Apple’s huge new design language is sort of right here, and it is coming to all of Apple’s main working programs within the fall with the official launch of iOS 26. Liquid Glass is what Apple calls its latest design philosophy, and it guarantees to carry main adjustments to how all of its working programs feel and appear. That features iOS, its most necessary working system.
Certainly, Liquid Glass does carry considerably of a significant change to iOS 26, or what we’d have known as iOS 18 (Apple is switching iOS numbers to years, and iOS 26 will launch within the fall). I have been utilizing the developer beta of iOS 26 for some weeks now, however now that the public iOS 26 beta is open, I can lastly share my ideas.
The brief model? Liquid Glass might not carry fairly as huge of a shift to iOS as Apple might need you imagine, however that’s in all probability not a foul factor. And whereas I am specializing in Liquid Glass, there are a ton extra iOS 26 options to take a look at.
As all the time, keep in mind that the iOS 26 beta is… a beta. So, again up your telephone earlier than making the change. And as Apple says in its Beta Program FAQ, “Beta software may contain errors or inaccuracies and may not function as well as commercially released software. We encourage you to submit feedback when you encounter these issues.
The basics of Liquid Glass on iOS 26
The idea of Apple Liquid Glass is simple. Instead of a flat, minimalistic approach to software design, Apple is embracing layers. Software interface elements have always been stacked on top of each other, whether you could see that or not. With Liquid Glass, those layers come into focus. You can see what’s behind things like buttons and controls, thanks to glass-like elements that are designed to look like real glass. These transparent touches also bend and refract light.
To be clear, this isn’t necessarily a totally new approach for Apple. The company has always played with transparency a little — but with Liquid Glass, transparency is more involved than ever.
Credit score: Christian de Looper / Apple
So, the place do these glass-like components present up? Properly, just about in every single place. Most of Apple’s inventory apps have had controls on the backside of the display screen. For instance, within the Music app, you may get controls for looking, accessing your library, and controlling at present taking part in media. Within the Information app, you get controls for at this time’s information, sports activities information, and a search software. With Liquid Glass, all of those controls are condensed right into a pill-like form that minimizes as you scroll to maximise what you’ll be able to see on the display screen.
The glass strategy signifies that whether or not the controls are in full focus or minimized, what’s behind them form of bends and refracts like it might if actual glass was positioned on prime of the display screen. It is a cool, futuristic impact, and it actually appears to be like fairly pure in my preliminary testing.
There are different locations that Liquid Glass exhibits up too. Maybe the perfect instance is the Management Middle, which now exhibits your property display screen behind the entire controls if you swipe down. That is true on all of Apple’s working programs — although after all, the controls are completely different on iOS than they’re on MacOS (and now MacOS Tahoe).
Mashable Gentle Velocity
Credit score: Christian de Looper / Apple
When the iOS 26 developer betas first began rolling out, not everybody preferred the Liquid Glass-ified Management Middle. There have been points with with the ability to see controls on the display screen, relying on what was behind them. Apple mounted a whole lot of these points forward of the general public iOS 26 beta, and it is now simpler to see what’s on the display screen. Nonetheless, there are different locations the place I discovered some show points. An instance are app and app folder labels — in case you have a very shiny and busy wallpaper, these labels can get a bit of exhausting to learn.
Thankfully, a giant theme with iOS 26 is personalization, so should you need to cut back the transparency much more than Apple already has, you are able to do so within the Accessibility part of the Settings app.
Truthfully, I fairly just like the visible facet of Liquid Glass. I like the concept of returning to a extra skeuomorphic design strategy, and that does not essentially imply that Apple ought to make the Notes app seem like a notepad. It might probably as a substitute imply that objects on the display screen seem like some form of bodily object, whether or not or not it’s glass or one thing else. And Apple has completed a very good job at making Liquid Glass really feel easy and futuristic for this beta. It actually does translate fairly properly if you’re scrolling.
A streamlined interface
The brand new aesthetic is about greater than transparency. The strategy relies round exhibiting as a lot on the display screen as you probably can, and generally which means taking away controls, or at the least streamlining them once they’re not getting used.
Credit score: Christian de Looper / Apple
As you are scrolling, lots of the controls in apps like Information, Messages, and Music reduce into one icon which you can faucet. I virtually by no means have to truly faucet on these icons, so I actually do not thoughts that they are now tucked away.
I felt the streamlining went too far in different places. Within the Digital camera app, for instance, if you first open the app, you may now solely have two choices: photograph or video. In actuality, there are different choices which you can swipe by means of, they’re simply hidden by default. It’s true that almost all customers in all probability do not swipe between all these completely different modes anyway, and easily having photograph and video modes makes issues quite a bit easier. However should you do use these further modes, you may should keep in mind that they’re nonetheless accessible to you, and with none visible cues, you would possibly neglect.
Credit score: Christian de Looper / Apple
I am additionally hoping Apple retains tweaking the looks of the Messages app. As a substitute of a header along with your contact’s profile image and identify, the again button, and the FaceTime button, there are floating bubbles on the prime of the display screen. Relying on what’s behind these floating bubbles, you’ll both see straight by means of to the messages behind, or the interface will form of fade as a way to see the controls.
This could be a me drawback, however as a journalist, I take a whole lot of screenshots. Apple, should you’re listening, I do not like the additional clicks it takes to save lots of a screenshot.
Credit score: Christian de Looper / Apple
You possibly can customise Liquid Glass
In case you ever really feel like there’s too a lot glass in your Liquid Glass, you’ll be able to change that. Along with decreasing the transparency, you may as well customise app icons. And whereas the ultra-clear look received a whole lot of consideration after WWDC, you do not have to make use of Liquid Glass icons, and so they’re not enabled by default. I feel that is a sensible strategy. Change is horrifying, and this makes it simpler on customers who aren’t prepared for the extremely clear, full Liquid Glass expertise.
Credit score: Christian de Looper / Apple
I feel Liquid Glass is an attention-grabbing design evolution for Apple, and as talked about, I like the concept of Apple shifting in the direction of software program design that appears like real-life bodily objects once more. For now, you need to go into the Accessibility menu to tweak the visuals to your liking, however I count on Apple will iron out a whole lot of points earlier than the official iOS 26 launch. That is the entire level of a beta, in any case.
In case you’re fascinated about attempting Liquid Glass for your self on iOS, macOS Tahoe, iPadOS, tvOS, or watchOS, you’ll be able to join the Apple Beta program.
