iOS26 is an actively hostile user experience for disabled and/or visual impaired users.

[dasjati]

Unfortunately, the settings are buried away and needed hunting for, rather than being able to access readily.

I mean they are literally in "Accessibility". That's a good spot in my book. If I had accessibility problems, that's where I would look, no?

I've used these and other options for years and I don't even have any serious impairment.

I'm "on the spectrum" as the kids say nowadays and the biggest problem of iOS 26 is that I sometimes are so fascinated by one of the glass effects that I just keep scrolling something by a button to see how it refracts …

 

[ZipZilla]

This iOS26, on the iPhone 16 at least, is very very bad for disabled people and anyone with visual problems. It obviously hasn’t been trialed with disabled people, or taken any of a wide range of disabilities into account in its design – if they had, most of the Liquid Glass and “frosted glass blob” visual junk would be easily switch-off-able under the Accessibility settings.

Usually Apple OSes have been excellent for accessibility, at least compared to the major competition. This OTOH is actively hostile to disabled and visual impaired users.

I upgraded and downgraded back to iOS 18 within about 4 hours. Hurry and do it before apple stops signing 18.

No 26 for me. 18 may be the end of the road for my iPhone 13

 

[panjandrum]

Hostile 😂 seriously?

Yes, seriously. I work with quite a few persons with special visual needs (and others with a plethora of other needs), and any OS that reduces clarity and consistency is indeed hostile to these persons. Say you have something that works, and then you, through an action or actions, break what works and replace it with something that works significantly less-well. You have therefore purposely made life harder for those persons; which certainly sounds like a type of hostility to me! I'm not saying they actually set out to make it harder, it is just that they didn't consider the fallout of their less-visible and less consistent UI designs. Hostility through stupidity is still hostility in my book. (And don't get me started on how many visually-impaired persons I've worked with that actually like the removal of the home-buttons from Apple hardware... Yeah, zero.)

 

[Seanm87]

Yes, seriously. I work with quite a few persons with special visual needs (and others with a plethora of other needs), and any OS that reduces clarity and consistency is indeed hostile to these persons. Say you have something that works, and then you, through an action or actions, you break what works and replace it with something that works significantly less-well. You have therefore purposely made life harder for those persons; which certainly sounds like a type of hostility to me! I'm not saying they actually set out to make it harder, it is just that they didn't consider the fallout of their less-visible and less consistent UI designs. Hostility through stupidity is still hostility in my book. (And don't get me started on how many visually-impaired persons I've worked with that actually like the removal of the home-buttons from Apple hardware... Yeah, zero.)

Understandable but that’s why they have the reduce transparency and increase contrast options.

 

[panjandrum]

Understandable but that’s why they have the reduce transparency and increase contrast options.

The problem is that they aren't enough. The best you end up with in terms of legibility, clarity, consistency, no matter what you do, is still worse than the default MacOS UI use to be before Apple lost their mind.

 

[SebCohen]

True for some, though I think the “louder” interface will actually be nice for others with ADHD or sensory seeking autism.

I struggle with visual stimuli and distraction. Like that new Twitter/X thing when you scroll down and the next Tweet sort of slides inn from the side. F*** that’s distracting and annoying.

 

[SebCohen]

I’m partially visually-impaired, but to say iOS 26 is hostile is a big stretch

You can’t see all the annoying stuff 🥸 (it’s a joke, hope this joke finds you well)

 

[SebCohen]

Listen, Apple could solve everyone’s problem if we you just turn all the frills stuff, off. No complaints, everyone happy.

 

[SebCohen]

I’ve been vocal on praising iOS 26 here on MacRumors but after giving it a try on my unused SE3, turns out it was only good in terms of icons…

Visually they look fantastic. The effects too. But why am I feeling nauseated when I scroll or use OS fast?? And it wasn’t even OLED phone, an LCD display without PWM.

Also the new animations when quitting app kinda suck, this “genie-like” effect doesn’t work good on iOS at all.

Overall it feels kinda over-engineered. Needs a lot of polishing to become usable. Shame that they had so much time to make it adequate and then roll out this.

Back in the days TikTok was the only app that gave me nausea after scrolling it a while. I uninstalled it. Now if I ever would want to install 26 on my 11 Pro, whole OS will give me nausea. How do I uninstall my iPhone, Apple??? Especially since I am not really into competition. Though if S26 Ultra turns out good maybe I will jump ship after all.

Also I’ve had many hopes photos app will be polished and turned back to iOS 17 style. Nope, they have basically given it a new view (recents tab) plus all the usual iOS18 clusterf*** amalgamated into one huge tab (plus tiny text).

Also they have made process of clearing “recently deleted” photos very complicated. I now have to press so many buttons.

Also “double press to zoom” in photos no longer works, it stretches photo by the size of the display but doesn’t zoom in. The updated “delete photo” dialogue is true sucker, back in the days there was a large delete button, they now moved it.

Feels like they don’t want you to delete any photo, “what is on your iPhone stays on your iPhone” in action. Well, kinda smart! 0.5, 1 and 2 TB storages won’t sell themself!

At least Apple Intelligence is a genius. 🖖

 

[Herr Podspro]

True for some, though I think the “louder” interface will actually be nice for others with ADHD or sensory seeking autism.

I actually have both and find it more distracting than anything else.

 

[Herr Podspro]

Turn on Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast which I have had on ever since Apple introduced them several releases ago. Hopefully they won’t turn them off on when I eventually upgrade when 26.3 is released.

But those are options with other drawbacks. I too use them, but I don’t want to daily them.

 

[Paddle1]

It's hostile for people without impairments. I don't know - maybe I do have some neurological issue because just looking at the screenshots of this UI over the past couple months has irritated the heck out of me. I do not understand how anyone who has ever worked in user experience design has allowed this project to be pursued at all.

I haven't updated the OS but a couple apps have been updated and I see this text-over-text design trend is carrying over. IT'S SO BAD.

I mean, it was obvious the moment Vision Pro was announced that the other operating systems would acquire some design elements. But, just like the desktop experience can not translate to the mobile experience, a 3D spatial user interface does not translate to a 2D space.

It's not possible to translate our brain's ability to focus on the depth of objects in space while blocking out the rest of the environment to a user interface element placed in front of another user interface element where depth does not exist.

Anyone with a moderate amount of UX design experience would have stopped this project from the start. Even the "demo" apple showed of people using clear blocks over text should have been a moment for executives to halt this project.

How anyone - literally anyone - is accepting this operating system as usable is beyond my comprehension. I swear I'm not being hyperbolic. I genuinely can not observe this operating system as something that could be used in your daily life in which it is easier, more intuitive, more legible, or more user-friendly than the previous version.

Moreover, I have watched some interesting demos in the past 24 hours that, on top of Liquid Glass, show how Apple has further hidden functions away from users. They're making the screens larger, they're placing new menus in all four corners of the screen, and hiding functions. So, not only have they turned the phone into a camera-first, they're turning them into iPads too.

I can not see how anyone could possibly claim that Apple is making the user interface more user friendly or more intuitive.

It looks a bit different on an actual device than in screenshots. (Still not as polished as before.)

 

[onenorth]

I haven't updated the OS but a couple apps have been updated and I see this text-over-text design trend is carrying over. IT'S SO BAD.

I have also seen the trend. The CVS app added a glass-like menu bar that does not dynamically resize and is very difficult to read when there is clutter underneath.

All of these visual effects tax my brain. I just want to be able to look at the screen and clearly see what is there.

At the very least Apple should have an on-off toggle for the entire liquid glass effect. I agree that this whole project should have been questioned by someone within Apple.

 

[anthony131]

I have also seen the trend. The CVS app added a glass-like menu bar that does not dynamically resize and is very difficult to read when there is clutter underneath.

All of these visual effects tax my brain. I just want to be able to look at the screen and clearly see what is there.

At the very least Apple should have an on-off toggle for the entire liquid glass effect. I agree that this whole project should have been questioned by someone within Apple.

But, as you initially pointed out, it’s not just the liquid glass effect. It’s an entire design language that, from what I’ve briefly observed, is both about putting text over text and using the entire large screen to place men yea and hide functions. It is the opposite of intuitive and user friendly.

I mean, when Apple removed the floppy disc and the headphone jack and Ethernet jack, etc. I supported that form over function. I’m struggling now to now to find an any way to support a “pretty” user interface over one that makes an attempt to communicate function to the user. As a former graphic designer and control system developer, I just had an inherent issue with bad UX.

 

[klasma]

Understandable but that’s why they have the reduce transparency and increase contrast options.

The problem is that in iOS 26 the Reduce Transparency option reduces contrast, even when Increase Contrast is turned on. The default blurred background is replaced by a uniform background, which however is closer in color/brightness to the text or symbols in the foreground. For example, instead of dark text on white-ish blurred background, you get the same dark text on a gray background, reducing the contrast between text and background.

 

[Isamilis]

Yes. Hostile.

It turns your iPhone (or other Apple device), previously a usable tool, into something you will struggle to use, or even lose access to whole features from. A device you paid good money for and rely upon for work and everyday life.

Apple could not have made disabled and visually impaired users feel more abandoned by implementation of their new design ‘philosophy’.

I strongly agree on this. This is serious and can’t figure out why some people just laugh on this.

 

[panjandrum]

You know, I have normal vision, and am still finding elements hard to see:

Like this lovely "New Image" button in Image Playground (First the default and second with "Reduce Transparency" turned ON. I mean, sometimes you just have to laugh, right? Apple clearly has no remaining UI visionaries or even professionals, and no QC either.)

Maybe this was always this way in Image Playground, I hadn't used it for more than a few minutes prior to today, but either way the problem with Apple's UI design is crystal unclear.

 

[Benny0001]

Apple could not have made disabled and visually impaired users feel more abandoned by implementation of their new design ‘philosophy’.

downgrade and turn off automatic updates if this a problem for you? also most of the liquid glass elements can be dialed back, or for example, turning on dark mode stuff basically eliminates the effect.

 

[Paddle1]

Based on how dramatically Liquid Glass changed throughout the beta period it appears they didn't have enough time to really polish the redesign before unveiling and implementing it. If that happens to be the case we will have to wait for them to do so over time.

 

[arc of the universe]

This iOS26, on the iPhone 16 at least, is very very bad for disabled people and anyone with visual problems. It obviously hasn’t been trialed with disabled people, or taken any of a wide range of disabilities into account in its design – if they had, most of the Liquid Glass and “frosted glass blob” visual junk would be easily switch-off-able under the Accessibility settings.

Usually Apple OSes have been excellent for accessibility, at least compared to the major competition. This OTOH is actively hostile to disabled and visual impaired users.

i had to read your post a few times and think about it.
but i think you are right.
although i myself am not visually challenged, i always thought that apple had been doing an admirable work to try to make computing available for all sorts of visually and motor-skill challenged persons.
but this time, without a simple 1 or 2 button alternative way to really dial it back to more of a macOS 18 usage experience, i think they did mess up.
no matter how proud apple was at thinking about a glass/liquid GUI, making Accessibility a priority as well should have come to apple more naturally. its correct to fault them.
i would hope that organizations that are advocates for visually challenged persons would be making this position clear to apple as of now, in a strong, persuasive way.

 

[Populus]

I’ve been vocal on praising iOS 26 here on MacRumors but after giving it a try on my unused SE3, turns out it was only good in terms of icons…

Visually they look fantastic. The effects too. But why am I feeling nauseated when I scroll or use OS fast?? And it wasn’t even OLED phone, an LCD display without PWM.

Also the new animations when quitting app kinda suck, this “genie-like” effect doesn’t work good on iOS at all.

Overall it feels kinda over-engineered. Needs a lot of polishing to become usable. Shame that they had so much time to make it adequate and then roll out this.

Back in the days TikTok was the only app that gave me nausea after scrolling it a while. I uninstalled it. Now if I ever would want to install 26 on my 11 Pro, whole OS will give me nausea. How do I uninstall my iPhone, Apple??? Especially since I am not really into competition. Though if S26 Ultra turns out good maybe I will jump ship after all.

Also I’ve had many hopes photos app will be polished and turned back to iOS 17 style. Nope, they have basically given it a new view (recents tab) plus all the usual iOS18 clusterf*** amalgamated into one huge tab (plus tiny text).

Also they have made process of clearing “recently deleted” photos very complicated. I now have to press so many buttons.

Also “double press to zoom” in photos no longer works, it stretches photo by the size of the display but doesn’t zoom in. The updated “delete photo” dialogue is true sucker, back in the days there was a large delete button, they now moved it.

Feels like they don’t want you to delete any photo, “what is on your iPhone stays on your iPhone” in action. Well, kinda smart! 0.5, 1 and 2 TB storages won’t sell themself!

I think you just used the word that best describes the situation here: over-engineered. It’s like they wanted to show off the graphical capabilities of their chips.

I still haven’t used iOS 26 so I still don’t know if I will like it or not, but I think I prefer simpler, minimalistic interfaces like the one currently Android has.

 

[Populus]

Based on how dramatically Liquid Glass changed throughout the beta period it appears they didn't have enough time to really polish the redesign before unveiling and implementing it. If that happens to be the case we will have to wait for them to do so over time.

Maybe we’ll see a more refined and consistent version of Liquid Glass by iOS 27?

 

[mikethebigo]

Maybe we’ll see a more refined and consistent version of Liquid Glass by iOS 27?

It’ll certainly improve over time… it took several years for them to perfect the iOS 7 design.

 

[Quarric]

I am visually impaired and I wouldn’t call it hostile, maybe it’s because I have dark mode enabled, but given all the complaining I’ve come across,I was expecting some hideous constantly refracting animated nightmare that would make me use voice over with screen curtain so I didn’t have to put up with it, what have I got, effects I barely notice, and apart from one mildly irritating voice over bug, an update that’s shockingly quite stable on the accessibility front.
I didn’t see the point of the new safari layout with some stuff hidden, so I went back to the way I had it before.
Phone won’t allow me to choose WhatsApp when adding a contact to favourites anymore, it’s FaceTime or regular phone call, small issue but I hope that gets sorted.
My biggest issue is with watch OS, that’s buggered up voice over reading some complications, that’s far more of an issue than whatever the hell Liquid Glass is all about.

 

[Quarric]

And in case it helps anyone with safari who is struggling with the lg stuff, try the noir dark mode safari extension app, you can customise your own text colour and background colour that you can apply across every website if you want.