Apple’s new Liquid Glass look is gorgeous, weird, and a little polarizing. The reflections glide across your icons. Light bends as you tilt your phone. It’s Apple at its most aesthetic and now, you can turn it off.
The company quietly added a toggle for the Liquid Glass design in iOS. Flip it, and your screen loses the shimmer—no more rolling highlights or shifting reflections. You’re back to a cleaner, flatter look that feels more like classic iOS.
It’s buried in settings, which is Apple’s way of saying, “We get it not everyone’s into this.” On iPhone and iPad, you’ll find the new option under Settings > Display & Brightness, and on Mac, go to System Settings > Appearance.
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The Liquid Glass effect might look great in Apple’s demo videos, but in real life, it can feel a little much. The constant glinting and motion are beautiful when you notice them, and annoying when you can’t stop noticing them.
What’s interesting is what this toggle represents. Apple’s design swings in cycles: skeuomorphic, flat, depth again, now hyperreal textures. Every few years, the company tries to redefine what “modern” looks like.
The Liquid Glass effect feels like another attempt at making the iPhone feel alive but Apple’s giving users the first real opt-out from one of its signature visual styles. That’s new.
It also says a lot about how Apple handles backlash without admitting to it. Accessibility settings have become the pressure valve for divisive features: motion effects, Dynamic Island animations, and now, Liquid Glass.
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Apple doesn’t call it a preference. It calls it an accommodation. But the result is the same more control for users.
And honestly, that’s good. Design isn’t one-size-fits-all anymore. The iPhone is a reflection of your taste as much as it is of Apple’s.
For years, Apple’s message was: this is how your phone should look. Now it’s quietly shifting to: how do you want it to look?
That’s a small toggle with a big implication. Apple’s design philosophy might finally be growing up not by dictating the future of mobile design, but by letting you decide what feels right.
What do you think of the new option? Let us know in the comments below.
