iOS 26 Finally Lets You Disable One Of The iPhone's Worst UI Settings
The iOS 26 era is in full swing, with Apple refining and tweaking the OS since its September 2025 launch. While iOS 26 overall has been found to have some common yet fixable problems, there are also a lot of positives for users. Along with new features like Live Translation and welcome app improvements, iOS 26 has given users the ability to address one of the iPhone's most controversial features: opening the camera with a swipe from the lock screen.
With iOS 26, you can completely disable this swipe shortcut to stop you from accidentally opening the camera. All you have to do is go into your device's Settings menu and navigate to the Camera tab, where you'll see multiple toggles. Simply toggle "Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera" off, and you'll be good to go.
The concept of this feature seems harmless enough, allowing users quick access to the camera app. While designed for convenience, though, it makes accidentally opening your camera with just a brush of your hand all too easy. Given the oftentimes irritating nature of the lock screen camera swipe feature, many iOS users are reasonably happy to see they now have the power to turn it off. After all, it could be a nuisance in more ways than one.
Why many people don't care for the lock screen camera swipe feature
Apple's attempt at convenience largely bred frustration and annoyance in its iPhone users, hence the seemingly widespread happiness about this new toggle. While there are fans of the feature, many found it annoying and questioned why Apple didn't make this option available years ago. While it's not the end of the world, it can be a nuisance having to close your iPhone's camera constantly when you didn't want it open to begin with. Not to mention, any bumping of the shutter means stockpiling pictures of the inside of your pocket or the world around you as you unknowingly walk around with your camera open.
On the whole, these inconveniences are relatively manageable, unlike another frustrating byproduct of the lock screen camera swipe feature. Pulling up the camera on an iPhone will drain the battery quickly, especially as the cameras within Apple's devices have become more impressive and, as a result, more power-hungry. Accidentally opening your camera with a swipe, then, can lead to an unexpected dead iPhone if you don't catch it in time, and this is arguably the biggest benefit of the iOS 26 off switch. Even though iOS 26 is behind the curve in some ways, with some "new" iOS 26 features being Android staples for years, additions like the lock screen camera toggle seem to show that Apple is constantly trying to improve the user experience.