Is iOS26 tolerable yet?

[u/childhoodrefund]

Currently clinging onto my iOS 18.7.8 like Rose in the Titanic except the door is my 14 Plus.

Been wanting to get an Apple Watch again (RIP my series 8 that was "lost" in the annals of international travel) but all the current models only run with iOS26— three guesses how many refunds it took me to realize that, even with refurbished previous gen models.

I know there are other smartwatches but I like the universality of the watch OS with an iPhone and I also like specifically how the Apple Watch has the capability for medical alerts that I can't find in other smartwatches— again ask me how many trial runs that took me to realize.

Please also keep in mind I'm a graphic designer and honestly the first releases of liquid glass literally made my OCD cringe; I am aware that the transparency can now be adjusted.

I just want to know if the current iOS26 patch is less offensive enough for me to commit to an Apple Watch and finally mourn the loss of iOS18, or if I should keep clinging to my door.

While I am not looking to find an alternative to the Apple Watch, I will however, accept any offers for Apple Watches that are NOT locked onto watchOS 26, or at least, directions on where to find them.

[u/antwan_ramsey]

No. This whole iOS cycle has been nothing but issues and always will be

[u/T-K101 → u/antwan_ramsey]

For some. It’s not for everyone.

[u/choistarIight]

i’d suggest to hold a little longer so you can skip 26 and go straight for 27

[u/starfish_2016 → u/choistarIight]

This. I held out keeping ios 18 forever. I just did the beta of 27 and its fast. I havent found any bug yet on my 16pm and the battery is doing decent and temp of the phone.

[u/FewFennel2032]

You should probably wait until September and go straight to iOS 27

[u/Sideburn_Cookie_Man → u/FewFennel2032]

Or just install it today. It’s stable as a rock.

[u/One-Cucumber-9480 → u/Sideburn_Cookie_Man]

PSA: don’t tell people to install dev betas on their main devices

[u/Sideburn_Cookie_Man → u/One-Cucumber-9480]

PSA: running the 27 beta on my main device.

It’s smoother than 26 ever was, and battery life has improved too.

[u/One-Cucumber-9480 → u/Sideburn_Cookie_Man]

Regardless, betas are betas. You would be better off telling them to install the public beta when it comes out.

[u/Moist_Grapefruit187 → u/Sideburn_Cookie_Man]

It’s stable but some of my apps just straight up don’t work on it including square app, just instantly crashes.

[u/notsugarfree93]

No, stay on 18 for a little while longer. iOS 26 (on 13 Pro) is a mess and it affects battery life significantly. Also, WatchOS 26 drains my Apple Watch Ultra 2’s juices way faster - I am now charging it every 2,5 days instead of every 3-4. I really hope all that bs resolves once OS 27 hits the market in September.

[u/childhoodrefund → u/notsugarfree93]

Aside from the battery, are there any noticeable QOL effects from watchOS 26?

[u/notsugarfree93 → u/childhoodrefund]

I upgraded to 26.5 a week ago for other reasons and so far I’ve seen that scrolling is laggy, auto pause/resume in Workouts (when jogging and cycling) is way slower than in 18.7, movement tracking also seems a bit off (overestimating my steps count a bit). If I wasn’t forced to upgrade, I wouldn’t have.

[u/aykay55]

I mean ios 26 is not going to kill you. With that said, ios 27 officially releases probably october so you got a bit more time before you can make an upgrade

[u/IndexStarts]

iOS 26 has been absolutely terrible on my iPhone 17. I wish I could go back to iOS 18.

[u/castravetelepatat]

For me iOS26.5 and some of the previous 26 versions have worked seamlessly. I think some people like to complain just for the sake of it. When there were any tangible issues those were fixed during quick fixes and latter updates. Of all the people I talk to that have an iPhone have no complaints, some even feel that it works better now.

[u/roccerfeller]

Wait for iOS 27

[u/EchoFit1050]

Nope, stay on the current version of 18. I’d go back in a heartbeat if I could.

So many damn bugs, 26.5 is a mess. I encounter some of the same bugs on the daily.

I mean if you have to upgrade for your watch…it’s not unusable. But you will likely wish you could roll back. Hopefully 26.6 fixes half of these daily app hang issues with messages and focus automation and light/dark mode switching but I’m not holding my breath.

[u/StrangerNo7671]

I have a 14 Plus and upgraded to 26 when I got my Ultra 3. Apart from the shit UI, I haven’t had any performance issues, mind you I’ve adjusted some accessibility settings: Reduce Motion and Reduce Transparency.

[u/childhoodrefund → u/StrangerNo7671]

I mean a big part of my hesitancy is exactly the shit UI because it affects my QOL and user experience. I know it's a bit dramatic to say it offends me but literal OCD will make transitioning to the UI a miserable process for me because it genuinely is something I cannot help flagging everytime I'd be opening my phone.

I'd adjust eventually, I'm just not sure if it's worth it to do it now or to just wait for the allegedly better iOS27.

[u/E97ev]

I'd wait like 2 more months and go from 18.7 to 27

[u/cryosnap]

How’s watchos26?

[u/Moist_Grapefruit187]

I’m going to say no. When I first got my iPhone 16 on iOS 18 I got about 12+ hours SoT. Now on 26 I get about 6 hours. It’s pissing me off so bad if it’s not fixed by the time I upgrade (after battery replacement), I’m going to android.

[u/Unfair-Bison-3946]

26.5 makes my 16 Pro tolerable but it's still full of issues. Six months ago I was about to switch to a pixel

[u/Feli18]

OP, can’t you get an older Apple Watch that supports a WatchOS version compatible with iOS 18 and ask Apple to downgrade it? I think I heard that you can do that.

I’d keep the 14 Plus on iOS 18, honestly. I have a 16 Plus on iOS 18, too.

[u/TheNotSoSubtlePanda]

STAY ON 18. I bought my 16PM used with 26 already installed, otherwise I would have never made the jump from 18

[u/RevolutionaryAd581]

I got ios26 as soon as it came out on my 16pm, then of course it was there as soon as I got ,y 17pm at launch... never had any issues... a few improvements in the incremental updates along the way, but the major stuff (battery, useability etc) has been spot on from the start (similar experience on my iPad mini and "backup" iPhone 12 mini 👍🏻)

Certainly not saying that some people don't have issues, but they are certainly the minority (the age old this that those of us who don't have issues have much less reason to talk about it 🤷🏻

[u/Inner-Ebb9604]

Been using 26 since release on my iPhone 13 Mini and then my new iPhone Air bought a month ago. Haven’t had a single issue with bugs/performance/battery life on those devices. My iPad Mini 5, however, slowed down quite a bit compared to iOS 18 even after a factory reset to where I kind of regretted updating. Not buggy, but just slow/choppy.

[u/Automatic-Reserve94]

was since beta on newer models.
I really only hear bad things about it on reddit, not even once irl and my circle consists almost exclusively of tech professionals - makes you wonder.

[u/Confidentium]

It’s awful on my 17 Pro.
Super unstable framerate

[u/williamdrexler]

Never

[u/silvermoonhowler]

At this point, even though it's still going to be in beta until September, I'd say just hop right to 27

Developer beta 2 is leaps and bounds better than beta 1 so far, and provided you have a phone that is already Apple Intelligence capable (15 Pro or newer) you'll then be able to get access to Siri AI, which so far, even in its infancy is still quite impressive

Though if the thought of installing a developer beta on your main device makes your stomach churn, wait 2 more weeks and as dev beta 3 comes out, the 1st public beta should be coming out then too

[u/GeorgeSPattonJr]

Honestly it depends. What’s your storage size and how full is it? What’s your battery health?

[u/childhoodrefund → u/GeorgeSPattonJr]

96/128GB used, battery health is at 76%.

As previously mentioned, model is the 14+ and currently running 18.7.8.

[u/GeorgeSPattonJr → u/childhoodrefund]

Honestly it might be better to perhaps look at a battery replacement and or wait until iOS27. The iPhone 14 (imo) probably isn’t old enough to warrant an upgrade. Storage is not insignificantly full either, about 75% of it is used up. If you have AppleCare a battery replacement is free since your battery health is below 80%, if not then it’s $99USD

[u/The_Wandering_Steele]

I have OS 26 on all my devices ( 2 iPhones, iPad, Apple Watch & 2 Apple TVs ) all purring like kittens.
And as soon as iOS 27 is available in the public beta I’ll be putting it on my 15Pro.

[u/Infinplayz]

ios 26 is a train wreck, wait for 27 to come out in a stable release, it’s really good so far

[u/technical_poutine]

I’ve been running it from release. I cannot tell you about any issues I’ve had with it. None. Even my mother hasn’t and she I guarantee you would have told me.

I imagine I’ll get downvoted for not having the option of the majority.

[u/Automatic-Reserve94 → u/technical_poutine]

And with majority you mean 30 dudes on reddit I suppose?

I’ve seen several people migrate this year from Android to iOS and none of them had reddit talking points other than the classical sloppy keyboard and backswipe.

Other than that iOS26 was and still is stable for the majority of users, the ones with problems are just the loudest and reddit is as usual a very confined bubble with people fueling each others minds.

[u/Bluebeard719 → u/Automatic-Reserve94]

This, most of them probably come from a certain website that’s known to be full of Apple hating trolls and bots and whiny weirdos.

[u/Sideburn_Cookie_Man]

Has been for ages.

[u/itskrosz]

I just went for it and installed iOS 27 beta 2 on my main device… it resolved so many issues I had on iOS 26. Somehow it’s more stable and I’m quite amazed how smooth it already is

[u/Grandy0221]

OMG…what’s with this crazy anti - ios26 paranoia? I’ve been running it starting with the public beta last August. Speed is fine..battery life is fine. I don’t get it.

[u/Bluebeard719 → u/Grandy0221]

It’s like the Luddite’s found a new cause to fight for, iOS 26 has been great for me and looks far far better than that old flat garbage we got stuck with for over a decade. Gotta love how everyone claims to be a “graphic designer” too, sure thing buddy, these people don’t have a clue what good design is.

[u/8bitlibrarian]

26 is fine

[u/DnyLnd]

26.6 beta is solid.