We all love customizing our devices and trying out new things. With iOS 26, you can make your home screen icons clear. This is nothing ground-breaking or new. Too little, too late. However, there is a hidden trick to make clear icons dark and beautiful in iOS 26 using an accessibility feature.
Apple recently announced iOS 26 at the WWDC25 event, and one of the standout features is the new Liquid Glass design. With this, Apple has gone for a transparent-style UI across the system. Whether it’s the apps, Control Center, or even the notification panel, everything has that clean, glassy look. Now that the public beta of iOS 26 is out for all, many people are installing it on their iPhones.
Earlier, you only had the options to switch your icons to dark mode or tinted color. Now there’s a new feature that lets you switch to Clear Icons. The color from the icons and widgets gets removed, making them look like glass through which you can see the background. However, there is a hidden accessibility feature using which you can make clear icons a little dark, giving it a cooler vibe.
Two Versions of Clear Icons on iPhone
There are two versions of the new Clear style. In Light Mode, the app icons become semi-transparent and slightly darken the wallpaper behind them. Both the icons and widgets look like glass panels with layered text and images, giving your home screen a very aesthetic feel.
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In Dark Mode, the icons still stay a bit transparent but get a darker background, making them pop out more while keeping that same translucent look. There’s also an Auto option that switches between light and dark depending on your iPhone’s appearance setting.
How to Turn On Clear App Icons in iOS 26
Turning on the new clear icons is super easy. Just follow these steps:
- Long-press anywhere on the empty space until everything starts to jiggle on your homescreen.
- Tap Edit at the top-left corner, and then tap on Customize.
- At the bottom, tap on the Clear option.
- After that, you can choose between Light, Dark, or Auto style for your icons.
And that’s it! Your iPhone will now have those clean and transparent icons.
Pro Tip for Clear Icons on iOS 26
If the icons look a little off with the wallpaper, especially in the dark style, or text feels hard to read with the clear style, you can tweak a couple of settings to make things better.
Just go to Settings ➝ Accessibility ➝ Display & Text Size. Here, try turning on Reduce Transparency or Increase Contrast.
But keep in mind: If you switch on both, your icons might lose that transparent look completely. So, play around and see what works best for you.
That’s it, peeps! Stay tuned for more tips like these.
