Apple has released iOS 26 15 September and the update introduces a handful of features to your iPhone, including Call screening, New ringtone And more. The biggest change the update brings to your device is a new visual design, which Apple calls Liquid Glass.
It’s the most dramatic visual update Apple has brought to your iPhone since the company released iOS 7 in 2013. The redesign makes menus and other visual elements look transparent, and some elements squish and move when you interact with them.
When Apple released the developer beta of iOS 26 some people were torn about the design. Apple tweaked the design to improve “Change These iPhone Settings” clarity by adding a more frosted look during the iOS 26 beta process, but you still might not be happy with it. However, you can adjust the liquid glass design in just a few steps, significantly reducing its transparency.
Here’s how to make the Liquid Glass design more pronounced in iOS 26.
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How to Adjust Liquid Glass
1. open settings.
2. tap accessibility.
3. tap Display and text size.
4. Tap the toggle for this Reduce transparency.
This will darken any menus or elements affected by the Liquid Glass design, including apps like Messages and your Control Center.
On the left, we see the Liquid Glass design in full effect, and on the right with the reduced transparency setting enabled.
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in Display and text size Menu, you can also tap the toggle next to it Contrast enhancement To help separate liquid glass components. When I enabled this toggle, it gave many of those elements a white outline.
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Contrast enhancement adds outlines to elements across your iPhone.
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If you want to use the clear app icon option, I would not recommend enabling transparency reduction or contrast enhancement. I really like clear icons because they make sure your background is the main focus, but the icons are still visible enough to distinguish each one. When these other options are enabled, the icons seem to take center stage
Liquid Glass with no modification (left), Liquid Glass with Reduce Transparency enabled (center-left), Liquid Glass with Increase “Change These iPhone Settings” Contrast enabled (center-right), and Liquid Glass with Decrease Transparency and Contrast enabled (right).
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If you want to bring the Liquid Glass design elements back to your device, follow the steps above again to disable Reduce transparency.
If you’re a developer or beta tester, you can access a new option in iOS 26.1 beta 4 that can colorize certain Liquid Glass elements like your notification center. However, this option won’t affect other Liquid Glass elements like your home screen.
Here’s how to access this feature if you’re a developer or beta tester
1. open settings.
2. tap Display and brightness.
3. tap liquid glass.
In the new menu, you can select Clear or Tinted.
“Clear is more transparent, revealing the content below,” Apple writes of the setting. “Tinted increases opacity and adds more contrast.”
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Don’t forget, this feature is part of iOS 26.1 beta 4. This means only developers and beta testers can access it for now, and Apple may adjust or remove this setting before releasing software updates to the general public.
For more iOS news, here My review of iOS 26How to enable calls and the text OS and all screenings New ringtone on your iPhone. You can also check us out iOS 26 Cheat Sheet.
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