The iPhone’s new glassy look has been toned down with Monday’s launch of the third developer beta of iOS 26. This follows person complaints that the replace made elements of the person interface harder to learn.
At WWDC 2025 in June, the tech big launched its new design language, known as Liquid Glass, which is impressed by the optical qualities of glass in the true world, together with the way it refracts gentle and its translucent nature.
However the early model within the first developer beta of iOS 26 and the accompanying updates for Apple’s different gadgets nonetheless left room for enchancment when it comes to usability, accessibility, and legibility.
Final month, Apple fixed some of the more prominent issues with Liquid Glass, like the way it made the Management Middle so clear that the iPhone Residence Display icons and widgets shone via, creating visible muddle and confusion.
Monday’s replace sees Apple taking yet one more step to dial issues again from an overly-glassy look in various key areas. Whereas beta 2 addressed issues with the Management Middle, beta 3 shifts its focus to different areas of the cellular working system, like Notifications and navigation inside Apple’s first-party apps, like Apple Music.
For example, the navigation bar in Apple’s streaming music app now not sees the background shining via a bit, choosing a extra stable white.
Notifications are additionally much less translucent, because the background behind the textual content is darkened, rising distinction.
Whereas the adjustments arguably make options simpler to learn, some customers now complain that Apple has gone too far within the different course with a return to extra of a “frosted glass” aesthetic.
Nevertheless, it’s value remembering these are simply developer betas — early variations of the cellular working system that gained’t be finalized till its public launch this fall. The purpose of beta software program is to permit Apple to gather suggestions, discover bugs, and tackle points earlier than the software program rolls out extra broadly.
Which means Apple may proceed to tweak the Liquid Glass look-and-feel over the approaching releases to search out the candy spot for the brand new glassy look inside each app and display screen.