Inside Apple’s Controversial iOS Overhaul: What Changed After a Decade—and Why Users Are Split?
So, Apple just dropped iOS 26 like a plot twist in your favorite binge-worthy series—and as expected, the reactions are nothing short of a soap opera. With a staggering one and a half billion iPhone users worldwide, shaking up the core look and feel of their beloved devices was bound to stir the pot. This update, playfully dubbed ‘Liquid Glass,’ aims to soften edges and blur boundaries—literally—with translucent, bubble-like designs that have some fans swooning and others grumbling about lag and lost features. It’s like a season of football: thrilling highs, frustrating lows, and plenty of debates on the sidelines. But hey, if your five-year-old phone feels brand spanking new overnight, can you really complain? Dive in and decide for yourself—are you on team love-it-or-hate-it?
A new Apple iOS has been released across all devices, and as usual, users are split on whether it’s good or not.
There are said to be over one and a half billion iPhone users across the world, so you can expect some uproar if you were to change the fundamental layout, appearance, and functions of the devices.
Apple have released iOS 26, a step up from iOS 18, in a move that has brought the software numbers up to the years they are set to run to.
The number is similar to a season of football (25/26), and like a season of the beautiful game, there are ups and downs with this new software update, as people can’t quite figure out if they love it or hate it.
It’s not just the iPhone that has been affected, though, as iPads and Apple Watches across the world have been updated for better or for worse.
The iOS 26 update is here and people are divided (Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
The ‘Liquid Glass’ update has changed the way the lock screen, icons, and the system look, while adding more features for compatible devices.
It was first announced at the company’s developer conference back in June, with the new appearance making everything look softer and more rounded, while keeping to the Liquid Glass name by giving things a semi-transparent look.
Which devices can download the update?
The software is now available for all eligible Apple devices to download, which include all iPhones from the 11, all iPad Pros from 2018 onwards, the iPad mini fifth gen and the iPad eighth gen, as well as Apple Watches from the 2020 Series 6 onwards.
MacBook Airs from 2020, 16-inch MacBook Pros from 2019 onwards, 13-inch MacBook Pros from 2020 onwards, Mac minis from 2020, iMacs from 2020 and Mac Studios from 2022 or even 2019 Mac Pro or later will have access to macOS 26 Tahoe.
What new iOS features are there on iPhone?
Liquid Glass is just one of the newest features of iOS 26 (Apple)
The headline here is Liquid Glass, giving things a translucent design which looks like bubbles above a flat background, though you can tint icons with different colours or set them at different modes.
Buttons now also shrink away if you don’t interact with them, with the camera app becoming more streamlined to hide more modes or pop-up menus, while the address bar and buttons in Safari have been condensed to a small button at the bottom of the screen.
The phone app can now screen calls from unknown numbers, with iPhone answering and asking their name and reason for calling before alerting you so you can make the decision.
Messages can do the same, detecting and filtering out spam, similar to emails. As a relief to many, the phone app can even wait on hold for you until a customer service agent is ready to speak to you, while both of these apps and FaceTime also have live translation built in.
What have users been saying?
The iOS 26 update has drawn a mixed crowd (Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
People were initially sceptical about the Liquid Glass update, and some have remained this way, as one said: “My iphone 11 is really laggy with the liquid thing update. And my ipad mini has lost a very useful feature called slide over.
“This is Apple’s software support. Half a***d. Just like when they were introducing ios 7 new flat design thing, it killed the usability of older devices.”
Another added: “This new iPhone ios update is f***ing horrific,” with a third stating: “So much lag, apps freezing, everything feels slow af. Worst iOS update ever feels like Apple just doesn’t care anymore.
“Overall experience is frustrating. Apple really needs to fix this mess asap.”
But it isn’t all doom and gloom, as some users have shared their enthusiasm, with one writing: “What Yall Think About The New IPhone Update ? I Like Some Features Like The Background Photo To Msgs,” as another pointed out that it was the ‘irst big iPhone update in ten years plus’.
A different user said: “iOS 26 is the most beautiful iPhone update ever! Thoughtful. Tasteful. Terrific. Only @Apple can make a 5 yo phone feel brand new overnight!”
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