Jan 15, 2026
3 min read
Apple's new iPhone operating system, iOS 26, seems unpopular with users.That may be true, but don't believe everything you read.
Any reaction to iOS 26?Not so fast.
If you're unhappy with iOS 26 and Liquid Glass on your iPhone, you're certainly not alone. It was a controversial release, with many design-conscious users expressing distaste for the new look of Liquid Glass (its designers quickly left Apple), not to mention the strange new markings. Others reported that it drained the battery faster than the previous update, known as iOS 18 (Apple has changed the year numbering system).
But does that mean many users refuse to upgrade?Despite some reports to the contrary, there is actually a bug in the reporting system and Apple is to blame.
The iOS 26 boycott seems to be happening when you look at the adoption numbers.In general, the reliable Statcounter estimates that less than 5 percent of iPhone users are running the new version of iOS 26.2, and another 10 percent want to upgrade to iOS 26.1.
You may also like it
Most are still on some version of iOS 18, Statcounter says, with about 4 percent of users living dangerously on iOS 16 or iOS 15. (Typically, the older your operating system is, the more bad actors can take advantage of known software cybersecurity flaws.)
But here's the thing: There's a little bug in Safari, Apple's browser.This bug, first spotted by developer Nick Heer, causes iPhones to report that they're running iOS 18.7 — the most popular version of iOS 18 at the moment, at least according to Statcounter.
And if you're a Chrome user like me, you might be surprised to discover how popular Safari is—more so than Chrome, at least when it comes to phones.Apple's web browser passed 1 billion users in 2022 and has never looked back.The same Statcounter reports that 51 percent of all mobile browser users in the United States, including owners of Android phones, use Safari.
In short, this is a case where two things could be true at the same time: in fact, there could be an unusual backlash among iOS 26 users (we've certainly seen a lot of Liquid Glass hating online), and people could upgrade anyway.We'll have to wait for Apple to fix its Safari nam, probably in iOS 26.3, before we certainly know.
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of How Star Wars Took Over the World, and Dr.Co-host of the Who's Pull to Open podcast?Originally from the UK, Chris started out as a sub-editor at national newspapers.He moved to the United States in 1996 and became a senior news writer at Time.com a year later.In 2000, he was appointed bureau chief for Time magazine in San Francisco.He has served as Senior Editor of Business 2.0 and West Coast Editor of Fortune Small Business and Fast Company.Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.He is also a longtime volunteer at 826 Valencia, a nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers.About the History of Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
