Latest news with #LiquidGlass
CNET
6 hours ago
- CNET
Trouble Reading with Liquid Glass in the iOS 26 Beta? Here's How to Make it More Legible
Apple released the first public beta of iOS 26 on July 24, and the beta brings a Liquid Glass design to the iPhones of developers and beta testers, alongside other updates like a new Games app. But if you're not a fan of the Liquid Glass design, I found a way to reduce its effects so background images aren't bleeding through menus and making things hard to read. When Apple released the developer beta of iOS 26, people were torn about the design. Some were excited about it, while others -- myself included -- were concerned about readability with the new design. Apple has tweaked Liquid Glass during the iOS 26 beta process to improve legibility by adding more of a frosted look, but you still might not be happy with the new design. Thankfully, you can adjust the Liquid Glass design in just a few steps, significantly reducing its transparency. Here's how to make the Liquid Glass design in iOS 26 more legible. And don't forget, iOS 26 is still in beta. That means the update might be buggy for you, and your device's battery life may be affected, so it's best to keep those troubles off your primary device. If you want to try the beta out, I recommend downloading it on a secondary device. It's also possible that Apple could adjust Liquid Glass, and other update features, before the final version of iOS 26 is released this fall. How to adjust Liquid Glass 1. Open Settings. 2. Tap Accessibility. 3. Tap Display & Text Size. 4. Tap the toggle for Reduce Transparency. This will darken any menus or spaces affected by the Liquid Glass design, including in apps like Messages. On the left, we see the Liquid Glass design in its full affect, and on the right the Reduce Transparency setting has been enabled. Apple/Screenshot by CNET In the Display & Text Size menu, you can also tap the toggle next to Increase Contrast to help set Liquid Glass elements apart. When I enabled this toggle, it gave a lot of those elements a white outline. If Apple continues to tweak Liquid Glass during the beta and you want to bring the design elements back to your device, follow the above steps again to disable Reduce Transparency. Apple is set to bring iOS 26 and Liquid Glass to all compatible devices this fall. For more on iOS 26, here are my first impressions of the iOS version and all the new features Apple said it will bring to your device later this year.
Phone Arena
8 hours ago
- Phone Arena
iOS 26 quietly fixes one of CarPlay's most annoying quirks
iOS 26 is now in its public beta testing stage before its official release with the new iPhones in the fall. The new OS brings plenty of changes, including the gorgeous new Liquid Glass design and improvements across the board. Luckily for CarPlay users, Apple also brings Liquid Glass and support for widgets to your car with iOS 26 . But there's a relatively small change that is also coming to CarPlay with iOS 26 . Although this one isn't as noticeable as the Liquid Glass look or the widgets, it's still a years-long feature request for many CarPlay users: the ability to disable CarPlay screenshots. For years, you were able to take a screenshot of your CarPlay display by taking a screenshot on your iPhone. Although this feature can be handy, most of the time it's pretty annoying, especially if your iPhone is connected to CarPlay (so, you're in your car), but you want to take a screenshot only of your iPhone's screen. Due to this, many people can end up having quite a lot of unneeded CarPlay screenshots in their Photos. Well, iOS 26 is here to fix this little annoyance. iOS 26 stable version will be released with the new iPhone 17 series in the fall. | Image Credit - Apple CarPlay screenshots are, actually, disabled by default in iOS 26 . When you update to iOS 26 , taking a screenshot on your iPhone while connected to CarPlay will no longer automatically capture your CarPlay display. In case you want the capability back, you can enable it from the Settings app. To do that, you need to go to General, then tap on "Screen Capture" and then toggle on the new "CarPlay Screenshots" option. I think this is a small but very welcome change. It shows that Apple is listening to feedback, even on little things that can get annoying over time. Most people probably don't need screenshots of their CarPlay screen, so turning it off by default makes sense. And for those who do want it, it's still easy to switch back on. It's a thoughtful tweak that just helps keep things simpler and cleaner for everyday users.
Tom's Guide
11 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
iOS 26's new Liquid Glass icons are here — how to enable them on your iPhone
iOS 26 introduces Liquid Glass icons, one of Apple's biggest design changes in over a decade. These new transparent icons give your iPhone's homescreen a translucent, minimalist look that lets your wallpaper show through. Instead of the usual solid app icons, Liquid Glass creates a layered effect that adapts to your surroundings and changes between light and dark environments automatically. The feature is available now in the iOS 26 public beta and will roll out to everyone when the final version launches later on this year. Setting up Liquid Glass icons is straightforward and only takes a few taps in your settings. Whether you want a completely clear look or prefer to keep some color, you can customize the transparency level to match your aesthetic. Here's how to enable Liquid Glass icons on your iPhone. You'll need iOS 26 Beta installed on your iPhone to access Liquid Glass icons. Since the feature is currently only available in the public beta, you'll need to download that version first. The full iOS 26 release is expected in September, but the beta gives you early access to test the new design. Make sure your iPhone is compatible with iOS 26 before attempting to download the beta software. Long-press anywhere on your iPhone's homescreen or lockscreen until you see options appear. Tap the Edit button that appears in the top-left corner of your screen, then the Customize menu option. This opens the menu where you can change your homescreen appearance and access the new Liquid Glass options. There should now be a menu at the bottom of your screen showing Light, Dark, Tinted, and Clear options. Tap Clear to access the Liquid Glass settings. This is where you'll find all the transparency options for your app icons. Select from the three Liquid Glass options: Clear Light, Clear Dark, or Clear Auto. Clear Light makes icons completely transparent, while Clear Dark keeps some original colors with the glass effect. Choose Clear Auto to automatically switch between light and dark modes based on the time of day. To return to normal app icons, repeat the same steps by long-pressing your homescreen, tapping Edit, and selecting Default. You can experiment with different looks until you find what works best for your wallpaper and personal style. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Tom's Guide
Finally! This new Apple Watch feature from watchOS 26 just solved my biggest problem with calls and notifications
Forget Liquid Glass, your Apple Watch just got a new, free feature, and it makes dismissing the endless stream of notifications you get that little bit easier. Wrist flick, a new feature released with watchOS 26 public beta, and will come as a general update this fall, allowing you to clear notifications without touching your watch. Here's how to download watchOS 26 now. Apple's newest gesture, wrist flick, will be available on Apple Watch 9, Apple Watch 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. When a notification appears on the watch, you can quickly turn the wrist over to dismiss the notification. You can also use this wrist flick to dismiss incoming calls, silence alarms, stop timers, and return to the home screen from apps. It's only taken me 24 hours to find this far more useful than the double-tap gesture, released with the Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2. Double-tap allows you to tap your thumb and index finger together twice to control what's happening on the screen of your Apple Watch. The double tap gesture will select the primary button of whichever feature you're in by default. So, for example, if somebody calls you, the double tap gesture will allow you to answer the call from your wrist, without having to touch the screen. Wrist flick builds on this, allowing you to do more with your Apple Watch hands-free. Until now, the only way to clear the Slack notifications from my colleagues and endless messages from that group WhatsApp when I'm at work was to touch the watch. When I'm cooking, holding my toddler, or walking the dog and have my hands full, the wrist flick allows me to quickly clear notifications. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. When you download watchOS 26, wrist flick will automatically be enabled, but if you find it annoying, you can turn it off. To find wrist flick, head to Settings, Gestures, and then toggle wrist flick on and off. Next up, I'll be trying Apple's new Workout Buddy feature, but until then, you can check out everything new to expect with WatchOS 26 here. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Digital Trends
2 days ago
- Digital Trends
5 things you need to try in the iPadOS 26 public beta right now
iPadOS has often attracted criticism as merely a stretched-out version of the iPhone's software, with a handful of Pro-grade apps and games thrown into the mix. With iPadOS 26, Apple is finally shedding that reputation. In fact, the overhaul is so deep that iPadOS 26 now feels closer to the Mac than iPhone software. Now, this is purely a personal opinion, but the new Liquid Glass design language looks much better on the iPad than it does on the iPhone. Recommended Videos Beyond the design, iPadOS 26 borrows heavily from macOS Tahoe, and even eclipses the desktop software with a few special niceties of its own. In fact, the entry-level iPad is the one that has received the most notable functional upgrade. A whole new multi-tasking system When Apple introduced the Stage Manager system for app multitasking, it was limited to the more powerful Air and Pro series iPads. With the arrival of iPadOS 26, Apple has extended that facility even to the base $349 iPad. I absolutely love it. In addition to Stage Manager, Apple has introduced a whole new Windowed app system for running multiple apps at the same time. There is more flexibility with the resizing of app windows, and with a simple upward swipe, you can open all the clustered apps in an Expose view. From there, you can pick any app and bring it to the foreground, or add a new app instance into the mix. Interestingly, this feature is available across the entire iPad lineup, even the baseline model. When spanned across an external display, it truly comes to life. The mighty menu bar The most striking element of iPadOS 26, beyond the new redesign and multitasking upgrades, is the increasing familiarity with macOS. The best example? A dedicated menu bar at the top, just like macOS. Instead of cramming all the settings and tools behind clustered drop-downs or slide-out folders, apps can now spread them all across the top. The approach is identical to macOS, and gives developers an opportunity to offer a familiar experience across their desktop and tablet-optimized apps. From a user's perspective, it's much easier to find and interact with the relevant tools they are looking for. This approach also leaves more screen real estate to flesh out the core user interface. Oh, and did I mention that the dreaded round cursor is finally gone and we now have a familiar arrowhead? Yeah, that too. Also, if you're working across different screens, you can simply move your finger (or mouse) quickly to enlarge the cursor size and find it. Neat! Improved app tiling, at last One of my biggest complaints about iPadOS has been the half-baked app resizing and tiling system. Actually, Apple's approach to windowing felt rigid, even after Stage Manager came into the picture. Those issues have been addressed in iPadOS 26. Just like its macOS compatriot, the latest iteration of iPadOS brings the familiar three-button layout for closing, maximising, and minimizing app windows. Integrated within the green maximize key are the core tiling controls, with eight resizing and positioning presets at your disposal. Moreover, you no longer have to struggle with resizing each app window. By default, you can now naturally fit four evenly sized app windows on the iPad's screen. Additionally, with a flick gesture, you can split the screen and tile an app window near the left or right edge in one single move. Preview comes to Appe's slate Another trick that has been ported over from macOS to the iPad this year is the Preview app. I am somewhat confused why it took so long, since the touch-sensitive and stylus-friendly nature of the iPad makes it a better choice for handling documents than the Mac. Nevertheless, it's here, and it works just fine. You can open, edit, and annotate to your heart's content. Whether it's PDF files or images, the Preview app covers it all. On a related note, you can now put any folder of your choice in the dock. Talking about folders, you can now color-code them and even put an emoji on their face for easy identification. Phone app on the iPad It's somewhat surprising that, despite offering cellular iPads for years, Apple didn't put the phone app on the iPad. Well, the wait is finally over. The Phone has finally landed on the iPad, with all the upgrades in tow that have landed on iPhones. Call screening, hold assist, and live translation are some of the new Phone app features that are now available on the iPad, as well. Additionally, the calls you record within the Phone app on iPad can be directly imported as an audio clip in the Notes app. For anyone who works off the iPad as their primary computing workhorse, or even as a stopgap machine, the Phone app is a deeply underrated convenience. You can now conveniently put your iPhone away and focus on the work, without having to worry about missing an important call or message.
