iOS 26’s Second Beta Tones Down the Liquid Glass Effect
iOS 26 is full of new features and changes (some of which your older iPhone might not see), but perhaps the most obvious change this year is Apple's "Liquid Glass" redesign. The goal is to turn all of the on-screen elements into digital glass: When you place something behind those elements, you should still be able to see it, just obscured and blurred, as a real object may appear behind a piece of glass.
The new update is currently in the initial stages of beta testing, which means Apple is still ironing out all of the quirks and issues before iOS 26 goes public later this year. However, even in this early stage, not everyone is a fan of Liquid Glass. Critiques can vary, but in general, the biggest controversy surrounds visibility: When you access Control Center in this first beta, for example, the tiles let through so much of the background that it can be difficult to quickly find the option you want to select. (Even if you can see the tiles well enough, it just looks busy.)
Soon after these critiques went viral on social media, beta testers discovered a workaround through an existing accessibility feature: "Reduce Transparency." Reduce Transparency is meant to boost the contrast of on-screen elements by limiting or eliminating iOS' or macOS' transparent effects. As it happens, it also works on Liquid Glass, making Control Center tiles (and other UI elements) much more visible when placed on top of other items.
As it happens, you might not need to rely on this feature once Apple rolls out iOS 26 in full. The company dropped the second iOS 26 beta on Monday, and with it, reduced the transparency of the Control Center tiles by default. You can see the difference in the example below, per MacRumors:
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It's a good sign that Apple is taking feedback seriously and working on a better implementation of its new design, though I'm a bit torn. The new look is more legible off the bat, but directly comparing it to the previous design, you definitely lose that Liquid Glass effect. Maybe the company will continue to refine it throughout the beta process. After all, it's still quite early, as the public beta doesn't drop until July, and the general release won't be until the fall.