Liquid Glass, Apple’s huge new design language, is lastly rolling out. Liquid Glass is basically a brand new design idea that is constructed on the thought of layering software program parts that appear to be precise glass, making for a design that appears extra pure, moderately than fully digital.
It is a fairly neat concept. The idea has really been refined rather a lot over the previous few months in the course of the beta section, after Apple introduced the brand new design language at its WWDC 2025 convention. Liquid Glass nonetheless is not good, but it surely has rather a lot going for it. Listed below are a few of the issues I like most about it, and one factor that also wants some work.
Simplified controls are good
The Safari browser in iOS 26.
Credit score: Christian de Looper
A part of the Liquid Glass redesign is making controls somewhat extra simplified, which is sensible. Having translucent controls on a display is cool, but when they’re too huge and too in your face, it may begin to be somewhat annoying. There are a selection of areas the place Apple has severely refined controls, and whereas it may take some getting used to, after utilizing the iOS 26 beta for some time, I fairly just like the adjustments.
A superb instance of that is in Safari. In iOS 26, Safari has new Liquid Glass controls which are just like the previous controls while you first open the app, exhibiting a URL bar, again and ahead buttons, and a menu for extra settings. When you begin scrolling, nonetheless, the controls reduce to a small URL bar on the backside of the display, serving to maximize how a lot of an online web page you’ll be able to see at a time. It appears wonderful. To entry the controls once more, merely faucet on the URL bar on the backside or begin scrolling up somewhat they usually’ll present up. Once more, it takes somewhat little bit of getting used to, but it surely works nicely.
The brand new Digital camera app in iOS 26.
Credit score: Christian de Looper
One other instance is within the new digicam app. While you open the app, you will solely see two totally different capturing modes: Picture and Video. That is helpful for common customers who needn’t entry different photograph modes, particularly now that issues like portrait settings can be found in images taken outdoors of portrait mode. The excellent news is that for nerds like me, these modes are nonetheless accessible. You simply must scroll to 1 aspect to entry them. It is simply as simple to entry them if they’re there – and the change helps make the Digital camera app rather less daunting while you open it up.
Mashable Gentle Pace
Lock screens look nice
The beautiful new Liquid Glass lock display.
Credit score: Christian de Looper
Liquid Glass has come to the lock display too, and I actually like the way it appears. Issues like notifications and widgets have at all times had some translucency, however the Liquid Glass impact helps make them look much more refined.
All the digital parts on the lock display can have the Liquid Glass impact, together with the clock, lock display widgets, and notifications. They are often clear glass, however they may also be coloured, which may look fairly cool relying on the picture that you’ve got chosen to your lock display background.
Together with including Liquid Glass to the lock display, there’s additionally the brand new spatial scenes characteristic, which supplies images a parallax impact that helps make them seem three-dimensional while you tilt your cellphone. It is a tremendous cool characteristic and works very nicely. And there is a new full-screen music characteristic that reveals the album artwork and controls on the lock display while you’re listening to music. It may be enabled or disabled by merely tapping on the album artwork, however I prefer it rather a lot.
Apple’s software program feels extra constant
Liquid Glass can also be coming to macOS Tahoe 26 and iPadOS 26.
Credit score: Apple
The most effective issues about Liquid Glass is not merely about the way it appears on iOS 26, however extra about the way it appears throughout Apple’s total ecosystem of merchandise. Liquid Glass helps tie collectively iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and iPadOS 26 in a method that earlier variations of those working programs did not. Positive, Apple’s software program has at all times been extra cohesive than others, however Liquid Glass helps take it to the subsequent stage.
That is not essentially to say that the redesigns of those working programs are superb. There’s loads to be mentioned about macOS 26 and the adjustments that Apple has made, however on the very least, I like that it has the Liquid Glass design constructed into it. And I actually like how Apple has modified iPadOS partly with Liquid Glass and partly with new productiveness options that assist make the iPad really feel way more like an precise laptop computer.
Apple hasn’t fairly found out Messages but
Credit score: Christian de Looper
As you’ll anticipate, the Messages app is getting a liquid glass overhaul too, however I am not fairly positive that the entire adjustments made to Messages are that nice. Like in different apps, menu bars have been changed with floating controls. And in chats, you will now get floating liquid glass again buttons, FaceTime buttons, and a label for the title of the contact or group chat.
The floating bubble to your contact type of appears a bit foolish, particularly contemplating how far down the display the picture and label prolong in comparison with the again and FaceTime buttons. And, maybe to higher spotlight these controls, Apple has added a type of fade to chats, the place they will fade to white on the high of the display if there is a mild background, or get darker if there’s a picture or one thing else. It is actually not an enormous deal, however I believe it is somewhat bit sloppy.
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