Home / Tech / Apple

Apple Is About to Fix Your iPhone’s Most Frustrating New Feature

It’s a simple fix. But it’s one that many iPhone users have been asking for.

Two orange smartphones on a wooden surface, one showing a screen with "Liquid Glass" settings.Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol
Add Gear Patrol as a Preferred Source on Google

By Tucker Bowe

Published

·

When Apple introduced iOS 26 this past fall, it also introduced one of the most controversial iPhone features in years: Liquid Glass.

On one hand, the Liquid Glass design makeover was visually cool. It brought a transparent 3D effect to your home screen, as well as various apps, navigation bars, folders and docks, that made it appear like you were looking through a shard of glass.

On the other hand, many found that Liquid Glass made it more difficult to use their iPhones; it created a blurred (or frosted) effect on the foreground and background, making apps and menus less legible.

Superior transparency control

Aware of the criticism, Apple rolled out subsequent software patches that let you reduce the transparency of Liquid Glass and disable it for specific elements on your iPhone’s screen (like the Notification Center and certain search bars). However, you weren’t able to turn it off.

With iOS 27, you still won’t be able to completely turn off Liquid Glass. However, Apple is introducing an improved fix in the form of a new slider that lets you more easily increase and decrease the effects of Liquid Glass.

Close-up of a smartphone screen showing a podcast titled "My kind of buffet" with playback controls and a navigation bar with Home, New, Library, and Search icons.
The Liquid Glass slider shown in the middle ground between ultra-clear and fully tinted.
Apple

According to Apple, the new slide will be accessible via the Settings app and it will give “users the option to personalize Liquid Glass, adjusting it anywhere from ultra-clear to fully tinted to match their preference.”

Additionally, Apple claims that app icons have been updated to look sharper and be more defined, therefore promising to be more legible for those who previously had trouble reading them.

Close-up of a smartphone screen showing a podcast app interface with playback controls and navigation icons.
The Liquid Glass slider turned to max ultra-clear.
Apple
Close-up of a smartphone screen showing a podcast app interface with playback controls and a volume slider below.
The Liquid Glass slider was set to max tint.
Apple

On Mac, updates reincorporate cornerstones of the macOS design that users have always loved, including a more uniform toolbar across the top of apps, edge-to-edge sidebars, colored sidebar icons and more.

Smartphone with a dark-themed home screen displaying weather, calendar, and various app icons.
Apple claims app icons will be sharper and more defined in iOS 27.
Apple

The slider for Liquid Glass will roll out to iPhones, iPads and Macs as part of the next-generation operating systems, which will be available in early September.

When Apple rolls out iOS 27, it will be supported by all the same iPhone models as iOS 26: so, any iPhone 11 or newer.

About the Author: Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol’s editorial team since 2014. With a passion for consumer tech and hi-fi, he tracks everything from headphones and turntables to smartphones and wearables. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.

Read More

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add Gear Patrol as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

add as a preferred source on google
, ,