iOS 26 introduced a bold new Liquid Glass design, and subsequent updates have added new ways to customize not only how your iPhone looks, but also how it works. Here are five new recent customization settings.
#1: Customize the liquid glass design
Apple has a wide customer base, so it’s understandable that the iPhone’s new liquid glass design hasn’t been everyone’s favorite.
Instead of fixing Liquid Glass for everyone, Apple decided to do this add an optional Settings key.
Available under Display & Lighting ⇾ Liquid Glass, the setting offers two liquid glass options:
Clear retains the same liquid glass style that is available by default. However, if you don’t like the stark look, or perhaps find readability a challenge, the ‘Tinted’ option will increase the opacity and add more contrast to the whole system.
#2: Slide the camera on the lock screen
Not too long ago, the iPhone offered far fewer methods for launching the Camera app.
The main method for many users was (and for many still is) swiping left on the lock screen.
However, in 2017 the iPhone X introduced a dedicated on-screen Camera button; in 2023, the Action button became a camera launcher for many people; and in 2024, Camera Control debuted.
Despite this plethora of new Camera launch options, the previous swipe gesture was still always available—and couldn’t be turned off.
But as of iOS 26.1, Apple finally changed it.
If you like the lock screen camera slide, it’s still an option to this day. But if you never use it, except occasionally, there’s now a switch to turn it off.
Within Settings ⇾ Camera you’ll find a new option “Slide screen lock to open camera”. It is enabled by default, but you can now choose to disable it.
#3: One-tap actions instead of sliders
It’s hard to get more ‘classic iPhone’ than a swipe-to-unlock gesture. And iOS 26.1 recently reintroduced the feature, but redistributed for alarms and timers.
In iOS 26, the lock screen design for alarms and timers underwent a major change—the pause or snooze buttons became large.
For some users, this redesign made it too easy to accidentally remove an alarm or timer. So, since iOS 26.1, the standard ‘Stop’ button has been replaced by a ‘Slide to stop’ gesture.
However, if you don’t like the change, you can go to Settings ⇾ Accessibility ⇾ Tap to find a way to turn it back.
The new setting is called “Prefer one-touch actions.” Simply put, it ensures that UI elements that require a swipe action (like the new alarm screens and timers) use one-touch buttons instead.
#4: New screen flash for notifications
Notifications have long provided a distinct accessibility feature that triggers an additional visual cue. You can set your iPhone’s camera flash to go off when an alarm comes through.
This feature is great for the hard of hearing, but it’s also a good option for making notifications pop up.
And in iOS 26.2, there’s another new alternative along the same lines.
Within Settings ⇾ Accessibility ⇾ Audio & Visual ⇾ Flash for Alerts you’ll see a new “Display” option.
With Display turned on, notifications will cause your iPhone’s screen to fully illuminate for a brief moment before returning to normal brightness. You can also pair it with the camera’s flash option to maximize the effect.
#5: Extended lock screen clock slider
Screen lock is one of the best ways to customize the look and feel of your iPhone. And in iOS 26, Apple gave the Lock Screen clock a special ‘Glass’ style.
Recently, however, the slider to adjust the clock’s darkness expanded to let you go more transparent or opaque than before.
Make sure your watch is set to ‘Glass’, not ‘Solid’, then play around with it to find the right look for your lock screen.
This updated slider is available regardless of the font option you selected. However, unfortunately you can only increase the size of the clock with the default font.
What recent new settings in iOS 26 have you used? Tell us in the comments.
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