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
The “reduce transparency” is actually a weak workaround. You can check it by recording screen and playback it in slow motion. You can see that the “glass” effect doesn’t go anywhere, there is just a black shade added at some animation step.
Dmitry Sazonov wrote:
The “reduce transparency” is actually a weak workaround. You can check it by recording screen and playback it in slow motion. You can see that the “glass” effect doesn’t go anywhere, there is just a black shade added at some animation step.
To be fair…”reduce” doesn’t mean it would take the glass effect away at all so there’s no surprise that it wouldn’t literally take away the effect but simply “reduce” it.
As mentioned numerous times in this thread and pretty much any thread where there is something built into iOS that the user can’t change or disable the only real option is to contact Apple directly to submit feedback. And of course if the issue is something the user just can’t deal with or wait to see if any changes may occur in future updates they could make a more extreme decision to switch to a different brand phone. I personally opted to not update to iOS 26 on my current devices (although I did do it on my MacBook Pro and don’t have issues with it) simply because I wanted to wait to see it on my iPhone 17 Pro Max first in case there were any bugs or issues. Of course that doesn’t help anyone that maybe wasn’t upgrading or if they were getting the new devices and didn’t have a choice in not updating to iOS 26. But for those with older devices I always recommend waiting before updating so you can monitor any issues others may bring up and hold off if they seem to be big ones or things you know you wouldn’t like. Not to diminish those who truly are having what sounds like visual or sensory issues with iOS 26 but there are always hundreds of threads every year when a major update happens complaints (with many being more opinions and issues with not liking change…hence when people declare it’s “ugly” when that isn’t something that has anything to do with functionality…and is completely subjective). So every year you can almost predict what will be said…until there is a true and major functional issue…like when wireless charging issues were happening to most users (just one example).
azwinnieQ wrote:
I want a way to turn off Liquid Glass. I cannot “see” the display as easily as before. I updated my iPhone 16 as well as my iPad Pro, to IOS 26 and am very disappointed. Please fix this with an update to give us a choice.
You can reduce the transparency if that helps you at Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency. Every year there are users who do not like any changes, that is not unusual. The UI is a central part of any OS, and not something that you can just turn on/off with a switch to revert back to the previous UI. Others like it too:
Five_bells wrote:
They’re just asking for the option to disable Liquid Glass, period, regardless of how you define “feature.” (And I know, this isn’t the forum for that, but please cut DanielleMarie89 and the rest of us whose devices have now become less usable some slack.) Reducing transparency doesn’t affect the flashes of light they were referring to—I’m betting that’s one of the settings they mentioned trying unsuccessfully.
You're right. If people actually read the terms of use they agreed to when they joined this forum, they already know Apple doesn't participate here, nor read here for user feedback. So posting how someone wants to remove Liquid Glass, which can't be removed to other users on this user to user only forum won't get anyone anywhere. People also don't read past the first post. So we get a lot of me too posters here, which becomes rather annoying when it's been explained what options are available to people.
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.
mrdattu1969 wrote:
why can't they just clearly allow you to only choose security updates or at least give you a clear and easy way to go back to at least the most recent screen display before the update. it's so frustrating and irritating when they do this. all the apps now have weird layouts and non-intuitive ways of doing things. i'm seriously rethinking the apple ecosystem.
[Edited by Moderator]
Well.....they did let you choose a security update. You could have only updated to iOS 18.7 as opposed to iOS 26. Liquid Glass has been perhaps the most widely discussed Apple update in years. There were like a zillion YouTube videos about it. Countless articles about it, too.
Personally, I LOVE Liquid Glass. And you can minimize its effects as has been mentioned on just about every page of this thread. But get rid of it, you can't. It's an integral part of iOS. So either get used to it or don't.
As to leaving the Apple Ecosystem, do as you please. It certainly makes no difference to anyone here on this user to user only forum. You should absolutely buy what suits you best.
Missdlb wrote:
I too am experiencing visual issues with the Liquid Glass. Everything is a bit blurry as is I’m looking through glass at fish in a fish tank. I did workaround, it doesn’t help. Nothing is clear and crisp. My phone is essentially unusable at this point. I don’t know what to do. My company requires our devices to always be updated.
There is nothing anyone here can do about it. Submit your feedback to Apple:
Zedairder wrote:
The best you’ve got is reduced motion, which I assume you already have enabled.
Also Settings>Accessibility>Display & Text Size>Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast.
But yeah, definitely not optional!
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.
abeness wrote:
"If you don't like change, technology is likely not for you. Every year, things change. That's not going to stop."
This isn't a productive comment, lobsterghost1. We've all been using technology for years, successfully. It's not a matter of liking change or not, it's a matter of humans being wired differently. To each their own: it's great that Liquid Glass works for you.
I work in school theater, and we are sensitive to the use of strobe in the context of epileptic triggers, for example. Yeah, it might be great to use a strobe for a particular show, but if an actor suffers from epilepsy triggered by strobe lighting, would it be reasonable to suggest that the actor sit out that show to avoid a seizure?
We've all purchased Apple products and many of us have been loyal customers for many years. It seems unreasonable to roll out an update like this without an off switch for those that really can't function with this huge visual change, as seems clear from this long thread. I hope Apple hears us and implements Accessibility features to allow us to advance to iOS 26 without visual distraction that makes it harder for us to use their technology. Reduce Motion and Reduce Transparency are incomplete in 26.0.
It's fine you don't think it's a productive comment. It is a factual comment. Last year, when iOS 18 was released, just as many people came to this forum and complained about the changes. And now we have iOS 26 and people are complaining about the changes. Next year, we'll get iOS 27 and people will complain about the changes. Apple is darned if they do and darned if they don't. If nothing changes, Apple will be criticized for becoming stagnant. If too much changes, Apple is criticized for making too many changes. I stand by my comment that when it comes to software, change is inevitable. Whether someone can adapt to it or not is another topic.
Whether I like Liquid Glass and anyone else doesn't like it however, isn't going to get changed or addressed in any way by posting you don't like something here. This is strictly a user to user only forum, which Apple neither participates, nor reads for user feedback.
If you want Apple to hear you, you need to provide feedback where someone from Apple will actually read it. It's been posted a number of times in this thread, but here is the link again --> Product Feedback - Apple
I didn't like how it looked when I enabled Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency. However, I found there is another setting you can enable to improve this. Accessibility > Motion > Reduce Motion. This disables both the bouncing effect of apps when you unlock the phone and open the home screen, and also eliminates the ripple effect on app groups which was a big annoyance for me. Now those look more like simple frosted glass, which is a big improvement.
doDadTJL wrote:
Why pin paid advertisements to this post? This doesn't answer the question. You're justifying your stance by providing release articles from paid sources. If it can not be changed state that along with relative information to the problem. I personally hate it, and don't think 3 articles stating otherwise is useful.
It's not possible for anyone to pin anything in this thread. The only thing that gets pinned is the "Top ranking reply." The articles that Mac Jim ID linked to are within the Terms of Use.
As far as the question goes, it has been repeatedly answered. Pretending it has been because you don't like that answer will not change anything.
You cannot disable Liquid Glass. You can, however, let Apple know what you think of that. It's surely a better use of everyone's time than criticizing the way other volunteers answer.
AaronLea wrote:
There is a fundamental problem with Liquid Glass that goes beyond “people don’t like change”. It’s a total failure of UX accessibility and ADA compliance. It’s born out of privilege. As a designer who also is embedded in assisting the atypical community in my spare time, I assure you, many people are not liking the change do to cognitive issues and not because of its aesthetic.
Tell Apple:
Encourage all of these other folks you presume to speak for to do the same.
Bluestar725 wrote:
All material to disable Liquid Glass only minimizes it, not completely disables it. I need a solution to disable the feature as I am visually impaired and the Liquid Glass effect is making it impossible to read on my Iphone. Please help make this an optional feature.
As has been pointed out repeatedly in this thread, you cannot disable or remove the feature. You can only ameliorate it using the settings in Accessibility that have already been outlined.
No one here in the user-to-user forum can change anything. You can, however, let Apple know your thoughts here:
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.
How to disable liquid glass in iOS 26?
