Some customers and designers are already panning Apple’s new user interface dubbed Liquid Glass, although it’s a bit early. There are causes to suppose it’d enhance — but additionally legitimate critiques.
Whereas arguably the working system design overhaul appears unfinished in lots of components — notifications are too hard to read, after which there’s that monstrosity of the Management Middle overlay — what Apple has shipped to this point is the primary developer beta, not a remaining launch. There’s nonetheless time for most of the design techniques’ present issues to be refined and corrected by the point Apple launches iOS 26 and its different OS updates to the general public later this fall.
The dramatic refresh to the iPhone’s feel and look was announced at this 12 months’s Worldwide Builders Convention and described by Apple as its “broadest design replace ever.” Liquid Glass, the corporate defined, would span throughout Apple’s platforms, unifying the expertise of utilizing Apple gadgets.
Impressed by Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional VR headset, Liquid Glass is so named as a result of it leverages the optical high quality of glass in its parts — it refracts gentle and options translucent supplies. The replace additionally modernizes the working system’s interface in a method that appears clearly poised to later prolong to different gadgets, like AR glasses.
Nevertheless, there are components of the interface the place varied parts are just too onerous to learn — and never just for low-vision customers (or the middle-aged). Even Apple’s press release features a picture of the Apple Music person interface, the place it’s tough to make out the artist’s title in its gentle grey font on a translucent bar. That’s regarding as a result of it is a picture Apple accredited, which seemingly would point out that this a part of the OS replace, no less than, is completed.
Different customers are sharing related considerations in regards to the legibility of studying by way of their notifications on the iPhone’s Lock Display, the place, relying on the colours of your background wallpaper, the textual content turns into both simpler or tougher to learn as you scroll.
This situation may even be noticed within the footage of Apple’s WWDC keynote tackle, the place glassy notifications appear to require a little bit of squinting to parse.
As builders and different curious tech fans started testing the preliminary beta, they realized the issue with studying notifications was even worse when the iPhone’s wallpaper was brighter, with lighter colours. Right here, the white textual content practically fades away into the background in components. Perhaps Apple helps us wean ourselves off our display time addictions?
The iOS 26 Management Middle can also be virtually unusable within the first developer beta, as there’s little background blur to cover the House Display’s icons and widgets behind the Middle’s varied controls, buttons, and sliders. Absolutely Apple designers don’t suppose that is the ultimate product? Why didn’t they no less than enhance the background blur earlier than delivery?
That is unfinished work that wants greater than a slight adjustment.
There’s room to criticize different decisions, too, like Home Screen animations that miss the mark — however these are doubtless unfinished. Or so we’d hope.
Regardless of its preliminary flaws, there are indicators that the up to date design system will obtain extra consideration to element over time, even when that’s not as apparent on this first launch resulting from its extra evident points.
For starters, Apple’s icons look beautiful of their new glassy fashion (not designed by a marketing committee this time), and among the results involving morphing buttons are spectacular. Transferring Liquid Glass overlays over the House Display blurs and stretches icons within the background as if an precise piece of glass had been being pulled over high.
There are different refined touches that make the design’s parts really feel like glass, like the way the “Customize” button reflects the colours of the completely different wallpapers above it as you scroll by way of them whereas personalizing your House Display. The characteristic should must be refined, but it surely’s an instance that demonstrates Liquid Glass was not some kind of rush job on Apple’s half.
Even Apple’s rivals have taken discover.
“Liquid Glass … I kinda find it irresistible?” posted Nothing CEO Carl Pei on X, who not too long ago theorized that the way forward for smartphones will contain interacting with AI by way of the working system itself, not essentially by way of operating apps.
Liquid Glass appears higher positioned for such a world, the place the interfaces of the apps develop into the main target as their icons fade away into the background — even, optionally, becoming clear glass.
After all, there are considerations that Apple gained’t be capable of stability the iPhone’s battery utilization that its new eye-candy calls for — particularly on older gadgets — however we gained’t know if that’s true till the corporate ships a remaining model of iOS.
Apple, nonetheless, tried to appease customers’ anxiousness on this entrance by explaining throughout its WWDC keynote tackle that the advances it made in its {hardware}, silicon, and graphics applied sciences have paved the best way for this sort of person interface.
Plus, Apple already gives a strategy to toggle off a few of its more power-hungry effects and motions to save on battery life, and that may doubtless be true for Liquid Glass as nicely.
It’s additionally value remembering that Apple’s final main overhaul of its cell working system, iOS 7, was equally unrefined upon its first release. The preliminary beta featured unreadable UI parts and thin lines and fonts that led to some criticism about usability and kind over operate. Over time, that design was improved, and now it’s regarded as simply how the iPhone’s software program appears — if it’s considered in any respect.
The identical will doubtless maintain true for Liquid Glass … finally.