What Liquid Glass Is and Why It Affects Readability
Liquid Glass is Apple’s translucent interface style that makes icons, menus, toolbars, and widgets look like they sit behind a sheet of frosted glass, blending with your wallpaper and system colors in real time. This design adds depth, but the see-through effect can blur text, hide controls, and even cause eye strain for some people, especially in dark mode or busy backgrounds. You cannot completely turn Liquid Glass off on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch, but you can now control how strong it appears. Recent updates added options to reduce transparency, change between clearer or more tinted glass, lower bright effects, and pair all of this with dark mode. A new iOS 27 slider is on the way, giving even more dramatic control from ultra-clear to fully tinted while keeping the overall design language in place.
Core Accessibility Tools: Reduce Transparency and Bright Effects
Your most important Liquid Glass settings live in Accessibility. On iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and turn on Reduce Transparency. This replaces many translucent backgrounds with more opaque panels so text and icons stand out better. On Mac, open System Settings > Accessibility > Display and enable Reduce Transparency to tone down the menu bar, Dock, icons, folders, and widgets. On Apple Watch, use the Watch app on iPhone (My Watch > Accessibility > Reduce Transparency) or go to Settings > Accessibility on the watch itself. According to PCMag, this change makes differences “stand out” on notifications and Control Center, where transparency is most obvious. On iOS 26.4 and later, look for Reduce Bright Effects in Accessibility as well, which cuts the harsh glow around some Liquid Glass lighting effects without changing transparency itself.
Display Tweaks: Dark Mode, Tinted Glass, and Brightness
Beyond Accessibility, you can customize interface effects through Display & Brightness. On iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Display & Brightness and switch Appearance to Dark. Dark mode hides much of the Liquid Glass shine, so menus and panels feel calmer and text often pops more clearly. On Mac, open System Settings > Appearance and select Dark for a similar effect. With iOS 26.1 or later, tap Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass to choose Clear for a more transparent look or Tinted for a more opaque style with higher contrast. Tinted pairs especially well with dark mode if you struggle to read labels on busy backgrounds. Adjust the screen’s main brightness slider in the same menu to complement these changes, balancing bright highlights from Liquid Glass against your environment and comfort level.
Per-Device Control: iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch
Liquid Glass settings do not have to match across your devices. You can keep a more colorful, translucent look on an iPad while setting a higher-contrast, tinted style on a work iPhone or productivity-focused Mac. On iPhone and iPad, combine Reduce Transparency with Tinted Liquid Glass and Dark mode if readability is your top priority. On Mac, many people soften the menu bar and Dock using Reduce Transparency while staying in Light mode, so windows still feel lively but menus are easier to read. On Apple Watch, small screen size makes clarity more important, so turning on Reduce Transparency alone can make notifications and Control Center far clearer. Think of each device as its own profile: mix transparency, brightness, and appearance mode based on how long you look at that screen and what you use it for.
Looking Ahead: iOS 27’s Slider and How to Prepare
Apple is working on deeper Liquid Glass controls rolling out with iOS 27. Apple’s own documentation explains that iOS 27 will add “a slider in Settings, which can be adjusted from ultra-clear to fully tinted,” offering far more dramatic transparency changes than today’s Reduce Brightness and Clear/Tinted toggle. A separate report notes this system-wide slider is expected to influence transparency across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, with public beta testing likely in July. To get ready, dial in your current preferences: turn on Reduce Transparency where you need stronger contrast, enable Dark mode if the glow feels distracting, and test Clear vs Tinted on your iPhone. When the new slider arrives, you will already know whether you prefer sharper, more solid panels or a softer glass look to customize Liquid Glass settings in finer detail.
