Apple's 'Liquid Glass' Design: Love It or Hate It?

Initial Reactions to Apple’s Liquid Glass Interface

Early opinions regarding Apple’s newly unveiled user interface, Liquid Glass, are mixed among both users and designers, despite its recent announcement. While potential for improvement exists, legitimate criticisms have already surfaced.

Early Beta Concerns

Although the operating system design overhaul appears incomplete in several areas – notably with difficult-to-read notifications and the Control Center overlay – it’s crucial to remember that the current release is the first developer beta. Significant refinements and corrections are still possible before the public launch of iOS 26 and other OS updates this fall.

Announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference, this refresh to the iPhone’s look and feel is being described by Apple as its “broadest design update ever.” Liquid Glass is intended to create a unified experience across all Apple platforms.

Inspired by Vision Pro

Drawing inspiration from Apple’s Vision Pro VR headset, Liquid Glass utilizes the optical qualities of glass, incorporating light refraction and translucent materials. This update also modernizes the operating system’s interface, potentially paving the way for integration with future devices like AR glasses.

Legibility Issues

Certain interface elements present readability challenges, impacting not only users with low vision or those of middle age. Even Apple’s official press release features an Apple Music interface where the artist’s name, rendered in a light gray font on a translucent bar, is difficult to discern. This raises concerns, as it suggests this aspect of the update may be finalized.

Similar concerns have been voiced regarding the legibility of notifications on the iPhone’s Lock Screen, with text visibility fluctuating based on the background wallpaper’s colors.

This difficulty in reading notifications was even observable during the footage from Apple’s WWDC keynote presentation, requiring some viewers to strain their eyes.

Testing of the initial beta revealed that the notification readability problem worsened with brighter, lighter-colored wallpapers, causing white text to nearly blend into the background. Perhaps Apple is subtly encouraging reduced screen time?

Control Center Usability

The iOS 26 Control Center in the first developer beta is proving almost unusable due to insufficient background blur. This lack of blur allows Home Screen icons and widgets to be visible behind the Center’s controls, buttons, and sliders. It’s questionable whether Apple considers this the final design, and increasing the background blur seems like a necessary adjustment.

This requires more than a minor tweak to resolve.

Other design choices, such as Home Screen animations, also draw criticism, though these are likely still under development. Hopefully, this is the case.

Positive Aspects and Future Potential

Despite the initial shortcomings, indications suggest the updated design system will benefit from increased attention to detail over time, even if not immediately apparent in this first release.

Apple’s icons, in their new glassy style, are visually appealing – a departure from designs dictated by marketing considerations. Furthermore, some of the morphing button effects are quite impressive. The Liquid Glass overlays blur and stretch background icons as if a physical glass sheet were being applied.

Subtle touches contribute to the glass-like feel of the design, such as the “Customize” button reflecting the colors of different wallpapers during personalization. This demonstrates that Liquid Glass wasn’t a hastily implemented feature.

Industry Recognition

Apple’s competitors have also acknowledged the new design.

Nothing CEO Carl Pei posted on X, stating, “Liquid Glass… I kinda love it?” He recently proposed that the future of smartphones lies in interacting with AI through the operating system, rather than relying on traditional apps.

Liquid Glass appears well-suited for this evolving landscape, where app interfaces become less prominent as icons fade into the background – potentially even becoming transparent.

Concerns exist regarding the potential impact on the iPhone’s battery life, particularly on older devices, but a definitive assessment awaits the final iOS release.

Apple addressed these anxieties during the WWDC keynote, explaining that advancements in hardware, silicon, and graphics technologies have enabled this type of user interface.

The company already provides options to disable power-intensive effects and motions to conserve battery life, and this will likely extend to Liquid Glass.

Historical Precedent

It’s worth noting that Apple’s previous major operating system overhaul, iOS 7, also launched with unrefined elements. The initial beta featured unreadable UI components and thin lines, prompting criticism regarding usability and form over function. However, over time, the design was improved and is now considered standard for iPhone software.

A similar trajectory is likely for Liquid Glass… eventually.