Classic mode switching in the fifth beta of iOS 26 reverts the scroll direction when swiping to change shooting modes in the Camera app.
The Liquid Glass redesign in iOS 26 brought some unexpected changes, including reverted scroll direction when swiping horizontally in the Camera app to cycle through the available shooting modes such as Portrait, Photo, Video and others.
For example, to switch from Photo to Video mode, you must swipe left. This isn’t how swiping in the Camera app worked before. In iOS 18 and earlier, you swipe right to switch from Photo to Video mode as the selection moves in the opposite direction of your swipes. The fifth beta of iOS 26 introduces a new toggle that lets you choose scroll direction when swiping from mode to mode in the Camera app.
iOS 26 brings classic mode switching for the Camera app
iOS 26 defaults to the new system, where the glass loupe at the bottom follows the direction of your swipes. But now, there’s a new Mode Switching section in Settings > Camera with a switch labeled Classic Mode Switching.
Turning it on will reverse the direction of mode switching in the Camera app, so that it works to how it did in iOS 18. As mentioned, this setting is turned off by default.
This isn’t the only classic mode switching in iOS 26. For example, you can switch to the classic interface in the Phone app by tapping the menu in the top-right corner. And in Safari, you can easily turn on the old address bar within the Tabs section in Settings > Safari > instead of the new compact bar which hides the buttons for bookmarks, open tabs, and sharing options behind a three-dotted menu.
Apple will release iOS 26 in the fall, and many people will undoubtedly take advantage of these options to revert the classic look in the Phone and Safari apps. And given the popularity of the iPhone camera, the new classic mode switching toggle will be very popular, I think.