As a very exclusive Apple only I want to share my thoughts on the new iOS 26 update, which I recently installed on my iPhone 16. While I genuinely appreciate Apple’s drive for innovation and personalization, this update introduces visual and stylistic changes that, in my opinion, compromise what has made iOS feel uniquely Apple for so long. Liquid Glass & Home Screen Aesthetics: When I first saw previews of the “Liquid Glass” design, I was excited. I assumed it would add more flexibility to things like the home screen customization — something like an optional effect that builds on the popular app tinting feature introduced in the previous iOS version. But instead, it appears that the Liquid Glass look is now the default and, more concerningly, unavoidable. The result is a visual experience that feels dramatically more bubbly and less refined. App icons appear more rounded and inflated in a way that — and I say this as constructively as I can — reminds me more of Android or Samsung’s One UI than of Apple’s signature design language. For someone who’s chosen Apple specifically because of its clean, crisp, and elegant UI, this shift is disappointing. iOS has always felt visually mature and thoughtfully minimal. With this update, it starts to feel overly stylized and visually heavy, which I don’t associate with Apple’s identity. Camera App – Icon Design: While I don’t have major concerns with the layout of the Camera app itself, the new Camera app icon is something I feel very strongly about. The previous design was balanced, clear, and professional — instantly recognizable. The new icon, is completely different, and it has more the camera that look like the actual iPhone camera, which I can respect the want to identify the app the iPhone. But this is not the effect I felt it has, I feel like it is less professional than before, which again makes me think a little bit about androids. This minor change feels bit because icons are what we see every day, and this one doesn’t feel quite right for Apple. Along with the new camera icon, the other new icons like the notes app, and the slight change in the message app icon, these small shifts aren’t ones I was overly pleased with, kind of felt like something that wasn’t broke and didn’t need fixed Messages App: The Messages app is where I felt the biggest disconnect. The updated keyboard with the “keys” looking more bubbly which again, makes me think android. And with the new monogram icons (initials in thick fonts with purple backgrounds), make the app feel — again — much more like an Android UI. While that might sound superficial, it doesn’t make me feel like it’s an iPhone. As someone who’s always preferred the Apple system, I’ve come to expect a particular standard of visual design — one that’s distinct from other platforms. This new look blurs that line. The once refined look of Messages is not as clean and simple as it used to be. I also preferred the gray background for monogram icons. The new colors and heavy fonts draw attention in ways that don’t feel as clean and simplistic which I have loved Apple for in the past. Control Center: Another area where I noticed a slight change is the Control Center. It’s not a big difference to the previous one, which I liked. The main difference I noticed was the brightness and sounds “bar” seems more elongated. Not a major difference but I would rather see the older design if I were to be honest. What I Did Like: There are some positives: I think the new lock screen notification styling works well, and the Liquid Glass effect looks great in that specific context. I actually really like the looks that it has with the notifications on the lock screen, having it be that transparent gives a clean and simple look. Lots of the new things that can be done in this update are very nice and convent, the more customization is great. Final Thoughts: To be clear, I offer this feedback not because I’m resisting change, but because I value what makes iOS feel like iOS. This update, while visually bold, feels like a departure from Apple’s strengths — the clean and simplistic look. If there’s one big takeaway I hope you’ll consider, some of the new looks that have been put in place give a feeling that’s not Apple, and more Android. it’s that many of these new visual styles would be better received as optional customizations, not system-wide defaults. I would love to see an update to help fix some of this. I don’t believe there is a way to “un-update” my phone but if I could I would, even though some of these new things do look and feel good.

The bane of my existence has been designing interfaces where the whole view needs to scroll, but a portion is a List and the other portion is static. I run into this problem time and again so I was hoping someone has a good solution because we all know that embedding a List view inside ScrollView is a no-go within SwiftUI. It simply doesn't work. So what is a best practice when you need the whole screen to scroll, but a portion is a List? Use a navigation stack instead of a ScrollView? What if it's a child view of a navigation stack already?

Is there anyway I can customize Carplay template look like this

I use swiftui to build apps on iPhone and iPad. There is no problem with the iPhone app. The game display is fully shown on iPhone. However, for the iPad, the game display is not shown and the screen goes black. I had to tap the button on the upper left side.(looks like a side view button) After that, the game display is only shown in the left side in a very small size. How can I make the game display fully shown in the iPad?

Hello Apple… used to love my phone and your company… not so much with this God awful new emoji update… Just why? They are giant, we can see them from Alaska, the whole Keyboard is not user friendly at all. It takes me (and reading the feedback from other people - Im not the only one with this problem) ages to find the one I want to use, even with the group icons on the bottom… no, they don’t help. I always ether miss type or just don’t use at all. It takes extra time to use emoji now so I completely stopped using it which sucks. It’s 2025 where time is precious and no one wants to spend extra seconds looking for emojis on this awful new layout you created. Apple developers used to be good about listing to users feedback, I hope you do it in this case, because this is just absolutely terrible and no, you can’t get used to it. I never write reviews anywhere and thought it would take a bit to get used to it… no no and no. This update is awful, please bring it back to normal size so we don’t waste our time and nerves. Thanks.

Ever since Xcode Version 26.0.1 I cannot for the life of me make my buttons rectangular. They are all capsule (or oval) shaped. My interface was designed for square buttons but no matter what I do the issue stays the same. This is what I have (it's fairly barebones but would have worked before I believe): @IBOutlet weak var PagesInterface: UIButton! override func viewDidLoad() { super.viewDidLoad() PagesInterface.layer.cornerRadius = 0 PagesInterface.layer.masksToBounds = true }

Looking at the UIDesignRequiresCompatibility documentation, watchOS is not listed among the supported platforms. When added to the project, it is also being ignored, resulting in Liquid Glass design. It is possible to opt-out from Liquid Glass design temporarily. Is that just an oversight for Apple Watch please?

I’m currently using the iOS 26 Developer Beta and noticed the new icon design for the Camera app. Personally, I preferred the previous icon it looked cleaner, more elegant, and felt more in line with Apple’s signature iOS design language. The new icon feels more like something you’d expect from Android. It lacks the minimalist, refined style that usually defines iOS icons. I understand UI evolves over time, but this change feels like a step away from what makes Apple’s design philosophy unique. Just wanted to share this honest feedback as a long-time user and developer. Thanks for considering!

I just recently upgraded to iPhone 16 pro max and I noticed you can no longer film in the 4:3 ratio in selfie mode or front camera, from photos like you could on the 13 and 15 (previous phones) I have 4:3 selected, I hold down shutter button and swipe as always, the photo readjusts to 16:9. Then when you hit the shutter button again to stop it resets back to 4:3. Did Apple change this? Is recording in that 4:3 ratio no longer an option?

Hi, I've been trying for an hour to turn the symbols in sf symbols from left to right to right to left, I'd appreciate some help

Hello Apple Team, I’d like to request a feature that allows users to close all background apps at once on iPhones. Currently, closing each app individually can be time-consuming, especially when many are running. A “Close All” button would greatly improve user experience and efficiency. Thank you for considering this suggestion!

I have developed a mobile app using SwiftUI. Now I am in the process of building a CarPlay application. I know how to test the CarPlay app using a simulator but here is my confusion, How to test the iPhone app and CarPlay together? I want to test few scenarios like, user login / logout from mobile app. Location enabled /disabled in the mobile app. I know that swiftUI handles the scenes by itself. Kindly help me validate the above scenarios as I am getting black screen on iPhone whenever the CarPlay is launched. Below is the code snippet, func application(_ application: UIApplication, configurationForConnecting connectingSceneSession: UISceneSession, options: UIScene.ConnectionOptions) -> UISceneConfiguration { if connectingSceneSession.role == .carTemplateApplication { let sceneConfiguration = UISceneConfiguration(name: "CarPlay Scene", sessionRole: connectingSceneSession.role) sceneConfiguration.delegateClass = CarPlaySceneDelegate.self return sceneConfiguration } // Configuration for other types of scenes return UISceneConfiguration(name: "Default Configuration", sessionRole: connectingSceneSession.role) } struct MyApp: App { @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) var delegate var body: some Scene { WindowGroup { ContentView() .preferredColorScheme(.light) } } } Info.plist <key>UIApplicationSceneManifest</key> <dict> <key>UIApplicationSupportsMultipleScenes</key> <true/> <key>UISceneConfigurations</key> <dict> <key>CPTemplateApplicationSceneSessionRoleApplication</key> <array> <dict> <key>UISceneConfigurationName</key> <string>CarPlay Scene</string> <key>UISceneDelegateClassName</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).CarPlaySceneDelegate</string> </dict> </array> </dict> </dict>

Hi, App Image: What is the best format - jpg, tiff, giff, psd or ai? What is the maximum and minimum number of items the app can contain? Please advise. Thanks

Hi, I want to generate some sample datas for demonstrating the functions of my app when the app launched. My codes are as followings: func generateSampleData() { let hasLaunchedKey = "HasLaunchedBefore" let defaults = UserDefaults.standard if !defaults.bool(forKey: hasLaunchedKey) { //generate the demo data } defaults.set(true, forKey: hasLaunchedKey) } And I put the func in a view's onAppear modifier. I found every time I go the view, it generates the demo data again, which results in producing a lot of demo data. But I have set the status of the function running in the userdefault. Why did it happen? Best Wishes,

Hi there. Our designer is designing our app in Figma with the navigation element with compact size navigation bar, and large title. I couldn't find an API to actually configure the nav bar to be compact while keeping the large title enabled. Figma uses the libraries provided by Apple so it's weird I can't find such configuration in iOS26. I'm adding a screenshot of the options in Figma. First option is: Large size & large text. The one our designer is using is compact size & large text.

I would like to propose a design enhancement for future iPhone models: using the existing bottom-right antenna line (next to the power button area) as a capacitive “volume control zone” that supports swipe gestures. Today this line is a structural antenna break, but it is also located exactly where the thumb naturally rests when holding the phone in one hand. With a small embedded capacitive/force sensor, the user could slide their finger along this zone to control volume without reaching for the physical buttons. Why this makes sense: • Perfect ergonomic thumb position in both portrait and landscape • One-handed volume adjustment becomes easier for large-screen devices • Silent and frictionless vs. clicking buttons (useful in meetings / night mode) • Consistent with Apple’s recent move toward contextual hardware input (Action Button, Capture Button, Vision Pro gestures) The interaction model would be: • Swipe up → increase volume • Swipe down → decrease volume • (Optional) long-press haptic = mute toggle This could also enhance accessibility, especially for users with reduced hand mobility who struggle to press mechanical buttons on tall devices. Technically, this would be similar to the Capture Button (capacitive + pressure layers), but linear instead of pressure-based. It does not replace physical buttons, it complements them as a silent gesture-based alternative. Thank you for considering this as a future interaction refinement for iPhone hardware design.

I’m not a developer - I’m just trying to find out where to post a question I have that might relate to iOS 26.

i am struggling to get my tab view to work, when i call views in the action part of my tab view, my background creates issue? does anyone know how to fix this? struct ContentView: View { @Environment(.colorScheme) var colorMode let Color1: Color = .cyan var Color2: Color { colorMode == .dark ? .black : .white } var TextColor: Color{ colorMode == .dark ? .black : .black } let tax: Double = 0.0875 var OptionTypes: [String] = ["Breakfeast", "Lunch", "Dinner", "Dessert", "Drinks"] var BreakfeastFoods: [Food] = [ Food(Name: "Eggs Benedict", Price: 9.50), Food(Name: "Avocado Toast", Price: 5.75), Food(Name: "French Toast", Price: 12.50), Food(Name: "Waffles", Price: 7.25), Food(Name: "Pancakes", Price: 8.60) ] var LunchFoods: [Food] = [ Food(Name: "Tuna Salad", Price: 11.25), Food(Name: "Pizza", Price: 22.50), Food(Name: "Chicken Sandwitch", Price: 8.95), Food(Name: "French Fries", Price: 5.15), Food(Name: "Macaroni and Cheese", Price: 7.50) ] var DinnerFoods: [Food] = [ Food(Name: "Ribeye Steak", Price: 18.99), Food(Name: "Pork Ribs", Price: 21.75), Food(Name: "Salmon", Price: 15.00), Food(Name: "Burrito Bowl", Price: 13.99), Food(Name: "Chicken Fajitas", Price: 20.50) ] var DessertFoods: [Food] = [ Food(Name: "Ice Cream Sundae", Price: 10.00), Food(Name: "Fudge Brownie", Price: 4.85), Food(Name: "Chocolate Cake Slice", Price: 6.10), Food(Name: "Pumpkin Pie", Price: 6.10), Food(Name: "Ice Cream Float", Price: 3.50) ] var Drinks: [Food] = [ Food(Name: "Water", Price: 0.00), Food(Name: "Sparkling Water", Price: 2.15), Food(Name: "Soda", Price: 3.00), Food(Name: "Coffee", Price: 2.50), Food(Name: "Hot Chocolate", Price: 3.50) ] @State var MyCart: [Food] = [] var body: some View { NavigationStack{ ZStack{ LinearGradient(colors: [Color1, Color2], startPoint: .top, endPoint: .bottom).ignoresSafeArea() VStack(spacing: 40){ ForEach(OptionTypes, id: \.self){ OptionType in NavigationLink(value: OptionType){ Text(OptionType) }.frame(width: 250, height: 70).background(LinearGradient(colors: [.cyan, .white,.cyan], startPoint: .topLeading, endPoint: .bottom)).foregroundStyle(TextColor).cornerRadius(100).font(.system(size: 25, weight: .medium)).padding(.top, 16) } }.navigationDestination(for: String.self) { OptionType in switch OptionType{ case "Breakfeast": BreakFeastView(BreakfeastList: BreakfeastFoods, Color1: Color1, Color2: Color2) case "Lunch": LunchView(LunchList: LunchFoods, Color1: Color1, Color2: Color2) case "Dinner": DinnerView(DinnerList: DinnerFoods, Color1: Color1, Color2: Color2) case "Dessert": DessertView(DessertList: DessertFoods, Color1: Color1, Color2: Color2) case "Drinks": DrinksView(DrinksList: Drinks, Color1: Color1, Color2: Color2) // case "My Cart": // MyCartView(MyCartList: MyCart, Color1: Color1, Color2: Color2) default: Text("Error") } } } .navigationTitle("Choose Menu") TabView{ Tab("Menu", systemImage: "fork.knife"){ } Tab("My-Cart", systemImage: "cart.fill"){ } Tab("Store Location", systemImage: "mappin"){ } } } } }

On earlier iOS versions Live Activity displays correctly according to mode set.  Can't find an opened issue for that version: iOS 26 device: iPhone 16

With the new ios 26 beta 3 helps some stabillty and performance issues but most of the liquid glass has been removed or made very frosty look; and it defeats the whole purpose of a big redesign, and even thought the changes are because of readability and contrast complaints it should not take away liquid glass design. I think apple should consider adding a toggle or choice to choose if they would want a more frosted look or a more liquid glass look the the original plan.