replies in this thread that all explain that it is not possible to "turn off" Liquid Glass.
There are also replies that provide instructions on how to minimize the effects.
I suggest that you read through this thread.
ronniefromma wrote:
Someone just gave me a great tip. There’s a new liquid glass setting. Go to display & brightness. Then liquid glass. Change the setting to tinted. That’s the best solution I’ve seen yet.
Yup, you probably read it here in this very thread, where it has been mentioned several times.
Lawrence Finch wrote:
lobsterghost1 wrote:
Did you check your facts?
Facts? AI bots never check facts. They just make them up.
I'm not sure the post was written well enough to have been AI generated. But we both know it was 100% wrong!
anandamanav wrote:
It would be a great if Apple/iOS could provide a way to opt-out from it. Because this liquid glass design is not nice, looks subpar compare to my old iPhone 14 pro. I see iPhone 17 is going backwards in its look & feel.
That's just not going to happen. Liquid Glass is woven into iOS 26 and there will never be an opt-out of what is hard coded into the OS. Read this --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community
Leilabano wrote:
My screen flickers on the top when changing to another screen after updating to iOS 26. This hurts my eyes, so since updating I don’t want to spend time on my iPhone as i find it very uncomfortable to work with, i get headaches.
Open Settings > Accessibility > Motion - make sure Reduce Motion is turned off and see if that helps.
JockoSr65 wrote:
Most everyone that I spoke with ( family, friends & coworkers) aren’t crazy about it. They can live with it but they’d like the option to be able to toggle it off as would I. I’ve made the adjustments in my settings but I’m still not completely satisfied. Apple really should’ve given us the right to choose for those who aren’t interested. The one feature that I’m glad that they did think ahead about was giving us the option to make the time solid.
Many mistakenly think Liquid Glass is a simple skin, which should have an on or off switch. It's not. It's a fundamental part of the UI in iOS. While it might sound such a simple thing to do, it's not. It IS the iOS and as with all operating systems, users don't get to pick and choose the parts of the operating system they want.
And telling your fellow users on this user to user only forum what you think Apple should have done, won't be read by anyone at Apple. They don't participate here, nor read for user feedback. You can if you like, provide your thoughts to Apple here --> Product Feedback - Apple
I truly don't think what people are suggesting is something they're going to get, but it never hurts to provide feedback anyway.
Vaibhavtiwari wrote:
It is a request, please remove liquid glass
That is not possible here and if you want Apple to see your request, then you will have to send feedback to them where it will be read. This is a support site made up of mostly other users like you where none of us have a backdoor communication channel to let Apple know how you feel.
T-MobileAWFUL wrote:
A security update should not affect the appearance of the phone. The white lines and white bubbles around everything are appalling. Especially in dark mode.
You seem a bit confused. iOS 18.7 was a security and bug fix update for iOS 18. iOS 26 is the new for 2025 iOS version, which most definitely was intended to change how things look and in some cases how things work.
Read this --> OS - iOS 26 - Apple
If you installed iOS 26, you get a new look and feel and it was quite intentional. In an earlier post, you suggested there was no warning. There was plenty of advance notice on what iOS 26 was bringing to our phones. For months, Apple showed off iOS 26 on their website. There were as there ALWAYS are with every iOS update, release notes on the update page on your iPhone. You didn't have to read them, but then that's really on you, if you didn't. YouTube had literally hundreds if not thousands of videos about iOS 26 before it was released. If you didn't do any research at all before you upgraded, that's really not Apple's fault.
George_Lampropoulos wrote:
Guys I got it:
I managed to clear it completely :
I went in a shop, bought a new iPhone 16. Disabled auto update on settings.
Now my phone is amazing again.
(I am being serious unfortunately)
There's an old saying........."Don't cut off your nose to spite your face." So, you'll never ever update again, right? That's not really sustainable, and you'll ultimately wind up with a device which is vulnerable to security issues. And you'll wind up with apps at some point, which will no longer be supported on the iOS version you intend to freeze yourself at. But if this is the right solution for you, good for you.
pocketpenguin04 wrote:
Agree, I can’t read any of my notifications with the liquid glass effect! Not sure why I would want a non-optional feature that makes basic functions of my phone unusable. Really appreciate all the suggestions to help people make this at least a little better.
Update your iPhone to iOS 26.1, which was released 2 days ago, then read this link and you'll see how you can change how your notifications are displayed --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community
Spinoza_Ed wrote:
I think liquid glass is awful. Reducing transparency helped some but it is still awful. I am writing messages with another message showing up underneath. It is distracting and I think it is ugly. Asking Apple for a feature to completely disable what I think is a total mess.
You're not writing anyone at Apple, by posting here. This is a user to user only forum, which Apple neither participates nor reads for user feedback.
You can use this link to share your thoughts with Apple, but I wouldn't expect Apple to disable a key feature of iOS, which is hard coded throughout the entire operating system --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple
You might want to read this all the way through and make adjustments, which may better meet your needs --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community
Mee369 wrote:
Here is the simplest answer… You Can’t. But if you have IOS 18 backup(s), you can open Time Machine on Mac and select an iOS 18 backup, with iPhone in recovery mode.
That will not restore iOS 18 to the phone. Backups do not contain the system software.
Easiest way to almost eliminate Liquid Glass is to enable a black background on your home screens.
How to disable liquid glass in iOS 26?
