How to Fix ‘Slanted’ App Icons in Dark Mode in IOS 26
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iOS 26 is out, and with it, Apple’s updated “Liquid Glass” design. Yesterday, I told you how to quickly undo most of the major Liquid Glass changes , but user complaints today require a separate solution. Luckily, there is a solution that can help you, although not everyone.
Dark mode icons now appear slightly tilted.
According to user posts on Reddit , the app icons in dark mode don’t mesh well with the new Liquid Glass aesthetic in iOS 26. How much this is annoying will vary from person to person, but essentially, some netizens (and the Lifehacker team) are complaining that app icons in dark mode look slanted, as if they’re not perfectly centered.
Personally, I have a hard time noticing this when looking at the entire home screen, but after a colleague sent me a highly zoomed-in shot, I can see how it bothers him. It’s an optical illusion, since the icon layout is the same, but it’s there.
The problem appears to be a new glow that appears in the corners of some, but not all, app icons when using dark mode. The uneven lighting creates an effect that Lifehacker’s sister site Mashable reports is causing some users to feel dizzy . To make matters worse, the intensity of the glow varies depending on the background: I see it more clearly in dark areas, but it tends to bleed into lighter areas.
Technically, these glares are also present when using app icons with a lighter background, but they are less noticeable because they don’t contrast as much with the background.
Again, you may be immune to this effect. If I don’t focus on it, I tend to forget about it. But if it bothers you, what do you do?
Reducing transparency does not give anything
Unfortunately, the one-trick solution that fixes most of the Liquid Glass issues, Reduce Transparency, doesn’t seem to have any effect on app icons. Here’s my iPhone home screen with Reduce Transparency enabled, and the same screen with it disabled (please don’t judge me too harshly for the unread emails and unchecked reminders).
It’s a shame, because the Reduce Transparency feature is easy to implement: just enable it in Settings > Accessibility > Screen & Text Size , and it automatically gets rid of most of the transparent elements in Liquid Glass. But since the icons are already solid, it’s useless here. You’ll have to get creative.
Try coloring your app icons
Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution for app icons in Apple’s dark mode yet. Even custom icons with Apple’s dark mode background color will still have the new highlight. But I do have a tip that will help you achieve the same effect.
It turns out that dark mode for app icons isn’t the only way to achieve more muted colors. If dark mode doesn’t look pretty right now, try changing the color of your app icons.
This will give your app icons a monochrome look with white or gray text. While this unfortunately means giving up app icons with more than two colors, it will also allow you to switch to other dark backgrounds that may look less slanted. The ugly glare will still be there, but with the right background, you may be able to make it less noticeable.
To try this option, go to the home screen and hold the button until the app icons start shaking. Tap Edit in the top left corner, then Customize . From the menu that appears at the bottom of the screen, select Tinted .
You’ll see two color pickers, as well as the option to choose a light or dark color for the icons (this option is separate from the overall app icons in light and dark modes, which aren’t monochrome). The top color picker is the overall color of the app, while the bottom one is a tool for fine-tuning the color within that color zone. If you choose light mode , the text and graphics in the app will be white, while if you choose dark mode , the text and graphics will be grayer.
You can experiment here to find the shade that best suits the app, though Apple has a few quick-access buttons to help you find the right color. Personally, I like the left-most button below the color picker, which switches you to the standard black and white if you’ve chosen Light, or a more muted black and dark gray if you’ve chosen Dark. If neither of those options suits you, there’s also an Apple Intelligence button that will try to match your wallpaper, or an eyedropper that lets you pick a color from your wallpaper.
Of course, it’s not the same as simply using the dark mode icons, but if you’re like me, it might be enough.
Or wait for the update.
If changing the color of app icons isn’t your thing, don’t despair. Apple is likely seeing these complaints and will adjust Liquid Glass accordingly . The company has already reduced its brightness twice in the iOS 26 beta , so time may be the answer.