iOS 26 broke Widgy, which played a big part in my home screen layouts. That alone is pretty frustrating, but as mentioned in the Complaints section, any change that adds more taps is also incredibly hard to stomach.
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iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users
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'New yet familiar' isn't the same as 'better.'
"Animations run slow and the interface feels sluggish on older iPhones"
Isn't that the main purpose of Liquid Glass, to make people upgrade? Apple has always tanked the performance of the older phones with new iOS releases, going right back to the iPhone 3G. At least now it sounds like reverting back is a possibility.
I updated my mother's 16e and just found the liquid glass concept so odd. I mean the -main- identifying feature of most app icons is their colour. Why take that away?
Windows Phone had a really interesting take on such an idea, where the live tiles could inherit the background image, essentially becoming transparent. It looked great where it worked, but it was Windows Phone and most tiles didn't actually support the feature, including first party ones lol ... so you had to choose what was on your home screen carefully. But that was still better than the liquid glass look.
I recently realised that the iOS UI prior to 7 was actually designed to hide performance issues. The slow animations of dialogue boxes and the like covered up the actual loading time. Nimblebit kept those styles in Pocket Frogs even when it came to Android, and earlier this month they put out an update that had "snappier UI" as a prominent feature, and boy is it evident ... not like the usual is Safari snappier lol.
It really seems like we shouldn't still be challenging older devices with just running the basic UI. Like we learnt nothing from the original Aqua in OS X or Aero Glass in Windows!
Isn't that the main purpose of Liquid Glass, to make people upgrade? Apple has always tanked the performance of the older phones with new iOS releases, going right back to the iPhone 3G. At least now it sounds like reverting back is a possibility.
I updated my mother's 16e and just found the liquid glass concept so odd. I mean the -main- identifying feature of most app icons is their colour. Why take that away?
Windows Phone had a really interesting take on such an idea, where the live tiles could inherit the background image, essentially becoming transparent. It looked great where it worked, but it was Windows Phone and most tiles didn't actually support the feature, including first party ones lol ... so you had to choose what was on your home screen carefully. But that was still better than the liquid glass look.
I recently realised that the iOS UI prior to 7 was actually designed to hide performance issues. The slow animations of dialogue boxes and the like covered up the actual loading time. Nimblebit kept those styles in Pocket Frogs even when it came to Android, and earlier this month they put out an update that had "snappier UI" as a prominent feature, and boy is it evident ... not like the usual is Safari snappier lol.
It really seems like we shouldn't still be challenging older devices with just running the basic UI. Like we learnt nothing from the original Aqua in OS X or Aero Glass in Windows!
They also release new ios and new iphones this time of year. They had a deadline and will meet it regardless.
I did say I like the fresh coat of paint on messages, to me that implies better. Better is relative based on your opinions. To some people iOS 6 was the pinnacle of iOS design with no subsequent version being better. Take that as you will.
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 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.
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.
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! 🤞🏻
Me too, it was a few hard lessons. Even harder lessons when I updates some family members phones. 18.1 and maybe I'll try it.
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:
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.
Maybe Apple can hire some adults to work on 27.
Are the 3 Home Screen photos for this article on the first page that blurry in real life, or just resolution limits?
I like it overall. It feels fresh and more modern to me.
We’ve been running beta for a few months now. It’s solid
Design is cool and everything but I feel nauseated when using iOS 26.