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Honestly, it's not even polish. It's basic functionality. This "public release" is nowhere near the polish level yet. That is 6-months away. This should not have been released, and whoever gave it the A-OK for public release needs to be fired.

We're talking the basics. Look at the disaster that is a basic tool like Spotlight when you use it the second time.
They also release new ios and new iphones this time of year. They had a deadline and will meet it regardless.
 
'New yet familiar' isn't the same as 'better.'
Apple doesn't create software/firmware to please each and every customers desires. It does it to create a platform, that best suits the unique environment of macOS or whatever other OS it's working on. So you don't ike it, or it could be better. Here's a thought, become a developer, or coder, and find work with Apple, or create your own.
This constant whining on here; I don't like this, I don't like that, is irksome. It creates meaningless discussion, and doesn't change a thing. Life is full of changes, adaptions, and more pity those that cannot adapt. Life is very hard for those people.

Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it.
 
iOS 7 was significantly better than this. It was legible from day 1. There was not as much confusion in the UI as this. It had rules that it followed. There was a HIG.

iOS 26 doesn’t seem to follow rules. UI is all over the place and text often obscured. It’s massively resource intensive on older hardware. Battery life on my iPhone 13 is half of what it was. Hence I reverted back to iOS 18.

The visually impaired cannot read it at all. Even with the accessibility settings enabled. It’s unusable for them.

This is a terrible UI design that no one asked for.

Complaints towards Apple weren’t about software design. Everyone loved them design. Complaints were that the iPhone HARDWARE was the same year after year. They changed the wrong thing
 
iOS 7 was significantly better than this. It was legible from day 1. There was not as much confusion in the UI as this. It had rules that it followed. There was a HIG.

iOS 26 doesn’t seem to follow rules. UI is all over the place and text often obscured. It’s massively resource intensive on older hardware. Battery life on my iPhone 13 is half of what it was. Hence I reverted back to iOS 18.

The visually impaired cannot read it at all. Even with the accessibility settings enabled. It’s unusable for them.

This is a terrible UI design that no one asked for.

Complaints towards Apple weren’t about software design. Everyone loved them design. Complaints were that the iPhone HARDWARE was the same year after year. They changed the wrong thing
I don't doubt it uses more battery life, but for what it's worth most of the loss you see is almost definitely the temporary reduction expected for the first day(s). I suspect this is so the phone can reindex the phone's data (photos, etc.) for the improved AI.

Being one with older eyes I did have problems with readability in places (especially notification on the lock screen) but found enabling the reduce transparency setting helped a lot.
 
I do really love it, the UI feels fresh, more aesthetic and more refined. No performance issues on my iPhone though I have an iPhone 16.
 
How do I go about getting my i devices to look like the first two iPhone screen examples at the top of the article? Mine look like the 3rd screen already, but I’d much prefer the 1st, & if not that - the 2nd! Can I change the look of the interface to look like what’s pictured up at the top of this article? How do I do it? Thanks in advance if anyone knows! 🤞🏻
 
I have to give it to you. I almost had a spit take when I read your comment. It’s been a while.

Really???? iOS 7.0 with its ultra thin Helvetica Neue font *everywhere* and bright pastel colors on white backgrounds were legible from Day 1? Give me a break. iOS 7 took several years to improve in usability and legibility—it was an initial take on a great concept.

iOS 26 is exactly the same: A great design that will take trial and error and experience to flesh out.

Actually, yes. I've very sensitive to legibility issues, but I had no trouble with IOS 7. IOS 26 looks like a nightmare, though.

Here's proof:
 
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the Lock Screen keypad is like bubbles.
I like the keypad bubbles.

A designer friend and I were discussing the UI update in the 26-branded operating systems. There are things to like, things to dislike, but in the end it's just another UI. Some people will like it, some people will hate it, most people will figure it out within a few days and be fine with it, and Apple will make improvements and refinements to it as time goes on. It's really going to look snazzy with the iPhone 17 Air and previous generation Pros where the phone is two sheets of glass with a band of metal around them. It is somewhat less fitting for the 17 Pros with their downgraded materials and aesthetics.
 
It wouldn't bother me so much if Apple just gave us toggle to turn it all off in favor of the previous format. There are things I like about 26 functionality wise, but the goofy bubble look and animations annoy the tar out of me. Like the purple blob when I send a message or the way everything bounces when or shifts when I move my phone. It's distracting and irritating. The best UI is invisible. This is an age old adage for a reason. iOS 26? It turned my phone into a glorified fidget spinner.
Maybe Apple can hire some adults to work on 27.
 
I actually like it. With all the different colors and contrast styles of app icons my phone felt too busy. This feels a lot easier on the eyes and less chaotic on the brain.
 
I have a 12 Pro I'm not using so I'll test it on that first. The 12 Pro is officially supported so it should run decently enough. Depending on what I think, I'll consider updating my 15 Pro which is still happily running 17.7 😂
 
If you don't like Liquid Glass, I did something very simple that might work for a lot of people. I just changed my screen color to almost white or almost black. it removes a lot of the effects without changing settings.
 
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