IOS 26 Beta 2 Softens Liquid Glass Effect
iOS 26 is full of new features and changes (some of which your old iPhone may not see ), but perhaps the most obvious change this year is Apple’s ” Liquid Glass ” redesign. The goal is to turn all the elements on the screen into digital glass: when you place something behind those elements, you should still see it, just darkened and blurred, like a real object might appear behind a piece of glass.
The new update is currently in early beta testing , which means Apple is still ironing out all the quirks and issues before iOS 26 hits the general public later this year. However, even at this early stage, not everyone is a fan of Liquid Glass. Criticisms vary, but overall, the biggest controversy centers around visibility: When you open Control Center in this first beta, for example, the tiles are missing so much of the background that it can be difficult to quickly find the setting you want. (Even if you can see the tiles well enough, they just look cluttered.)
Shortly after these criticisms went viral on social media, beta testers discovered a workaround using an existing accessibility feature: Reduce Transparency . Reduce Transparency is designed to increase the contrast of on-screen elements by limiting or eliminating the transparent effects of iOS or macOS. As it turns out, it also works on Liquid Glass, making Control Center tiles (and other UI elements) much more visible when placed on top of other elements.
As is often the case, you may not have to rely on this feature once Apple releases iOS 26 in full. The company dropped the second beta of iOS 26 on Monday, and with it, it reduced the transparency of Control Center tiles by default. You can see the difference in the example below, according to MacRumors :
This tweet is currently unavailable. It may be loading or has been removed.
It’s a good sign that Apple is taking feedback seriously and working on a better implementation of its new design, although I’m a little torn. The new look is more legible right off the bat, but when you compare it directly to the previous design, you definitely lose that Liquid Glass effect. Perhaps the company will continue to refine it as the beta process progresses. After all, it’s still pretty early, as the public beta isn’t until July, and the general release isn’t until the fall.