I am all for Apple’s Liquid Glass makeover

At its 2025 Worldwide Builders Convention, Apple made an enormous present of a design overhaul for all its working techniques, referred to as Liquid Glass. This makes many buttons, menus, and different objects both translucent or clear, exhibiting extra of what is beneath. Typically these things are floating and minimalist, with animations that make them stretch and bounce — therefore the “liquid” half. Builders have already got their arms on an early model of the tech, and if you wish to attempt it too, public betas of iOS 26, macOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26ought to be out in July.

As a complete, I am into it — it has been some time since Apple’s software program has had a brand new aesthetic, and any good interface tries to remain out of your means. However there are a couple of issues with Liquid Glass because it stands, all of which actually should be polished earlier than the completed software program updates arrive within the fall. These are the modifications I would suggest — hopefully somebody at Apple is taking notes.

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1

Put transparency ranges on a slider

For app icons, if nothing else

Apple

It is smart for a lot of issues in Liquid Glass to be close to or utterly clear, akin to textual content selectors or the borders round tab menus. However typically this goes too far, akin to within the case of the brand new Management Heart, which may appear to be a jumbled mess relying on what’s within the background behind it. And should you select the Clear icon look in your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, chances are you’ll typically must stare for a second or two longer to establish the app you are looking for, or learn information from a widget. There’s not a lot level in utilizing a Reminders widget to see your day by day duties if it is likely to be quicker to open the app.

In Apple’s protection, it was ready for these issues with a Scale back Transparency choice. In iOS 26, it is situated beneath Settings > Accessibility > Show and Textual content Measurement. However all this does is add a darker background to objects just like the Management Heart and app icons — some issues are left untouched, and you will have to be proud of Apple’s definition of “lowered.” A greater answer could be a number of transparency sliders, letting us resolve simply how clear we want issues to be. I would not less than like to have the ability to management icon transparency — it might be good to have clear icons with out feeling like my iPhone and iPad homescreens are haunted by the spirits of lifeless apps.

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2

Repair font sizes and colours

Readability is primary

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One thing critics have been fast to note — myself included — is that Apple is making odd decisions with textual content in some locations. Should you’re taking part in a music in Apple Music, as an example, the artist title within the iOS 26 miniplayer is a light-weight grey, making it mix in all too nicely with the encompassing menu. Even black or darkish grey textual content on Liquid Glass buttons can typically be exhausting to learn, as soon as once more relying on what’s within the background.

Maybe the worst state of affairs entails the Notification Heart — should you’ve received light-colored wallpaper, the default white textual content of your notifications may be illegible, virtually blinding. Right here Apple’s decisions appear explicitly aimed toward making Liquid Glass look cool, slightly than usable.

There are a couple of methods Apple might clear up this downside, essentially the most primary being to swap font colours the place vital, and daring button labels so that they stand out it doesn’t matter what. I should not have to show to Accessibility settings as a crutch. Maybe colours could possibly be made dynamic, enhancing distinction on the fly.

These particulars are the types of issues I am anticipating Apple to tweak earlier than the autumn. However there may additionally be a powerful case for Apple to lastly supply a built-in means of modifying system fonts, throughout all platforms — there ought to be some stage of flexibility that will not threat breaking apps or violating home type.

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3

Tone down the brand new animations

Bounce, bounce, bounce

In the meanwhile, Liquid Glass could be very bouncy, with interface components sliding, popping, and glooping round. It isn’t a nasty factor total, however it may be a bit extreme often, even cartoonish. Maybe the worst instance is the transition from the iOS 26 lockscreen to the homescreen — icons bounce a lot that they fly over (and thru) one another. You’d assume there was an invisible trampoline.

The animation additionally takes lengthy sufficient that it’d cease you from launching an app for a second or two, although you may make an identical criticism about iOS 18. Regardless, I am not a toddler watching YouTube movies — I do not want fixed movement to maintain me entertained.

I am assuming the lockscreen transition will in all probability be scaled again, and that customers will be capable to nix some or all of those animations utilizing Accessibility settings. In any other case, although, I doubt there’s a lot in the way in which of change coming. Decreasing the quantity of bouncing and morphing in any critical means would undo the liquid a part of Liquid Glass — and for advertising and marketing, promoting, and improvement causes, Apple might be locked into that for a very long time.

On the earliest, I would not anticipate any revamps till the following spherical of main OS updates, inevitably getting their preview at WWDC 2026. Altering course would not be utterly unprecedented. The truth is, take into account how a lot Apple is downplaying Apple Intelligence this 12 months, when it was hanging all the things on it in 2024. The corporate isn’t so cussed as to hurt its backside line or destroy its fame.

We’ll have to attend and see how most people reacts to Liquid Glass. If it is the butt of jokes on late-night speak exhibits this fall, some kind of motion is assured.

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