Apple’s latest iOS update, available for eligible devices starting Monday, doesn’t introduce any major features, but it does bring one highly requested tweak: the ability to change the transparency of the translucent liquid glass design.
If you didn’t like the look of iOS 26, all you could do so far was to reduce transparency via the accessibility settings, which pretty much turned off the liquid glass overlay. With iOS 26.1, we now get a new menu to retain the look while increasing opacity.
You can head to Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass to select either the original “Clear” option or a more opaque “Tinted” option. You can also see a preview of each option when you’re selecting them.
Liquid glass was the company’s biggest design overhaul since its move to a flat design back in 2013, but similar to most changes of this scale and significance, not everybody has been on board.
Some people said the more translucent design made various parts of the interface harder to read, including notifications or navigation controls in apps, while others professed their love for the attention to detail and the new look, which felt like a much-needed update to an interface that had grown stale over the years.
Besides the transparency settings, iOS 26.1 lets you tweak what gestures do on the home screen: You now get an option to open the camera app by swiping to the left on the lock screen. You change this by going to Settings > Camera > Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera.
In addition, iOS 26.1 gives users the ability to locally capture audio and video while recording a video call. This can be useful if you’re recording a call or podcast on the move. The company announced this feature for iPadOS in June during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
Disrupt 2026: The tech ecosystem, all in one room
Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $400.
Save up to $300 or 30% to TechCrunch Founder Summit
1,000+ founders and investors come together at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 for a full day focused on growth, execution, and real-world scaling. Learn from founders and investors who have shaped the industry. Connect with peers navigating similar growth stages. Walk away with tactics you can apply immediately
Offer ends March 13.
The update also brings support for eight new languages for Apple Intelligence: Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese (Portugal), Vietnamese, and Turkish. The company is also adding live translation support for five new languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Italian, Japanese, and Korean.
We also get some quality-of-life improvements, including gestures to change songs in Apple Music; a slider to stop alarms instead of a button so you don’t accidentally shut it off; and an option to automatically install security improvements.
You can update your device by going to Settings > General > Software update.
