iOS 26 Looks Different: What Changed and How to Find Familiar Settings

If your iPhone updated to iOS 26 and suddenly looks different — buttons appear more see-through, menus have a glassy, layered look, and some icons shifted position — that is expected. Apple calls this new look "Liquid Glass," and it is the biggest visual redesign of the iPhone's software since iOS 7 was released back in 2013. The buttons, sliders, and navigation bars now appear translucent and can shift slightly depending on what is behind them, similar to looking through frosted glass.

This is a visual change, not a change to what your iPhone can do. Every app and setting you used before is still there — some icons and menu items moved to new locations or look different, which can be disorienting at first, especially if you have used the same layout for years.

If the new see-through look is hard to read or feels too busy, Apple included an accessibility option to reduce the transparency effect, making buttons and text solid and easier to read. This does not undo the redesign, but it removes the part most people find hardest to see clearly.

Apple has continued releasing smaller updates through the iOS 26.x series (iOS 26.6 as of late July 2026) that fix bugs and improve battery life without changing the overall design further.

(Sources: Apple Support — support.apple.com/en-us/123075; Apple Newsroom)