Hate the New Phone App on iOS 26 for iPhone? Get the Old Phone Layout Back Again

Oct 8, 2025 - 7 Comments

How to restore the classic Phone layout and look on iPhone with iOS 26

While the most significant visual change in iOS 26 is the Liquid Glass interface, you’ll also find some pretty notable design overhauls of commonly used iPhone apps. The Phone app is one such example, with the new Phone app design in iOS 26 being wildly different from the prior versions, featuring a new cluttered design that tries to stuff everything relating to the Phone app into a single page that requires scrolling just to look at your call log, the voicemail section has been relegated to a submenu that many users don’t see, and missed calls are also stuffed somewhere many iPhone users are having trouble finding, and tapping on a caller or name now opens the contact card instead of just calling the person directly like it used to.

If you’re unhappy with the new Phone app design in iOS 26, you can restore the old classic Phone layout onto iPhone with iOS 26 again. With the classic layout returned, you will no longer have the cluttered unified Phone interface, and you’ll instead have easy access to your familiar tabs for Favorites, Recents, Contacts, Keypad, and Voicemail again.

How to Restore Old Phone App Layout on iPhone with iOS 26

If you prefer the classic Phone app design with easily accessed tabs for favorites, recents, contacts, keypad, and voicemail, and the super easy to use interface that had existed on Phone app since the first iPhone, here’s how you can restore that look:

  1. Open the Phone app on iPhone
  2. Look in the top right corner for the three lines atop each other, and tap on that
  3. How to revert Phone app design to old classic look on iPhone with iOS 26

  4. Tap on “Classic” to return to the familiar Phone app layout design on iPhone
  5. Revert to the Classic Phone app design on iPhone with iOS 26

The change is immediate and you’ll instantly see your familiar Phone app interface again.

Revert Phone app to the old classic look in iOS 26 for iPhone to easily see your recent and missed calls voicemails and other familiar interface

Many iPhone users prefer the Classic layout and original Phone app design, because it made it so easy to see calls, contacts, voicemails, and other obvious information.

The new Unified layout has led a fair number of iPhone users to think the Phone app is broken in various ways, or their voicemail is no longer accessible, or that voicemail is missing or gone in iOS 26, or they can’t find how to access or use voicemail, amongst many other complaints about the new look.

You can switch the Phone app back to the new Unified design at any time if you want to, just by returning to the triple line menu in Phone app and choosing “Unified”.

The new Unified Phone app design in iOS 26

What do you think of the new Phone app design for iPhone with iOS 26? Do you like it or dislike it? Do you prefer the old classic layout? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

.

Related articles:

Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPhone, Tips & Tricks, Troubleshooting

7 Comments

» Comments RSS Feed

  1. Georgayne says:

    Thank you for pointing out the ability to change to classic view. I truly disliked the unified. I am not happy with my iPad OS and I might change my Mac back to its previous version.

  2. Ken Jaysen says:

    New design is TERRIBLE. Because of it, I will not buy a new phone.

  3. Terry says:

    My phone app didn’t change but I noticed today in my RAV4 the apple car play no longer gives me the button to end a call. Is there a fix for this?

  4. Alan says:

    I changed back to the old layout as fast as possible. My wife is also much happier now too!

  5. Dave says:

    Yes, the new Phone app design is in my eyes an even bigger disaster than the redesign of the Pictures app 2 (?) years ago. It is really, really bad and it makes you wonder how certain design decisions are made. Thanks for the tip on how to get the “old” design back – a design that actually works and has everything you need. Ever tried to block an unwanted number in the new design? Good luck with finding out how to do that.
    Thanks again – really helpful!

  6. John says:

    I switched back to the classic lay-out. Much clearer and faster. I totally don’t like iOS 26. For iPhone 15 users in a country that didn’t get all the Apple Intelligence features yet, iOS 26 really doesnt bring anything new. Don’t like Liquid Glass en Safari is full of bugs. :-/

  7. Yyzguy says:

    Disappointed to see the classic option isn’t available on the iPad version of phone app. The new layout is indeed confusing

Leave a Reply

 

Shop on Amazon.com and help support OSXDaily!

Subscribe to OSXDaily

Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to Twitter Feed Follow on Facebook Subscribe to eMail Updates

Tips & Tricks

News

iPhone / iPad

Mac

Troubleshooting

Shop on Amazon to help support this site