How to disable liquid glass in iOS 26?
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
465 replies
Press on your home screen until you see the edit button at the top left. Tap Edit, then move the Widget and voila, srsly, you will have fixed your nightmare.
Hello~ In addition to the link that *lobsterghost1* posted…let Apple know your thoughts as they won’t see them here in this forum.
~Katana-San~
You can turn on “Show Borders” (also in accessibility > display & text size) and it’s still not great but it does get rid of the worst part of the “glass” effect
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:
This is a user to user forum, you are not addressing Apple here. Use the following link you send your feedback to Apple -
suppose you can let them know how you feed using their feedback channels
or try to reach out to their support channels
And
or
And
or
Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple
Or
Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple
potado_wizard193 wrote:
I do wish there was a way to fully turn it off.
It’s pretty and all, but it runs down your battery very fast and makes it slow.
Liquid Glass is NOT running your battery down, nor making your phone slow. When you install a major update, it can take a few days for the phone to index the millions upon millions of bytes of data. You need to give it some time for the background processing to conclude. Apple recently posted this about updates --> About Apple software updates - Apple Support
In addition after EVERY iOS update (large or small) it is recommended to Force Restart your iPhone. I do this after EVERY iOS update and never have any issues --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support
That only makes the background overlay darker. It does not get rid of the liquid glass effect. That also turns the phone into basically dark mode for your lock screen, and there is no way to make the notification color fill lighter. Horrible choice from apple in my opinion...
Try this to bring the Liquid Glass look back closer to what it was before the iOS26 upgrade –
Hold your finger on the screen until the apps get the “wiggles”
Top left, click Edit,
Choose Customise,
At the bottom, choose Default (far left option) as your App Style.
The apps will now be solid without the annoying refraction around them.
There is still some transparency, but not as much.
Apparently no one who works for Apple is likely to see posts in here and we should request the option to disable Liquid Glass on their feedback page:
Also: Contact - Official Apple Support
Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple
I’m finding it way less usable as well, but at least I’m not getting migraines—genuinely sorry to hear that. For me, iOS has steadily gotten less and less accessible in recent years, plus I was honestly shocked at how bad the iPhone 15 camera is. I really don’t want to have to switch to Android, but 🤷🏻♀️
Martyn2605 wrote:
I have slightly impaired sight. The downgrade to ‘liquid glass’ makes an iPhone unusable for me, even with the transparency set to the minimum allowed. There is no ‘depth’ of contrast and the screen now looks almost uniformly grey.
Have you tried any of the other accessibility options? Have you experimented with both the dark and the light versions?
Accessibility features for vision on iPhone - Apple Support
Optional? In what world would a new design of an OS be optional? Why didn’t you research before updating especially with your conditions? There are billions of videos showcasing it.
The best you’ve got is reduced motion, which I assume you already have enabled.
rhodri80 wrote:
It’s not about like or dislike, it’s about accessibility and providing an experience everyone can use. Even with Liquid Glass reduced I can barely read the text with the effects applied, e.g. the “use passcode” on the lock screen
I'm not sure what value there is in telling only other users what your issues with Liquid Glass are. No one on this user to user only forum works for Apple nor has any way to change anything. And Apple doesn't read here for feedback.
Tell Apple what your thoughts are --> Product Feedback - Apple
How to disable liquid glass in iOS 26?