iPhone 17 Pro New iOS - what can be reverted?

[Kulfon]

Hey, guys. Just got a new iPhone 17Pro and with it came the new iOS, which I now massively dislike:-(

Trying to recreate the experience I had. So what is possible?

1. Can I get back to normal, non liquid look of apps?

2. Can I get the search bar in the default Mail app bac to the top as it is now at the bottom?

3. Even the keyboard is different. Can I get back to how it was?

 

[shady16]

Hey, guys. Just got a new iPhone 17Pro and with it came the new iOS, which I now massively dislike:-(

Trying to recreate the experience I had. So what is possible?

1. Can I get back to normal, non liquid look of apps?

2. Can I get the search bar in the default Mail app bac to the top as it is now at the bottom?

3. Even the keyboard is different. Can I get back to how it was?

Unfortunately not really to all of the above

 

[FeliApple]

Yeah, you cannot do any of that, sadly.

 

[Kulfon]

Really? I was genuinely hoping that things can be changed. That is sad…..most people are happy?

 

[Puonti]

Hard to say, as most people aren't on this forum.

 

[Kulfon]

And tge average reaction of this forum?

 

[NotApplicable]

I don’t think many people are blown away in a good way. But, also not blown away in a bad way. And, resistance is futile (much like the iOS 7 redesign), so there isn’t much point to making much of a fuss!

I expect some minor things to be improved in the next several patches, as always. But directionally, get on board because the train has left the station.

 

[Kulfon]

I don’t think many people are blown away in a good way. But, also not blown away in a bad way. And, resistance is futile (much like the iOS 7 redesign), so there isn’t much point to making much of a fuss!

I expect some minor things to be improved in the next several patches, as always. But directionally, get on board because the train has left the station.

This I understand. If they decided, they decided. I just genuinely do not like it. To me it feels less clean and a downgrade. Sadly

 

[eScenCe]

I like iOS26 quite a lot. But than again, the same goes for 18. 17... I really actually don't care, as long iMessage, Music & Co. works across the board. Same for MacOS. iPadOS. Windows 10 or 11... I really don't like to stress myself about all this anymore.

If you look at YouTube Beta reviews for iOS26.1 I guess much of the obvious "early-adopter"-flaws we are actually experience (Battery, Liquid Glass, UI flaws, Laggyness) are (nearly) complete solved.

So ... sit it out until end of Oct/ early Nov. A few weeks later, we won't think about iOS18 anymore.
It's the same "story" every mayor release.


Well.. except Liquid Glass disables "hiding dock" wallpapers and Widgets like Widgy or Widgetsmith .. that's something annoys me aswell .

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Hard to say, as most people aren't on this forum.

Most people haven't updated yet and don't know and Apple hasn't sent a push suggesting people update. Other than work-issued phones, no one in my unit here at work has iOS 26.

It's about 50/50 on work-issued phones, which are the SE 2022 and 16e.

 

[klasma]

Really? I was genuinely hoping that things can be changed. That is sad…..most people are happy?

Most people haven’t upgraded yet. It’s fair to say that the new design is quite controversial in tech circles.

It’s a contributing factor for why a new iPhone is currently out of the question for me.

 

[loyalraccoon]

Apple has no choice but to keep the liquid glass disaster around for a while as they’re marketing the new phones with it. But towards the end of iOS 26 development it will look very different than it does now. Hopefully someone will write a book eventually on how this all came to be.

 

[Starfia]

Really? I was genuinely hoping that things can be changed. That is sad…..most people are happy?

I feel you, particularly because iOS 26 does have a range of improvements that the flashier stuff upstages.

I would (and do) encourage you and everyone to give it a little time just to make sure it's not just the shock of the change, then phrase your thoughts clearly in feedback.

 

[Starfia]

Oh: and no one in this thread has mentioned the existing settings: "Settings > Accessibility > Vision > Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency" – inconsistently supported and far from elegant, but enough of a relief that I've spent some time with it. "Increase Contrast" also affects the appearance in some ways. And it's possible to add toggles for these to Control Center.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

Really? I was genuinely hoping that things can be changed. That is sad…..most people are happy?

Seems to be a mixed bag but I do find it interesting that on phones other than the 17 series, Apple offers an 18.7.1 update for security patches simultaneously to an option to install iOS 26…rather that forcing the user to the new OS. They did this to protect users who prefer to stay on the old system and I wonder if that’s a subtle acknowledgment that the changes aren’t for everyone. Either way, I liked some things and hated many others. It was very glitchy on the 17pm I had and moving back to 18.7 on my 15pm has been appreciated.

 

[FeliApple]

Really? I was genuinely hoping that things can be changed. That is sad…..most people are happy?

I agree, it seems to be a mixed bag in terms of reception to the redesign.

Battery life is universally worse, including on the 17 models vs the 16 series on iOS 18, however. Some performance issues also have been reported on every device.

But as far as the reception to the redesign itself, some like it, some don’t. Add the battery life and performance issues and I think that reception has been a little more negative than positive.

But I reckon people do have automatic updates enabled, which sounds utterly insane to me. The majority of the iPhones I’ve seen throughout the past week have the unmistakably larger iOS 26 clock.

This release has been rather controversial. People will update anything and everything, however, regardless of how good it is.

 

[FeliApple]

Seems to be a mixed bag but I do find it interesting that on phones other than the 17 series, Apple offers an 18.7.1 update for security patches simultaneously to an option to install iOS 26…rather that forcing the user to the new OS. They did this to protect users who prefer to stay on the old system and I wonder if that’s a subtle acknowledgment that the changes aren’t for everyone. Either way, I liked some things and hated many others. It was very glitchy on the 17pm I had and moving back to 18.7 on my 15pm has been appreciated.

They’ve been doing that for a while, it isn’t iOS 26-specific.

And Apple has already disallowed downgrading, so they’ve forced those who updated to stay there.

Apple does not care about those who want to run older versions. It’s not a subtle acknowledgment. If Apple could, they’d force every device to the latest version. They certainly do everything they can to try to get you to update. The push notifications are insane.