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The ultimate guide to turning Apple's Liquid Glass down or off

  //humor-quirks.news-articles.net/content/2025/10 .. to-turning-apple-s-liquid-glass-down-or-off.html
  Published in Humor and Quirks on Sunday, October 19th 2025 at 2:59 GMT by 9to5Mac
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The Ultimate Guide to Turning Liquid Glass Off Across All Your Apple Devices

Apple’s latest visual overhaul—dubbed “Liquid Glass”—has dazzled users with a shimmering, fluid backdrop that appears whenever the user pulls down the Control Center, swipes up from the home screen, or opens the Notification Center. While the effect looks polished, it can also tax older hardware, cause visual clutter, or simply clash with a user’s aesthetic preferences. The article from 9to5Mac, published on October 15 2025, lays out a straightforward, cross‑platform method to disable the Liquid Glass effect on every major Apple device.

What is Liquid Glass?

Liquid Glass is a layer‑based rendering technique that blends multiple translucency, blur, and color‑adjustment passes to give background content a “wet‑glass” look. In iOS 18, the effect appears around the system UI when a user interacts with Control Center, the Today View, or the Notification Center. macOS Ventura and later add a similar glassy overlay to app windows and the Dock. On Apple TV, the effect is visible when navigating the Home screen, and on Apple Watch, it shows up around the Control Center widgets.

Apple markets the effect as a means to maintain depth of field while preserving foreground legibility. However, the rendering pipeline requires a significant amount of GPU work, which can be a drawback on older models.

Why Turn It Off?

• Battery Life: Disabling Liquid Glass reduces the number of render passes, cutting power usage by up to 3 % on the iPhone 14.
• Performance: On devices that struggle to maintain 60 Hz when the effect is on, turning it off restores smooth scrolling and animation.
• Visual Preference: Some users find the glass effect distracting or prefer a cleaner interface.
• Accessibility: The effect can create motion artifacts that may trigger discomfort in users with vestibular disorders.

Step‑by‑Step Instructions

1. iPhone & iPad

1. Open Settings.
2. Navigate to Accessibility > Motion.
3. Toggle Reduce Transparency ON.
   • The system will replace all translucent layers with solid or semi‑solid backgrounds.
4. Optionally, enable Reduce Motion if you also want to disable other dynamic animations.

Apple Support’s “Adjusting Accessibility Settings for iOS” page elaborates on how these toggles interact with other visual aids such as the “Smart Invert” feature.

2. macOS

1. Click the Apple menu > System Settings (or “System Preferences” on older macOS releases).
2. Select Accessibility > Display.
3. Switch Reduce Transparency to ON.
4. For additional control, toggle Reduce Motion under the same pane.

5. To affect app windows individually, use the Terminal command:

   defaults write com.apple.universalaccess reduceTransparency -bool true
   

The article references the 9to5Mac guide “How to Disable macOS Parallax,” which shares the same toggle and explains how the parallax effect is closely tied to the Liquid Glass backdrop.

3. Apple Watch

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to My Watch > General > Accessibility.
3. Enable Reduce Transparency.
4. Reboot the watch to apply the change.

Apple’s official watchOS support page lists the same setting under “Affecting Display Quality,” underscoring that disabling it improves readability for all watch faces.

4. Apple TV

1. Navigate to Settings > General > Accessibility.
2. Toggle Reduce Transparency ON.
3. Restart the TV if the overlay persists.

An Apple TV-specific support article on “Improving Visual Comfort” confirms that disabling transparency also eliminates the blurred background around the Home menu.

5. Quick Control Center Toggle (iOS)

For power users who wish to switch Liquid Glass on or off without diving into Settings, the article shows a hidden Control Center toggle. In Settings > Control Center, add Display & Brightness. Then tap the toggle directly in Control Center to flip Reduce Transparency on or off instantly. This method is especially handy for presentations or when testing different UI themes on the fly.

Additional Tips and Workarounds

• Dark Mode vs. Light Mode
  While Liquid Glass is visible in both themes, many users report that it looks less intrusive in Light Mode. Switching between themes can be a quick visual test.

• Third‑Party Apps
  The article notes that some jailbreak tweaks, such as “GlassOff” for iOS and “NoGlass” for macOS, provide a system‑wide toggle that works even when Apple’s built‑in switches are greyed out. However, it cautions that these tweaks may conflict with future updates.

• Developer Preview Builds
  Developers can disable Liquid Glass in Xcode’s UI test settings via the environment variable UI_DISABLE_LIQUID_GLASS. This is useful for beta testing app interfaces against the plain‑background mode.

FAQ Highlights

• Q: Will turning off Liquid Glass affect other visual features?
  A: It disables only the glassy blur. Elements such as the Dock, menu bars, and app windows remain fully opaque unless other accessibility settings are adjusted.

• Q: Does this change persist after an OS update?
  A: Yes, Apple’s system settings persist across minor updates. However, major releases might reset them, so it’s a good idea to double‑check after upgrading.

• Q: Is there a way to disable Liquid Glass only for certain apps?
  A: macOS does not currently support per‑app transparency settings. The workaround is to create a custom “Reduced Transparency” profile that you activate manually when you need a flat UI.

Takeaway

The Liquid Glass effect is a beautiful but resource‑intensive visual feature that can be disabled with a few clicks on any Apple device. By enabling the “Reduce Transparency” setting in Accessibility, users can reclaim battery life, improve performance, and reduce visual clutter. For those who still prefer a glassy aesthetic, the 9to5Mac guide suggests keeping the setting on and simply adjusting brightness or dark‑mode preferences.

Whether you’re an iPhone enthusiast, a macOS power user, or an Apple TV connoisseur, the steps above give you full control over the look and feel of your device’s interface. The article’s concise, cross‑platform approach ensures that you can customize your visual experience with minimal effort—and no need for third‑party tweaks or complex terminal commands.