Apple’s latest iOS 26.1 update, which will be available to eligible devices starting Monday, doesn’t introduce any major features, but it does include one much-requested change: 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 until now was reduce the transparency through the accessibility settings, which effectively turned off the Liquid Glass overlay. In iOS 26.1, we now have a new menu to maintain the look while increasing the 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.
iOS 26.1 also adds new swipe functions that should provide more precise control over activating certain app features. You can now turn off the swipe action that opens the Camera app from your lock screen by heading to Settings > Camera > Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera – helping to prevent people from taking photos on your locked device.
Liquid Glass was the company’s biggest design refresh since its transition to flat design in 2013, but like most changes of this magnitude and significance, not everyone agreed.
Additionally, iOS 26.1 gives users the ability to record audio and video on the spot while recording a video call, which can be useful if you’re recording a call or podcast on the go.
Meanwhile, “Apple Music” will now let you quickly change songs by swiping in the mini player at the bottom of the screen. You can swipe forward to skip to the next song in an album or playlist, and back to replay a previous song. Live translation through connected “AirPods” is now also available in Italian, Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, and Korean.
You can update your device by going to Settings > General > Software update.
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