I am all for Apple’s Liquid Glass makeover

At its 2025 Worldwide Builders Convention, Apple made a giant present of a design overhaul for all its working programs, often called 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 palms on an early model of the tech, and if you wish to strive it too, public betas of iOS 26, macOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26needs 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 manner. However there are a number of issues with Liquid Glass because it stands, all of which actually need to be polished earlier than the completed software program updates arrive within the fall. These are the modifications I would advocate — 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 sensible for a lot of issues in Liquid Glass to be close to or utterly clear, equivalent to textual content selectors or the borders round tab menus. However generally this goes too far, equivalent to within the case of the brand new Management Heart, which might appear like 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, it’s possible you’ll generally need to stare for a second or two longer to determine 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 each day duties if it may 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 positioned underneath Settings > Accessibility > Show and Textual content Dimension. 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 pleased with Apple’s definition of “lowered.” A greater answer can be a number of transparency sliders, letting us determine simply how clear we want issues to be. I would not less than like to have the ability to management icon transparency — it will 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 fundamental

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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. In case you’re enjoying a track in Apple Music, for example, the artist identify within the iOS 26 miniplayer is a light-weight grey, making it mix in all too nicely with the encircling menu. Even black or darkish grey textual content on Liquid Glass buttons can generally be onerous to learn, as soon as once more relying on what’s within the background.

Maybe the worst scenario includes the Notification Heart — should you’ve obtained light-colored wallpaper, the default white textual content of your notifications will be illegible, nearly blinding. Right here Apple’s decisions appear explicitly aimed toward making Liquid Glass look cool, fairly than usable.

There are a number of methods Apple may remedy this drawback, essentially the most fundamental being to swap font colours the place mandatory, and daring button labels in order that they stand out it doesn’t matter what. I should not have to show to Accessibility settings as a crutch. Maybe colours may very well be made dynamic, enhancing distinction on the fly.

These particulars are the kinds 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 manner of enhancing system fonts, throughout all platforms — there needs to be some degree of flexibility that will not threat breaking apps or violating home fashion.

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3

Tone down the brand new animations

Bounce, bounce, bounce

For the time being, Liquid Glass may be very bouncy, with interface parts sliding, popping, and glooping round. It isn’t a nasty factor general, however it may be a bit extreme sometimes, 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 could possibly make an identical grievance 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 have the ability 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 manner 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. Actually, think about how a lot Apple is downplaying Apple Intelligence this 12 months, when it was hanging the whole lot 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 discuss exhibits this fall, some kind of motion is assured.

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