iOS 26 reportedly struggling for adoption amid Liquid Glass UI backlash

Apple's iOS 26 was first unveiled around half a year ago, and the reception from the community was mixed to say the least. While many lauded Apple's bold approach with Liquid Glass, others found the design updates to be overwhelming, and not particularly user-friendly in certain cases.

iOS 26 struggling months after release, lagging far behind iOS 18

The mixed response to iOS 26 is clearly visible in the latest adoption data as well. According to StatCounter, roughly around 15.2% of all iPhone users are running iOS 26. It has been over four months since the latest iOS was made available to all supported iPhone users, which makes the adoption number particularly difficult to digest.

For comparison, CultOfMac points out that the previous version of iOS, iOS 18, had reached an impressive 63% adoption within a similar timeframe. In fact, iOS 17 and 16 also had substantially higher numbers compared to iOS 26, at 54% and 62% respectively.

As mentioned earlier, it is most likely that the design changes brought to the table by iOS 26, which includes an emphasis on translucency and diffusion effects, has left a sizeable chunk of iPhone users quite disappointed. While Apple never forces annual iOS updates, it does make the process extremely simple and seamless in order to encourage users to upgrade to the latest version. As evident, even Apple's straightforward update process is struggling to do its thing.

However, iOS 26 does include some noteworthy features which were welcomed with much enthusiasm, such as call screening, new iMessage features such as polls and custom backgrounds, new CarPlay features, and more. Folks who absolutely despise the new UI do have the option to reduce the translucency by a noticeable margin by going into settings and changing opacity to 'Tinted' from 'Clear'. 

That said, iOS 18 will likely be supported for many more years, giving die-hard Liquid Glass naysayers some breathing room for the foreseeable future.