Change is not always easy. Example: “liquid glass”. The next Apple “26” updates for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro present this new design language which adds a transparent and glassy look to icons, menus and windows. Some people dig it, while Others hate him. And the The hateful are hated.
I generally like the new look, although what I like most is that it corresponds to all Apple products. It is also nice to have a new look on Apple devices, especially the iPhone, for the first time in years. That said, I understand some of the criticisms: in the right conditions, these icons and these menus look great, but depending on the background, it can be very difficult to read text or visualize certain elements.
Unless you download the latest Apple beta (which I do not recommend), you do not deal with these modifications before fall, when the company publishes official updates of the general public. But if you decide to try the updates at some point during the beta cycle, or if you install iOS 26 or MacOS Tahoe this fall and you find Really I can’t stand how transparent some of these windows are, there is something you can do about it.
“Reduce transparency”
It turns out that the framework that has existed on Apple devices for years is now responsible for limiting the effects of the most obvious design of liquid glass: “reducing transparency”. It is an accessibility function present on most Apple devices that exchange the transparent effect on certain user interface elements with a solid background. The idea is to stimulate the contrast and visibility for readers who have trouble visualizing the elements through the transparency effect, even before liquid glass is a concept.
According to users who experience the beta version, reducing transparency reduction will greatly reduce the transparency of the design of liquid glass. You can see it here: before the parameter is activated, the menu bar leaves in all colors and graphics of the elements below. Once the transparency reduced comes into play, the menu bar is much flatter, which makes the text within it (in particular the artist’s name) much easier to read.
What do you think so far?
If you are attracted to this last option, simply allow to reduce transparency when you update your devices. On iOS and iPados, you will find the option in Settings> Accessibility> Text display and size. On macOS, you will find it in System settings> Accessibility> Display.
Because these operating system updates are currently in beta, we do not know how things will change when Apple finally releases them to the public. For everything we know, the final iteration of liquid glass will be much more readable than it is now. But in case you always have trouble using, or just don’t like it, this parameter should help you.
