Can I Tone Down Liquid Glass on My iPhone?

Some older adults think the see-through software design tech on Apple devices is cool, but others find it visually distracting

Edward C. Baig,

AARP

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Published October 07, 2025

a gif of an iphone with settings being adjusted on an iphone

AARP (Apple)

AARP members and readers are invited to submit pressing technology questions they’d like me to tackle in my Tech Guru column, including issues around devices, security, social media and how all the puzzle pieces fit together. This week, I’m addressing a question surrounding a new software design and user interface for the iPhone and other Apple devices.

I just upgraded my iPhone to iOS 26 and immediately noticed this transparent new software design. I have vision challenges and am having trouble making out certain things on the screen. Can I turn it off or revert to what was there before?

Liquid Glass is the name Apple bestowed on the translucent screen and other effects behind a revamped interface for iPhones, iPads, Mac computers and other products, and it’s one of those slick design aesthetics that many people marvel at. It was inspired by the visionOS software on Apple’s expensive Vision Pro mixed reality headset. I’ve kind of taken a liking to Liquid Glass myself.

But it is by no means a uniform opinion. Like you, some people are wondering if Liquid Glass can be turned off due to readability challenges when notifications appear on the lock screen, as well as other onscreen elements. Critics I’ve come across said Liquid Glass is like looking through a dirty window or frosted glass. Others have reported laggy animations.

A recent Wired headline read, “Liquid Glass Could Be One of Apple’s Most Divisive System Designs Yet.”

Since you can’t roll back the clock and retreat to iOS 18, nor is there currently an “off” switch, the quick answer to your question is that once you’ve either bought a new iPhone 17 series handset with iOS 26 or upgraded your current phone to Apple’s latest mobile operating system, Liquid Glass will remain. The same applies if you’ve upgraded to the freshest operating systems for the iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV.

That is, unless Apple chooses to tweak the design or add an undo option as part of another software update.

As this column was being written, Apple released iOS 26.01, the digits referring to the version number. Among the bug fixes Apple indicated is an update addressing a situation in which app icons may appear blank after a user adds a custom tint.

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Minor operating system updates were also released for the iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. Such updates after a new main operating system is released are common, but how and if Liquid Glass is altered remains to be seen.

Without dismissing the genuine concerns some people have expressed, I’ve also been around tech long enough to recognize that any change can feel disruptive. It’s possible you may come to like, or at least tolerate, Liquid Glass once you get used to it.

Things to try for visibility

In the meantime, there are a few things that might help. Try altering the display appearance from light to dark mode in the settings, but note that Liquid Glass is present in both modes.

A better option, though not one that will eliminate the effect, is to adjust the contrast. On an iPhone, head to Settings | Accessibility | Display & Text Size and tap the Reduce Transparency switch. According to Apple, this may blur some backgrounds to bolster legibility. Give it a shot.

You can also toggle an Increase Contrast switch to alter the contrast between the app foreground and background colors.

Another thing to experiment with on your iPhone is to press and hold against a blank area on your home screen. All the icons will start wiggling. Tap the Edit button in the upper left corner of the screen that appears, followed by Customize. You’ll be able to change the size of icons, darken them or tweak the color tint by dragging slider controls. If things get a bit messy, you can tap a button to revert to the defaults.

While I’m focusing here on the iPhone, visit the settings areas on iPad, Macs and other tech gear to examine the display changes you can apply there.

Changes coming to Android, too

It’s worth mentioning that with the recent rollout of Android 16, starting with Pixel series phones and gradually expanding to other Android handsets, Google introduced its own design revamp, called Material 3 Expressive. Google is touting fluid motion, springy animations, more dynamic color themes and an approach it says will make your phone feel more personal.

One small example: If you drag down the window shade at the top of the screen on a Pixel, notifications subtly come into focus.

Whatever you think of Liquid Glass or Material 3 Expressive, if you experience difficulty seeing the screen or just want to alter the aesthetics, I recommend poking around the display and accessibility settings on your respective handsets to come up with a solution that works for you.

Bonus tip: Wake up to a more flexible snooze alarm

I won’t pass judgment if you’re one of those who repeatedly hit the snooze alarm in the morning. (Especially since I’m one of you.) But if you use your iPhone as an alarm clock, you may appreciate a new snooze feature that arrived in the Clock app with iOS 26. You can now adjust the duration between snoozes from the standard 9 minutes to any interval between 1 and 15 minutes. Here’s how.

Launch the Clock app, tap Alarms, and then tap either an existing alarm or the + to set a new alarm time. From the menu that appears, tap Snooze Duration and choose what you want that duration to be.

Android phones all differ to some extent, but you typically have snooze options on those devices as well. On a Samsung Galaxy, you can tap snooze interval presets of 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or tap Custom to select a time between 1 and 60 minutes. You can also tap a button that lets you repeat snoozes, three times, five times or — be careful if you choose this option — forever.

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Edward C. Baig covers technology and other consumer topics. He previously worked for USA Today, BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report and Fortune, and is author of Macs for Dummies and coauthor of iPhone for Dummies and iPad for Dummies. Follow him on LinkedIn; Threads; and X, formerly known as Twitter.