iOS 26's Liquid Glass isn't bad enough to hate – but annoying enough to make you wish you'd waited

 
The problem? There’s no magic “reverse spell” for this one. If you’ve updated, you’re stuck with it. If you haven’t yet, it might be smarter to check if iOS 26 really feels worth it to you before pulling the trigger.

• 7 iOS 26 tricks you need to try on your iPhone right now

But first, yes, Apple made the jump from iOS 18 straight to iOS 26

If you’ve been away from the Apple world for a minute, you might be shocked to see your iPhone (iPhone 11 or newer) asking to update to iOS 26. Don’t worry – you didn’t miss seven whole versions overnight. Apple simply decided to sync up its naming system across all platforms.

Now it’s all clean and tidy: iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS 26, visionOS 26. No more mismatched numbers like iOS 18, watchOS 12, and visionOS 2. Instead, Apple went with a year-based naming approach, so iOS 26 covers the 2025–2026 cycle. It makes it easier for people to instantly know they are running the latest OS.

To regret or not to regret

I’ve been living 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 have waited before installing? Probably yes. The biggest reason: battery drain.

I’m not alone here. A lot of users are reporting worse battery life since updating, which might explain all those downgrade searches. Still, this feels more like a temporary issue. Anytime you install a major iOS update, your iPhone runs a bunch of background tasks – reindexing files, updating apps, downloading assets. That eats up energy and makes things feel sluggish at first. Usually, things smooth out once all that work is done.

Other complaints include lag when switching between apps and icons not always linking back properly. Annoying? Yes. Permanent? Probably not. But one thing that is sticking around, like it or not, is Apple’s flashy new design language: Liquid Glass.

The Liquid Glass effect

Here’s where the real controversy comes in. Liquid Glass is Apple’s new look, and it’s everywhere. Some people (me included) find it cool in many cases. But clearly, not everyone is on board – searches for “how to turn off Liquid Glass” are just as popular as downgrade searches right now.

The problem? Getting used to it isn’t optional. The UI is a core part of iOS, and you can’t just flip a switch to go back. The closest workaround is enabling Reduce Transparency, which tones things down a bit, but that’s it.

Liquid Glass looks sleek, but it comes with some real drawbacks:

Personally, my biggest headache is Safari. Closing tabs now takes extra steps, and Liquid Glass makes website text harder to read. It just feels like Apple added friction where there used to be none.

To be fair, Liquid Glass does shine in certain places. The new spatial wallpapers are fun, Photos and Camera look fresh, and the Phone app feels more modern with a customizable unified layout. Once you get over the initial shock, much of it actually feels like an upgrade.

Still, if the new look isn’t your thing, I get it. Just remember: once you update, there’s no way back. You’ll eventually need to update anyway for security reasons, but if you’re on the fence, there’s nothing wrong with stalling at least until the bugs are ironed out.

So, is Liquid Glass the reason some people regret installing iOS 26? Probably. I doubt it’s the new features like Live Translate, Spam Filtering, or the adjustable Lock Screen widgets – those are solid. The big shake-up is the design.

And honestly, this feels like just the start. Rumors say the iPhone 18 Pro might even push the same “transparent” aesthetic on the outside, and iOS 27 will likely double down on it. After all, if we set our imaginations free, Apple’s long-term play could be leading us toward a see-through iPhone. Whether anyone asked for that is another story – but history shows we usually just end up using whatever Apple decides is “next.”

And looking ahead, future iOS versions will probably push even more consistency across iPhone, Mac, and Vision Pro. Like it or not, iOS 26 is just the beginning of that new unified Apple look.