As part of the overall redesign, Liquid Glass has been implemented throughout iOS 26, changing how app icons, toolbars, ...

iOS 26 introduces Liquid Glass icons, one of Apple's biggest design changes in over a decade. These new transparent icons give your iPhone's homescreen a translucent, minimalist look that lets ...

Even without these fancy flourishes, I think the new icons just look better than their iOS 18 equivalents, in almost all cases. Apple has done a really good job with them.

As part of the Liquid Glass design, the beta update lets people turn their icons semi-transparent. And this builds on the home screen customization options Apple introduced to the iPhone with iOS 18.