How to disable Liquid Glass effect on iPhone?

There is no way to downgrade your iOS or fully get rid of Liquid Glass, but you can tone down the level of it. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display and Text Size > Turn on Reduce Transparency.

And you aren't addressing Apple here. We are only volunteers and don't have the power to do anything with your feedback except direct you to this link below where Apple will see it.

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

WayneKP wrote:

Needed to turn off transparency settings first, duh

Nice workaround Apple

Turn off Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast actually

Accessibility settings have often messed up normal functionality.

How about being grateful that Apple reacted to feedback so rapidly.

Needed to turn off transparency settings first, duh

Nice workaround Apple

No

It's a bit like iOS 7 all over again. Back then, many people were unhappy with the flat design and wanted the skeuomorphism from iOS 6 and earlier back. It's a matter of getting used to it. When iOS 27 is released one day, it will be much more polished and make more sense in several places, and in iOS 28 most people will have forgotten the changed design. Those who don't like it now will probably think that everything before iOS 26 looks hopelessly outdated, and then there are those who will always have a nostalgic approach to it, like those of us who still dream of a leather-bound Contacts app from the iOS 6 era.

Apple will have to innovate, and there will always be someone who doesn't want to go on that journey. But the thing is, it's necessary, and if you create a setting that can simply disable all innovation (in this case, disable Liquid Glass), it will be equivalent to Apple saying that they don't believe in the design themselves.

I remember the U2 album well. I also remember that shortly after the "forced release", Apple set up a website where you could remove the album from your Apple ID.

WayneKP wrote:

I am all for innovation but perhaps having the option to turn new features ON instead of forcing changes on us that we can’t turn OFF might be a more useful setup

You can certainly send Feedback to Apple if you wish. Some features you do have to turn on during or after setup such as Siri, Face ID, Stolen Device Protection. The UI is not a feature, it is the look of the OS and not an opt in feature. Apple added the option in the latest release to tone it down, because some did not like the look, which is exactly what you would expect for a company that listens to their customers and validates the use of the Feedback link.

I don’t like Windows but look at the things on windows which are still basically the same since Windows 95 because people just prefer some apps not to change

Windows 95 is nothing like Windows 11 in the look or even the use of the OS. Not sure if that was a very good example. No one is going from Windows 95 to Windows 11 without a learning curve requiring adjustments on their part to accept the look and to accomplish the same tasks they did previously.

l3xor88 wrote:

You can't disable Liquid Glass on iOS 26. However, if you have an iTunes Backup, you can downgrade back to the iOS version from which you saved/backed up the data. You need a computer to downgrade iOS and then restore your data afterward. Or, if you can't backup, downgrade using a computer and set the device up as new.

Not true. That is only supported when you are using a beta version to downgrade to the latest shipping release. I think you got your information mixed up.

WayneKP wrote:

in time it will improve no doubt but like the App Library, there should be an option to remove it if we. Don’t like it

You also cannot remove an emoji if you do not like it. That is simply the way it is. There are actually many things that you cannot remove/change in any OS version. You can use the Feedback link that was provided for any suggestion and that should always be done to let Apple know how you feel.

WayneKP wrote:

I am all for innovation but perhaps having the option to turn new features ON instead of forcing changes on us that we can’t turn OFF might be a more useful setup

I don’t like Windows but look at the things on windows which are still basically the same since Windows 95 because people just prefer some apps not to change

Apple's philosophy is turn everything on by default, that will not change.

l3xor88 wrote:

You can't disable Liquid Glass on iOS 26. However, if you have an iTunes Backup, you can downgrade back to the iOS version from which you saved/backed up the data. You need a computer to downgrade iOS and then restore your data afterward. Or, if you can't backup, downgrade using a computer and set the device up as new.

Wrong wrong wrong.

You can turn it off in iOS26.1.

You cannot downgrade to iOS18

This user tip might help you “tune” the display so as to be less objectionable:

Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community

Yes but I think most phone apps are at the limit of what can be done to improve it, don’t try to fix something that isn’t broken and what about the basic Apple principle “it just works “

all these tweaks here and there when it should be as simple as “turn off Glass Features “

is it an improvement we need? Perhaps for some but for others who would rather stay with the old UI it shouldn’t be forced upon us, remember the U2 album release, I liked it but many didn’t, it’s about choice

WayneKP wrote:

Yes but I think most phone apps are at the limit of what can be done to improve it, don’t try to fix something that isn’t broken and what about the basic Apple principle “it just works “

all these tweaks here and there when it should be as simple as “turn off Glass Features “

is it an improvement we need? Perhaps for some but for others who would rather stay with the old UI it shouldn’t be forced upon us, remember the U2 album release, I liked it but many didn’t, it’s about choice

If Apple operated under the "don't try to fix something that isn't broken" mantra, you would still be using iOS version 1 without any of the features I am sure you have grown to love and now cannot live without. That saying is completely meaningless especially when it comes to the fast changing environment in technology. I suppose you are not driving a Model T either.

As for changes to Liquid Glass, you will just have to wait for iOS 26.1 to see. It is currently still in beta, so we cannot comment on any of the changes made as that is a violation of the terms of use for testing the software. Apple has not announced the release date, so we cannot speculate on when it will be available, even with the reported rumors.

On the U2 debacle, yes I agree it was a debacle no matter how well intended it was for Apple to provide a gift for their customers, but let's not rewrite history on what actually happened. The songs were released and automatically downloaded to users devices on September 9, 2014, and some did not like it. Apple provided a removal tool less than a week later on September 15th, so everyone had the opportunity to remove it. Most people forget that point when it does not fit in with their narrative of the story. That tool existed for nearly 6 years until it was determined that anyone that did not want it had removed it by then. Ironically, we still get posts about people that have it and are suddenly enraged that it is there. While the tool is no longer available, a simply call to Apple will remove the album from your account.

Disagree. Yes there's always changes and people will always have opinions. But the readability is objectively worse. It's harder to read text, harder to see icons and more visually cluttered. Not to mention that it looks like a tacky website and reminds of the early cat-species MacOS days. Yes yes I know you can go to reduce transparency. But you shouldn't need a disability feature initially created for the visually impaired just to make the UI function.

The real innovation would be allowing more customisability.

It's such an eyesore that I simply wont update.

wiggle321 wrote:

The real innovation would be allowing more customisability.

It's such an eyesore that I simply wont update.

Do you realize the iOS 26.1 was released today that does allow more customizability of the Liquid Glass feature. You won't be able to see that toggle without updating though, so not sure where that leaves you.