The iOS 26 liquid glass is not bad enough to hate – but boring enough to make you want you to wait


. But here is the thing – everyone is not happy that they did it.

And nowadays, generally, when people want to discover something, the first thing they do is to go to Google. And yes, that’s exactly what’s going on: Tons of research on how to downshift from iOS 26 to iOS 18.

The problem? There is no magical “inverted spell” for this one. If you have updated, you are stuck with it. If you haven’t done it yet, it could be smarter to check if iOS 26 It really seems to you before pressing the trigger.

But first, yes, Apple made the jump iOS 18 directly iOS 26

If you are far from Apple World for a minute, you might be shocked to see your iPhone (iPhone 11 or more recent) to ask to update iOS 26. Don’t worry – you didn’t miss seven whole versions overnight. Apple simply decided to synchronize its name system on all platforms. Now everything is clean and tidy: iOS 26iPados 26, Watchos 26, MacOS 26, Visionos 26. More incompatible figures like iOS 18Watchos 12, and visionos 2. Instead, Apple went with a name -based name approach, so iOS 26 Cover the 2025-2026 cycle. This allows people to instantly know that they are running the latest operating system.

To regret or not regret

I lived with iOS 26 And iPados 26 for a week now, and honestly, I’m torn. Do I want to go back to iOS 18? Not really. Should I wait before installation? Probably yes. The main reason: the battery leak, I am not alone here. Many users report a less good battery life since the update, which could explain all of this demotion research. However, it looks more like a temporary problem. Each time you install a major iOS update, your iPhone runs a bunch of background tasks – reindex files, update of applications, active download. It eats energy and makes it slow at first. Usually things are smoothed once all this work is done. The other complaints include the offset during the passage between applications and icons which are not always linked correctly. Boring? Yes. Permanent? Probably not. But one thing that sticks, whether or not, is the new apple flashy design language: liquid glass.

Liquid glass effect

Video credit – Apple

Here is where the real controversy comes. Liquid Glass is the new Apple look, and it’s everywhere. Some people (including me) find it cool in many cases. But clearly, not everyone is on board – the research of “how to deactivate liquid glass” is just as popular as degradation research at the moment.

The problem? Happy is not optional. The user interface is a central part of iOS, and you cannot simply turn a switch to go back. The closest bypass solution reduces transparency, which reduces things a little, but that’s it.

You can compose transparency a little in the settings. | Screenshots by phonearena

Liquid glass looks elegant, but it comes with real drawbacks:

  • Visual coulet and readability problems: Too much transparency makes text difficult to read and disorder icons.
  • Conviviality problems: Different applications use it differently, so that experience can feel fragmented and inconsistent.
  • Performance hits: All these blurred layers and animations require a lot of treatment power, which can affect the performance and the life of the battery, in particular on older iPhones.

Personally, my biggest headache is safari. The closing tabs now take additional steps, and Liquid Glass makes the text of the website more difficult to read. It looks like Apple added friction where there were none.

But that’s not all bad

To be fair, liquid glass shines in certain places. The new space wallpapers are fun, the photos and the camera are cool, and the telephone application is more modern with a customizable unified arrangement. Once you have overcome the initial shock, a large part actually looks like an upgrade.
However, if the new look is not your thing, I understand. Remember: once you have updated, there is no way to come back. You will finally need to update anyway for security reasons, but if you are on the fence, there is nothing wrong with blocking at least until the bugs are calculated.

Just the start of Apple’s new management

So, is the liquid glass the reason why some people regret iOS 26? Probably. I doubt that it is the new features such as Live Translate, spam filtering or adjustable lock screen widgets – these are solid. The great upheaval is design.

And in advance, future iOS versions will probably push even more consistency on iPhone, Mac and Pro Vision. Like that or not, iOS 26 is only the start of this new unified apple look.

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