I also went tinted as soon as 26.1 came out. There is a step further, under "accessibility" -> "Reduce Transparency".

For me Tinted is ok. Original was indeed very hard to read in places (ie, quick peeks at the notification tray).

Reduce transparency brings it back to acceptable levels, thanks!

When users work together they can overcome Apple's software!

I'm still on 18. I keep waiting for the all clear sign to upgrade. I take it, not yet?

26.1 feels significantly less laggy (UI frame rate), especially on low power mode, than 26.0.1. But it's still not back to 18.x level of performance. Battery seems to be improved on 26.1 over 26.0.1 also but that seems to be hardware-generation dependent.