What The Tech: iOS 26, the latest I-phone update

Posted: Feb 4, 2026 7:16 AM CST

by
Justin Walker

BY JAMEY TUCKER, Consumer Technology Reporter

If you updated to iOS 26 and immediately thought, why does my phone look like this, you’re not alone. I’ve been hearing from a lot of iPhone users asking the same question: can I go back?

Technically yes, but it isn’t easy and Apple doesn’t exactly encourage it. The good news is, you don’t have to live with everything you dislike. While you can’t fully undo iOS 26, you can turn down some of the changes and make your iPhone feel more familiar again.

Here are the biggest complaints and what you can do about them.

The biggest complaint: Liquid Glass
Apple’s new design style is called Liquid Glass. It adds transparency and animation to menus, search bars, and controls. Apple says it looks modern and immersive.

Many users say it looks distracting. Because menus are translucent, text and icons can blend into whatever is behind them, especially photos, maps, or video. That makes some screens harder to read and harder to focus on.

How to reduce the Liquid Glass effect

You can’t turn Liquid Glass off completely, but you can make it much easier on the eyes.
1. Open Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Display and Text Size
4. Turn on Reduce Transparency
5. Turn on Increase Contrast

This adds a more solid background behind menus and makes text stand out better.

If motion and animation bother you Liquid Glass also adds more movement. Menus slide, float, and animate more than before. Some people love that. Others find it distracting.

How to reduce motion
1. Open Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Motion
4. Turn on Reduce Motion
This cuts down on animations and makes the interface feel steadier.

A new option in iOS 26.1
Apple quietly added another control in iOS 26.1.
Under Display and Brightness, you can adjust Liquid Glass to a tinted look. This adds a light frosted layer behind…

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