Don't Want to Upgrade to iOS 26? Here's How to Stay on iOS 18 [Update: Now Unavailable]

[erihp]

Posters also say the design of iOS 26 is bad. I disagree and I’ve taken as many UI/UX courses as the next fellow.

You may want to get a refund.

I've only toyed with 26 on a spare/backup phone and on AppleTV, but there are some serious 'no-no's' going on with 26.

Transparency is bad enough, blurred transparency is even worse.

So many cases where the screen context behind the element makes for a bad time due to contrast or general readability.

Gross over-animation of menus and modals.

This has never been a good UI/UX element. It slows down workflow and general usability, and requires lots of system resources and provides very little value to the user. It often blurs or warps screen elements as they draw for some 'cool' effect that serves no real purpose.

Oversized and imprecise screen elements.

Big, bubbly context menus and keyboard/ browser / app elements that take up way too much screen real estate for no benefit. The new keyboard is a great example. On smaller phones, in Safari (and other apps), the pop up keyboard (or the Safari context menus for new tabs/options) can easily be half (or more!) the size of the screen. Then with bloated bounds, including additional blurred menus, it eats even more of the window context you are intending to type in or view behind the menu. Additionally, these overly bubbly and wide elements do not add precision, they require extra unusable space that covers the screen for no appreciable reason.

Perhaps in VisionOS or in MacOS these things fare better because of the insane resolutions, but after what I've seen on iphone and AppleTv, I'm hesitant to upgrade my laptop.

To call the the design elements and Liquid Glass 'good UI/UX' is wild to me.

 

[I7guy]

The 7th generation iPad doesn’t support iPadOS 26.

That’s correct. I think I got confused as I updated my iPad and my wife’s iPad Pro at the same time. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

For a variety of reasons, forums are full of bug reports made using what should be the appropriate tool: feedback... I suppose, given this testimony, it is not the correct system for sending data, screenshots, descriptions of the problem, and how to reproduce it (only to be ignored, in fact... the luckiest ones get, after months, a status change with ‘there are multiple similar feedbacks’... but without tangible results).

Perhaps a few years ago Apple was still trying to 'think different'... But I would avoid portraying those who write here as capricious children capable only of exclaiming ‘bug!’.

I’ve had Apple fix four of my feedback reports just within the last two months.
Again, I feel like people really need to get it through their head, apple is not a company ran by seven people that sells an iPhone here or there, they have billions, not thousands, not millions, but billions, of active devices in use.
And bugs are not always predictable or even possible to resolve immediately, nowimagine that on the scale of 2+ billion devices.
They are not ignoring your feedback, but you are one of billions.
I have had feedback where they’ve gotten back to me by the end of that week on a report I have made.
I have had feedback where they’ve randomly gotten back to me… Eight months later.
I have had feedback where they never even acknowledged it at all.
It happens.

 

[I7guy]

You may want to get a refund.

I've only toyed with 26 on a spare/backup phone and on AppleTV, but there are some serious 'no-no's' going on with 26.

Transparency is bad enough, blurred transparency is even worse.

So many cases where the screen context behind the element makes for a bad time due to contrast or general readability.

Gross over-animation of menus and modals.

This has never been a good UI/UX element. It slows down workflow and general usability, and requires lots of system resources and provides very little value to the user. It often blurs or warps screen elements as they draw for some 'cool' effect that serves no real purpose.

Oversized and imprecise screen elements.

Big, bubbly context menus and keyboard/ browser / app elements that take up way touch screen for no benefits. The new keyboard is a great example. On smaller phones, in Safari (and other appa), the keyboard (or the Safari context menus for new tabs/options) can easily be half (or more!) the size of the screen with bloated bounds, including additional blurred menus bloating even more of the window context you are intending to type in or view. Additionally, these overly bubbly and wide elements do not add precision, they require extra unusable space that covers the screen for no appreciable reason.

Perhaps in VisionOS or in MacOS these things fare better because of the insane resolutions, but after what I've seen on iphone and AppleTv, I'm hesitant ton upgrade my laptop.

To call the the design elements and Liquid Glass 'good UI/UX' is wild to me.

The entirety to me “just works”. YMMV.

 

[erihp]

The morphing UI makes for a very elegant and productive experience.

When? How on earth does waiting for pizzazz to finishing pizzazzing provide a benefit, much less a more productive experience?

'Elegance' can be up for debate, and if you like the pizzazz because it has a 'coolfactor' then so be it, but I cant fathom a real world example where the obtuse animations aid the user in any real way.

 

[erihp]

The entirety to me “just works”. YMMV.

And the previous non-'improved UI/UX' version 18, did not? It actually 'just worked', better. That's what the issue is.

We didnt get any real benefit, just 'flash'.

 

[I7guy]

And the previous non-'improved UI/UX' version 18, did not? It actually 'just worked', better. That's what the issue is.

We didnt get any real benefit, just 'flash'.

Because you dont see any benefit doesn’t mean software shouldn’t move on. Several workflow enhancements were made in iOS 26 such as to mail and photos.

Did ios7 work better than iOS 6? That’s where we are.

 

[erihp]

Because you dont see any benefit doesn’t mean software shouldn’t move on. Several workflow enhancements were made in iOS 26 such as to mail and photos.

Did ios7 work better than iOS 6? That’s where we are.

Move on, sure. But things should get faster, not slower.

 

[B4U]

To me a bug stops a task from getting done. A UI glitch is not a bug to me. I’ve have not been stopped by a bug in iOS 26 although I’ve seen claims to that affect.

Posters also say the design of iOS 26 is bad. I disagree and I’ve taken as many UI/UX courses as the next fellow.

A UI glitch is not a bug?
Hold on there. Does that mean you think it is working as designed?

 

[I7guy]

A UI glitch is not a bug?
Hold on there. Does that mean you think it is working as designed?

There’s a wide difference between working as intended and a microstutter for example or a transparency that may not render correctly.

 

[Macalicious2011]

There is no such thing as 110% confident in a decision, especially regarding user interface.

 

[SebCohen]

I don't understand, why they can't simply continue to deliver security updates for the older devices running iOS 18 for 1-2 years. I forgot to update my mom's iPhone 11 to iOS 18.7.3, now it seems to be stuck on 18.7.2. I don't think it could handle iOS 26 and it's perfeclty fine and enough for her as it is with iOS 18.

Her iPad Air 2019 was also perfectly fine for media consumption and web browsing on iPadOS 18. I made the mistake to update it to iPadOS 26 and it's basically useless, it has become a piece of e-waste with a simple software update.

Because of pride

 

[Omega Mac]

Almost every modern Apple product was designed by committee, that’s kind of what happens when you become the most valuable company in the world.
Even under Steve Jobs, Aqua was a companywide branding initiative, from their operating systems, to their commercials, to their retail promos, everything.
Again, Apple is not a company just ran by six people who do everything and make every single decision, they have hundreds and thousands of employees across hundreds of different teams. They are not a start-up, this is not two 20 something’s in a garage. That was 50 years ago.

Ya we get that they're not making computers in their garage anymore, you don't need to keep making this point, other than as an explanation of process, it serves as no excuse for why has occurred. None.

Apple may be throughly devolving into touchy feeling group (committee) dynamic and at this point that needs a huge kick in the ass, when and where it counts.

 

[Omega Mac]

That’s exactly what I am saying
Yes, a lot of elements in the operating system has changed, but the way you use it hasn’t.
if someone truly fell asleep, knowing how to use their phone 100% reliably on iOS 18, and then woke up and it was on 26 and they had no idea what they were doing, that sounds like they never knew how to use the phone to begin with.
What is a lot more likely is they turned on their phone, noticed the small changes, overreacted (as most users who despise change no matter how small do) before realizing that actually using the phone is almost identical.
I don’t blame them, I can be the same way. Even the transition from AirPods Pro second generation to third generation took me hours to get used to because it was quite different. But eventually, once it becomes the new normal, no one will really have much to say anymore.
And this is why Apple only refreshes the user interface once every 12 years or so now.

The way you use it does change when you cannot use it because iOS 26 UI design decisions fundamentally break the interface.

 

[Imperial926]

Ya we get that they're not making computers in their garage anymore, you don't need to keep making this point, other than as an explanation of process, it serves as no excuse for why has occurred. None.

Apple may be throughly devolving into touchy feeling group (committee) dynamic and at this point that needs a huge kick in the ass, when and where it counts.

That's just your, and some other people's, opinion. I'm happy so I will be patting them on the back and saying well done.

 

[Omega Mac]

When? How on earth does waiting for pizzazz to finishing pizzazzing provide a benefit, much less a more productive experience?

'Elegance' can be up for debate, and if you like the pizzazz because it has a 'coolfactor' then so be it, but I cant fathom a real world example where the obtuse animations aid the user in any real way.

Was discussing the 26 release and warning someone not to update their macOS and then they went on to make virtually the same point you made right there. This is standard creative wisdom.

 

[Omega Mac]

That's just your, and some other people's, opinion. I'm happy so I will be patting them on the back and saying well done.

Really sometimes people need to be pulled back from doing stupid things. When and where it counts. That's life.

 

[B4U]

There’s a wide difference between working as intended and a microstutter for example or a transparency that may not render correctly.

Should be fairly clear cut.
It is either working as designed or is a bug (link to Wikipedia for bug). No grey area should be there.

 

[Zenman12]

It’s a real bad idea to not update your phone. I reported a bug in 26.1 and it was fixed in 26.2. Even if you don’t care, the bug and security fixes are essential.

 

[Zenman12]

I’ve had Apple fix four of my feedback reports just within the last two months.
Again, I feel like people really need to get it through their head, apple is not a company ran by seven people that sells an iPhone here or there, they have billions, not thousands, not millions, but billions, of active devices in use.
And bugs are not always predictable or even possible to resolve immediately, nowimagine that on the scale of 2+ billion devices.
They are not ignoring your feedback, but you are one of billions.
I have had feedback where they’ve gotten back to me by the end of that week on a report I have made.
I have had feedback where they’ve randomly gotten back to me… Eight months later.
I have had feedback where they never even acknowledged it at all.
It happens.

Yeah. If it something really big or you have time you can call for a senior advisor and they send it to engineers. I’ve done that a few times.

 

[erihp]

It’s a real bad idea to not update your phone. I reported a bug in 26.1 and it was fixed in 26.2. Even if you don’t care, the bug and security fixes are essential.

Did the bug you reported exist in iOS 18?

Apple removed security fixes made available in a 18.7.3 build from the public. Users do want ensure we have the latest security and bug fixes.

Apple thinks 'different'.

 

[super chimp]

Did the bug you reported exist in iOS 18?

Apple removed security fixes made available in a 18.7.3 build from the public. Users do want ensure we have the latest security and bug fixes.

Apple thinks 'different'.

All the more reason for Apple not to strong arm people into updating to iOS 26, and not to stop people installing iOS 18.7.3.

 

[artifex]

I am considering Android as well. Never owned one. I have noticed many of the Android phones are tremendously lower in price compared to iPhone. Or mebbe I'll just get a flip phone and abandon the smartphone insanity all together.

You might try a cheap Android tablet first, to try the interface on something that isn't your daily driver. Especially if you're mostly near wi-fi or can tether to your phone.

 

[forrie]

I'm not happy with iOS 26. The Safari revamp is positively terrible. If I could run iOS 18 on iPhone 17 Pro, I would.