To change the transparency of Liquid Glass in iOS 27, go to Settings > Appearance > Liquid Glass. Drag the slider left for a clearer, more transparent appearance, or right for a more tinted look with greater opacity and contrast. This is a system appearance setting rather than a separate control for each app. If transparent backgrounds make the screen hard to read, use the accessibility settings for Reduce Transparency or Increase Contrast instead.
Adjust the Liquid Glass appearance
Apple added the Liquid Glass slider in iOS 27, which became available on September 14, 2026. The slider lets you choose an appearance ranging from ultraclear to fully tinted.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Appearance.
- Tap Liquid Glass.
- Drag the slider left or right to choose the look you prefer.
Moving the slider left makes Liquid Glass clearer. More of the wallpaper or content behind a glass surface can show through.
Moving it right increases the tint. This gives glass surfaces more opacity and contrast, which can make controls easier to distinguish from the content behind them.
The setting affects the Liquid Glass materials used throughout iOS. The precise effect can differ by screen because the wallpaper, Light or Dark Mode, and content behind a control all influence how transparent or tinted it appears. Apps that use Apple’s Liquid Glass components can also reflect the chosen appearance, but an app that uses its own interface design may show little or no visible change.
Use accessibility settings when readability is the priority
The Liquid Glass slider is an appearance preference. The accessibility settings below make more substantial changes when transparency, contrast, or motion makes the interface uncomfortable to use.
| Setting | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid Glass slider | Changes Liquid Glass from clearer to more tinted | You want to keep the design but adjust its overall look |
| Reduce Transparency | Makes transparent or blurred backgrounds opaque with a solid color | Content showing through a background makes text difficult to read |
| Increase Contrast | Increases contrast between elements such as apps and background colors | Controls or boundaries blend into their backgrounds |
| Reduce Motion | Reduces motion effects and screen transitions | Movement, including Liquid Glass morphing effects, is distracting or uncomfortable |
For a somewhat more defined interface, move the Liquid Glass slider toward the tinted end. This preserves the Liquid Glass design while increasing the visual separation between controls and the content behind them.
For more consistently solid backgrounds, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and turn on Reduce Transparency. Apple says this makes transparent backgrounds opaque by giving them a solid color.
From the same screen, turn on Increase Contrast if the main problem is that foreground and background elements are too similar. It can improve the distinction between items such as apps and their background colors.
To reduce movement, go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion and turn on Reduce Motion. This setting is not an opacity control. It reduces motion effects, and Apple specifically notes that turning it off allows more motion, including the fluid morphing effects of Liquid Glass.
Why the Liquid Glass slider may be unavailable
Apple states that you must turn off Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast before changing the Liquid Glass look. Those accessibility settings take precedence because they alter transparency and contrast for readability.
If you cannot adjust Liquid Glass, follow these steps:
- Open Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
- Turn off Reduce Transparency, if it is on.
- Turn off Increase Contrast, if it is on.
- Return to Settings > Appearance > Liquid Glass.
- Move the slider to select Clearer or more Tinted glass.
You can turn either accessibility setting back on afterward, but it will take priority over the normal Liquid Glass appearance. If an accessibility setting makes your iPhone easier to use, it is usually best to leave it enabled rather than changing it only to access the appearance slider.
Apple identifies Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast as the settings that prevent changes to Liquid Glass. Reduce Motion controls movement rather than the clear-to-tinted setting.
Fix a missing slider or a subtle change
First, make sure the iPhone is running iOS 27. Open Settings > General > About and check the software version. The Liquid Glass slider is an iOS 27 feature, so it will not appear on iOS 26 or an earlier version.
If iOS 27 is installed but you cannot find the setting, open Settings and use the search field to look for Liquid Glass or Appearance. Apple’s Settings guide lists Liquid Glass settings under Appearance. Also check Settings > General > Software Update for any available iOS update, then restart the iPhone if the setting still does not appear.
If the slider moves but the change seems minor, try these checks:
- Compare both ends of the range. Move the slider fully left, look at an area with prominent glass controls, then move it fully right. This makes the difference easier to see before you settle on a middle position.
- Check accessibility settings. Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast can override the normal Liquid Glass appearance.
- Look at more than one screen. The effect can be more obvious in system controls and apps that use Liquid Glass extensively than on a screen with few translucent elements.
- Try another wallpaper. A detailed or colorful wallpaper can make the clearer setting more noticeable than a plain background.
- Compare Light and Dark Mode. The same slider position can look different when the underlying colors and contrast change.
- Update apps. An app may need to use Apple’s current interface components before it reflects Liquid Glass changes in the same way as iOS system screens.
The slider does not disable Liquid Glass. For the most solid backgrounds, use Reduce Transparency; for stronger separation without necessarily removing transparency, use Increase Contrast.
