Release candidates for iOS 26.1 and its siblings are out, which points to the general releases becoming available next week. What caught my eye is a number of new toggles:
Liquid Glass Toggle
iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass.
In the Settings app, under Display and Brightness → Liquid Glass, there is a more transparent “Clear” option and a more opaque “Tinted” option.
Sounds to me like a sneaky way to backtrack on the accessibility (and aesthetic) fail that is Liquid Glass without admitting it’s a fail. Adding a toggle that most people won’t see (because most people don’t read release notes, and don’t poke around in the Settings app, since the Settings app has become a hellhole) will ensure most people will keep the default, so that Apple can claim that everyone loves the new interface.
Lock Screen Camera Toggle
In the Settings app, a new “Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera” toggle lets you turn off the ability to swipe left on the Lock Screen to quickly open the Camera app.
I don’t understand this one, except in the context of new phones having a dedicated camera button. Again, a setting that most people won’t find and won’t look for, unless they’re truly annoyed by the default behavior, which has existed for years (I can’t be bothered to look up how many).
Background Security Improvements
In the Settings app, under Privacy & Security → Security Improvements, there is a new option to automatically download and install “Background Security Improvements.” These are stopgap security patches issued between full iOS updates.
This is a revamp of the prior Rapid Security Responses feature.
Why a toggle? Why not just install security patches by default? I know, I know, nanny Apple and whatnot—but if an update is truly necessary, I would see the point in just installing it as needed. Although if this toggle is anything like the regular toggle for automatic updates (which never seems to actually work) I suspect I’ll still have to install these patches manually.