I rarely cover beta releases, but after putting hours into “How to Turn Liquid Glass into a Solid Interface” (9 October 2025), I would be remiss in failing to share that Apple has taken user feedback into account, acknowledging that many people find that Liquid Glass’s excessive use of transparency hurts interface readability.
In iOS 26.1 beta 4, Apple introduced a new screen in Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass, offering a choice between Clear, which is the current Liquid Glass setting, and Tinted, which increases opacity and adds more contrast. The screen displays a preview of how you can expect toolbars to change.
As you can see in the Notification Center screenshot from my previous article, the Tinted version on the right is far more readable. It places a light, opaque background behind notifications and swaps the white text for black. (That’s in Light mode; in Dark mode, they gain a darker background and retain the white text.) However, the Notification Center pane of glass is also lighter, which can make the Flashlight and ChatGPT buttons somewhat less readable than in the default Clear version on the left.
I also took a Clear/Tinted screenshot of a particular photo on my Lock Screen after updating to iOS 26.1 beta 4. The Clear version on the left has so much white in the upper third that “Enter Passcode” and dots are completely invisible, and the 3 is difficult to make out. In contrast, the Tinted version reduces the overall brightness to make everything readable.
Beta 4 of macOS 26.1 Tahoe includes a similar Tinted option, but it didn’t seem to make any difference in my quick tests.
Apple will likely release iOS 26.1 and macOS 26.1 very soon.
MacOS 26.1 B4 Tahoe has a tinted option in the Appearance subsection of settings but I couldn’t see any difference. Perhaps it is disabled? Or the effects are very subtle? (I had reduce transparency and increase contrast both off).
I’m hoping they do something with the virtual keyboard on the iPad. The opacity is very distracting. Who needs a transparent keyboard? And I hope before this is released they add opacity sliders. Let me decide on the level of transparency.
Although now retired, I worked as a UI/UX in the software industry for over 35 yrs. At Microsoft I designed the UI for a number of products using a Mac. It was the Apple Interface Guidelines, the MacPlus and poorly designed software that made me want to move from print design to product design in the 80s. From what I’ve seen of this Liquid Glass UI, I have to wonder if usability testing is no longer a thing. Seeing as they had to add a control to reduce transparency, after user feedback from a beta release, what were they doing during the redesign process, just winging it? Or depending on AI?
I hope they make similar improvements in the Music app. It is impossible to know if the “SHUFFLE” button is on or off. This is not a new problem. A little 3D or change of color?
All this transparency stuff, at least for me, pales in comparison to inconsistent connectivity with Mr12Volt CarPlay. It all worked perfectly before iPhone 17/iOS 26. There is only one thing worse than not having CarPlay — having it only to have it taken away. Please, Apple.
NDA prevent me from answering your first question directly, but Apple will almost certainly let you know about any undo you need to make first.
Perhaps it was the rumored prediction that a first RC might be coming this week, which would make public release around a week after, if all things go smoothly. No reports of an RC today though.
Some of Liquid Glass’s legibility issues are so egregious that we have to wonder what in the the world they were thinking—if they were thinking at all! To put it another way: how can such a brilliant engineering company be so stupid?
The things that were done weren’t recommended by Apple, so don’t see why Apple would address it. I’m talking about some of the things covered by Adam in his article covering this. I had done the changes before Adam’s article, but the changes were probably the same that he discussed. But I doubt it will be a big deal or if it is it will be covered on here.
