How to disable liquid glass in iOS 26?

Adambagley wrote:

I echo the sentiment here, it is a very un appealing and any efficient design it has created plenty of issues for me personally.

Apple’s iOS 26 “Liquid Glass” redesign is a bad decision not because it looks different, but because it cuts directly against what Apple does best.

Apple’s core promise has always been effortless clarity. You pick up an iPhone and everything is immediately readable, calm, and obvious. Liquid Glass—by design—adds translucency, refraction, motion, and visual noise to core interface elements. That’s spectacle layered on top of information, and it makes the OS harder to read, not easier.

This is especially dangerous for accessibility. Translucent UI over dynamic backgrounds is notoriously bad for contrast, low-vision users, and people sensitive to motion. The fact that Apple has already had to tone it down and add controls to reduce the effect proves this isn’t a polish issue—it’s a fundamental design conflict.

It also introduces unnecessary performance and perception risk. Effects-heavy interfaces make users worry about battery life and older devices, even if Apple optimizes them. Apple upgrades work because users trust that updates improve stability, not just visuals. This redesign weakens that trust.

Then there’s the ecosystem cost. When Apple changes its visual language this dramatically, developers feel pressure to redesign their apps just to keep up—absorbing time and expense with no guarantee users actually want the look.

Most importantly, Liquid Glass sends the wrong signal. Apple wins by being practical, restrained, and human-centered. A flashy, polarizing UI suggests Apple is prioritizing visual novelty over usability at exactly the moment users want reliability and substance.

Apple shouldn’t need an OS you have to “dial back.” If users want to turn it off, it shouldn’t be the future of iOS.

You're sharing this with only other users. Perhaps cathartic to do so, but you're not sharing anything with Apple on this user to user only forum. Users, by the way, none of whom had anything to do with iOS 26 or Liquid Glass.

I wrote this, which explains why you will likely never get a turn off option with Liquid Glass. So yes, you need to make adjustments which better meet your needs, but get rid of Liquid Glass completely is pretty much guaranteed to never happen --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community

Tell Apple what you think --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Perhaps users can get a preview of iOS updates? They did. Apple opened Beta Testing for iOS 26 in June, before rolling it out to the public in September. It was widely reported on in the press. In blogs. In YouTube and just about everywhere tech oriented. I don't beta test myself, but I was more than well aware of what iOS 26 was all about long before it was updated on my iPhone.

As to your issue with seeing the time, I'd recommend choosing a wallpaper with a dark background. This is really no different than it was in iOS 18. The time on your home screen has always been white.

And you of course do have several options in terms of adjusting Liquid Glass. This has been posted many times throughout this thread. Read it ALL the way through and try the options --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community

rogemcdoge wrote:

This issue needs to be fixed, asap. All this advice about changing all these settings just to get it to look halfway decent again is not a solution.

This is user to user only forum. We can't fix anything. And in my opinion, nothing is broken. If you don't like Liquid Glass, you can make settings adjustments as detailed in this link --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community Those are the only options you have available to you.

If this is not acceptable to you, tell Apple what in your opinion needs to be fixed --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

“NO”, I really hate that future it’s so annoying but unfortunately there’s no options to disable it.

Unbest72 wrote:

“NO”, I really hate that future it’s so annoying but unfortunately there’s no options to disable it.

Disabling the future would be unwise.

iOS 26 can’t go back. Reducing transparency helped alot for the Home Screen.

[Edited by Moderator]

margit85 wrote:

just want my old settings back.

That is not an option.

You can let Apple know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Reduce transparency in settings !

You can let Apple know about your concerns here -

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

How do you disable Liquid Glass?

Buy a Samsung Galaxy.

iOS 26 is one of the worst updates ever for UI.

“release needs to have a way to turn off liquid glass.”

it is not a skin you can turn off or change, it is written into the iOS

You had 5 weeks to test it out in public beta. Missed your chance. Maybe next time.

Reduce motion, unfortunately, does nothing to eliminate the app open effects where the corners are rounded as it opens and then kind of “flicker” into place. It is awful for those of us that really can’t abide visual distractions. I think I’m going to revert to iOS 18.7 pending some interface cleanup in iOS 26. iPhone SE 2020.

I, too, dislike the forced dark mode on the lock screen. Why anyone would want it to be difficult to read the time on a quick press of the lock button to wake is beyond me. Thankfully, you can at least customize the lock screen and toggle the time display to solid (turn off glass), at least.

Dear Apple, my phone is a tool, not an object de art. Need unobtrusive, not “in my face” design.

I upgraded to the first developer beta of iOS26 and hated the glass theme.

It is 100% doable and quite simple to go back to iOS 18 if you have a Mac and cable capable of data transfer (not just a cheap charger cable). I know this because I did it.

Note: doing it will install a fresh version of IOS18 as the backup created will be an IOS26 back and won’t work so you’ll lose any existing data. But it’s definitely doable.

Totatora wrote:

I upgraded to the first developer beta of iOS26 and hated the glass theme.

It is 100% doable and quite simple to go back to iOS 18 if you have a Mac and cable capable of data transfer (not just a cheap charger cable). I know this because I did it.

Note: doing it will install a fresh version of IOS18 as the backup created will be an IOS26 back and won’t work so you’ll lose any existing data. But it’s definitely doable.

It's NOT doable if someone installed iOS 26 last week when it was officially released.

Liquid glass makes me dizzy and sick to my stomach. This will definitely help reduce me using my iPhone.

The only thing that slightly helps is changing the background to a solid color.

How do we request a change from apple? Don’t want a product that makes me physically sick.