Having trouble with Apple software? Be aware of 5 drawbacks of newly launched iOS 26

Just days after Silicon Valley technology giant Apple Inc. released its new iPhone 17 series and the iOS 26 software update, users have complained that the version is leading to faster battery drainage on the smartphones.

Notably, announced on September 9, the iOS was rolled out this week for all Apple devices from iPhone 11 and later. Addressing the complaints, Apple said that the impact of a major software update on battery life is normal and will be temporary. It explained that the drain is due to the new OS indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps in the background.

Post that, there have been other complaints from users on Reddit and other social media platforms about usage issues, design preferences and lag due to the update. We take a look:

Here are the top 5 feedback on the new iOS 26 from users

• In a post on Reddit, user BurgerKhaega felt that the updated iOS 26 makes text in widgets “extremely invisible”. The Redditor also called out “lags in every transition… internet and connectivity issues” and the OS using more system space on the iPhone.
• The user added that the Photos app is “greyed out in both clear and tinted modes.” Another user concurred, “When you change the colour of your apps, Google doesn’t work, and it appears white/broken. This happened with The Weather Channel App, Google Calendar, and Google Maps. It happened on iOS 18, and I had to make my app icons the regular colour and sacrifice personalisation.”
• One other commenter said that sometimes WhatsApp audio will play at normal speed, despite choosing 1.5x. “The last line of the conversation may hide behind the typing field. The new search function will sometimes be laggy for some apps… I don’t like what they did to Safari: you have to hold the three dots icon to be able to reach all tabs. I had to force restart 3 times,” they added.
• Another user responded in the comments, sharing feedback on minor bugs. They said, “Sometimes some colours don’t work,” but the issue with Google widgets has persisted since iOS 18.
• A third user pointed out an issue with the keyboard: “Have you noticed how the keyboard gets unaligned sometimes, so the padding on the right basically disappears?”

Most of the replies on the post were of the opinion that these things could be fixed with an update, telling OP to “go back to iOS 18 until they fix it” and “gotta wait till those third-party developers update to iOS 26”.

Apple’s response on battery life: ‘Normal, temporary’

Addressing the battery drainage issue, Apple said: “Immediately after completing an update, particularly a major release, you might notice a temporary impact on battery life and thermal performance. This is normal, as your device needs time to complete the setup process in the background, including indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps.”

It also flagged individual usage time as a possible factor, adding: ​“New features are exciting and help you get even more out of your Apple product, though some may require additional resources from the device. Depending on individual usage, some users may notice a small impact on performance and/or battery life.”