iOS 26 has been out for a while now, with Apple releasing the full version of its iPhone software update to the public back in September. But it appears that a lot of users seem to be avoiding updating to Apple’s latest update.
Research compiled by web analytics firm Statcounter claims that only 15.4% of iPhone users are using iOS 26 as of January 2026. That’s well off the pace of previous iOS updates — in its report on the numbers, CultOfMac noted that 63% of iPhone users had installed iOS 18 at the same point a year ago.
Liquid Glass remains an issue even now
I expect that the biggest issue for a lot of users is the new Liquid Glass design introduced with iOS 26. I know that I was certainly not a fan when I first saw Apple’s interface overhaul.
Personally, I find that Liquid Glass makes my iPhone screen harder to read. Between the introduction of slightly see-through elements and a blurring effect that appears when you expand other elements, it’s harder to see what’s going on.
To be fair, Apple has worked to solve this issue with several updates, adding the ability to change the blurring effect. However, other issues are still noticeably present, including icon tinting that looks lackluster in practice.
This tinting is… divisive to say the least. It allows you to turn apps into different colors, which, in concept, adds a measure of personalization to your iPhone’s home screen. However, the feature turns the entire app into a mix of darker and lighter shades of the chosen color, which in turn completely ruins the actual app icons. As a result, it’s much harder to actually find the app you want at a glance while the home screen itself looks terrible.
Still, Liquid Glass issues can’t be the only thing keeping people from upgrading to iOS 26. I mean, I would understand why the interface might turn off some upgrades, but this level of holdouts means there are more issues out there.
One iOS 26 strength should be streamlined menus, but that’s not been well-received by all. A common complaint claims that many of the menus and actions are slightly more complicated under the new OS than they have been in the past.
For example, while the Camera app on iOS 26 did see a needed redesign, I have heard complaints about setting the aspect ratio. Previously, when looking to change from 4:3 to 16:9, you pressed a button and received a list of all the available ratios. However, with iOS 26, you now need to swap through all the options one at a time. Granted, there are only three different ratios to choose from, but it’s still a painstaking process.
A bigger complaint involves the new context menus, especially in Apple native apps like Safari. In the past, when looking to copy or paste something in one of these apps, you only needed to swipe along the pop-up, but with iOS 26, you need to tap the arrow on the rightmost side of the pop-up bubble to show more options. As this Reddit post notes, this is more egregious as the only set option is “Copy” with all the other choices hiding in the following menu.
Keyboard and AI complaints
One of the more annoying iOS 26 issues I’ve found involves the keyboard and typing out messages in general. For some reason, iOS 26 has a tendency add random words or autocorrect sentences in my experience. It’s already hard enough to type on a screen if you have any issues with hand-eye coordination, but your phone adding to that issue with odd corrections takes the cake.
On top of that, Apple has run into issues with iOS 26 causing excessive battery drain on iPhones, which admittedly can be a common issue with an software upgrade. Apple has tried to solve the issue with an adaptive power mode, but the new feature is only from the iPhone 15 Pro and later, so it isn’t much of a help if you have an older phone. Essentially, you have to wait until subsequent updates address the power drain, which may explain why some people don’t upgrade right away.
Speaking of newer users, there’s obviously the long-awaited Apple Intelligence upgrade to Siri, which isn’t set to happen until later this spring. On the bright side, Apple has reached a deal with Google to help power Siri with Gemini, which could offer some major improvements to Siri once the update arrives, most likely with iOS 26.4. But you can understand if current iPhone users are taking a wait-and-see attitude until then.
Have you downloaded iOS 26 yet?
These may be my issues with iOS 26, but I want to hear from others about their experience with the software. Let me know if you’ve downloaded iOS 26 or if you’re sticking with iOS 18 for the time being. And if it’s the latter, what will get you to upgrade?
Alternatively, what do you like about iOS 26, and what would you mention when recommending an upgrade to your friends and family?
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